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Whose Blogs Are You Reading?

Reading blogs is part of what we all do. Not everyone, of course, but certainly you. After all, here you are, reading mine.

The question now is: What blogs are you reading? There are almost as many kinds of blogs as there are people writing them. For my purposes they can be categorized as follows:

• Businesses like mine-of course it's always a good idea to stay abreast of what people in our industry are doing so we don't fall behind on the current trends and technologies
• Current affairs-reading political commentary or getting in-depth opinions on current events helps many of us feel more in touch with what's happening than what we can get in the paper or on TV
• Learning or improving skills-blogs are a great place me to keep learning what's new in your field or how to learn more about promoting your business.
• Entertainment and personal-it's always fun to have a blog to go to that will make you smile or laugh out loud. Some people like to read about their spiritual belief system. Others may be interested in what's happening around their neighborhood.

All of these types of blogs have a place in our lives but how do you keep from having so many blogs you like that you never have time to read all of them or, if you do read them, have no time to actually put anything they say into practice because you spend so much time reading blogs.

The one obvious thing to do is keep personal blogs restricted to personal time. Sure it's easier to take a look at them while you're reading your business-related ones but that's not where they belong.

Next, limit the number of blogs you follow. Only you know how many you can comfortably handle. If you consistently leave some unread, you have too many.

Finally, learn to scan the posts to see if this is one you want to read carefully or if you can just move on.

The Social Media Option That Gets the Most Bang for the Buck

We all keep hearing that in order to make Social Media Marketing work we have to be on Facebook and Twitter.  There are even formulas for how many times per day to show up on each of them AND a ratio of what kinds of updates you should post while you're there.

I agree that both of these venues are important for building the kinds of relationships that bring in business over time.  I, too, believe it's effective only if you show up more often than once every day or two. Having this kind of exposure is important to your business but only if you're present often enough to be remembered.

Now, on to reality.  I know that many of you have so many things on your plate right now that keeping up with these tools is more than you can handle.  The best option is to have a Virtual Assistant take over part of the "showing up" process for you but if you're not ready for that, you have to make a decision.

To maximize your marketing punch while minimizing your time commitment, I recommend using Facebook and let Twitter go until you either have the opportunity to utilize the services of a VA or have more time. Facebook requires a far shorter time commitment than Twitter, both in number of minutes expended and the frequency of your visits.

Let me know if you'd like more ideas on how to gain the most benefit from Facebook and Twitter. These are two of the major players in your optimum marketing strategy.

Live well and prosper--

Article Marketing and SEO

I know you've heard me talk about article marketing before but I'm going to hit on it one more time for those of you who weren't paying close attention or just started reading the blog.

There are two big reasons to submit articles.  The first is to get people directly to your site and the second is to get better search engine rankings.  Search engines love links to your site and every single article you publish has at least one link to your site (and if it only has one you need to find a way to add another).  If you're submitting your article to more than one site, each one gives you a better rating at Google and all the other search engines.

I'm going to share a little story that has to do with linking and search engines even though it has nothing to do with an article.  I have an article-writing story as well but let's save that one for another time because this one is just a whole lot more fun.

Way back when, back when buffalo roamed the plains--

Getting Rid of Error Reporting Dialogue Box

Last month, Jean Hanson of VirtualizeYourBizBlog.com, told all of us how to get rid of that nasty little Error Reporting dialogue box that pops up whenever we shut down a program that isn't responding.  I was thrilled and meant to share that with you here.  Did I do that?  No!  So, here I am, finally giving you the info:

1. Right-click the My Computer icon (or click Start, My Computer), and then click Properties.
2. Click on the Advanced tab, and then click on the Error Reporting button.
3. Select Disable Error Reporting, and then click OK twice.

Could it possibly be any easier? 

Thanks, Jean, for the help.  And for the rest of you, be sure to visit Jean's blog frequently.  I have no idea how she comes up with all the ideas she has but I make sure I read her blog every time she sends me an update.  You can sign up for her updates, too.  It's right there on her blog.

Until next time...

The Value of Systemetized Information

The other day, while working with one of my clients, I realized I had been giving the same information to clients over and over and over.  This was ridiculous.   Why in the world would I do that?  Well, the honest answer is that I had been so busy giving out the information I failed to stop and think about how I could save time.  Not only was I writing the same thing repeatedly, I don't charge my clients for our email time so I wasn't even earning any money when I did this.  Good grief!

The information I've been repeating is about how to set up blogs, how to write blogging posts, what TrackBacks are, what RSS feeds are and how they are helpful--well, the list goes on but you get the idea.  So, I spent New Year's Day writing more formalized information sheets on all these topics and a few more.  I still have a few more to write but I now have a nice little file folder full of the information I need to share with new clients who want my help with blogging and article submissions.  I'll continue making more of these as I find other information I need to tell more than one client. 

After all, every time I get a new client I have less time to devote to the ones I have.  I have to find systems to streamline my work efforts.  So, take a look at what you do repeatedly and think how you can make it work smoother and easier. 

One final tip:  as I started this project I went back through old emails and meeting notes to see what I had told my clients so I could make sure I didn't miss anything.  It was really very illuminating.  Not only did I realize how often I repeated myself I discovered there were more information sheets I needed to create than I had originally realized.

Until next time...

Signature Lines

I thought I'd start out the new year with a suggestion for a resolution for my readers:  create a great signature line for your emails and forum signatures.  I was over at Heather's blog today and she was talking about how important a great signature line is.   Go visit to read her article and then check out my comment (I had used her sig line to get to her blog) then go work on your signature line.

While you're at it make sure you have your web address and blog address on your outgoing correspondence, your business cards, everything you send out.  People want to do business with you but they can't if they don't know what you do or where to find you.

Until next time...

Posting a Graphic on you Blog Without a Label

I wanted to put a graphic with no label on Deanna's Living With Intention blog (the tag line that is the top item on the right hand column).

I spent several hours fighting with this whole issue a few weeks ago.  I searched Typepad's Help menu and couldn't find what I was looking for.  I got advice from a EM at Win-Win Web (thanks EM) but it didn't work the way it was supposed to (I think I left out a "/").  Then I got back on Typepad and searched some more.  I finally found what I needed.  Then I figured out the label issue and suddenly it all seemed very simple.

1. Go to Displaying custom content and HTML on Your Weblog in Typepad.
2. Now that you have the graphic on your blog and you've put it where you want it, go back into your Notes Typelist and click on "Configure."
3. Replace the name with a single space and save.  The Typelist will have no name but it doesn't care.  You now have a graphic with no label.

It's incredibly easy once you know where to find the information in Typepad and you know how to get rid of the label but when you don't know, you don't know and it took a ton of time to figure out.

Until next time...

Want to be Notified When I Post a New Blog?

I finally got around to putting a nifty little subscription box on my blog.  It's right over to the left, at the very top.  If you want to be notified when I've posted a new blog, just enter your e-mail address in the little box and click "Submit."  I got the html code for this and the service that sends the e-mail from Feedblitz.  It was easy to get and even easier to set up.  Give it a try if you don't already have it set up for yourself.

Oh, one little tip--I copied the code for the form and pasted it into a Notes TypeList, then moved the TypeList to the top of the column. 

I'll let you know as I find other interesting things to do with blogs.

Until next time...