The Corporate Blogging Book

The Corporate Blogging Book
Stop what you are doing and run out to your local Barnes and Noble bookstore. Why? Because you need to have in your hand at this very moment The Corporate Blogging Book by Debbie Weil.

Four Marketing Tips for Self-Publishers
You may have already noticed that self-publishing is very time consuming. Most of your time is spent on marketing and publicity and very little time on writing.

Web 2.0 News Content on Your Website
What Journalists Want Online

If you've been in the dark about how to plan your online news for the media, a new study from Bulldog Reporter and the TEKgroup can guide your content strategy for 2008.

Journalists’ use of online newsrooms, blogs, RSS and social media is much higher than most PR professionals had thought - in fact the greatest change in journalism practices due to new Internet technology is the ability to access corporate news and contact information online 24 hours a day.

• Nearly half of all journalists report visiting a corporate website or online newsroom at least once a week
• 85% visit at least once a month
• More than a quarter report regularly reading five or more blogs to research desired topics
• Nnearly 70% follow at least one blog regularly
•  More than a quarter (28%) of journalists visit a social media or networking site, such as YouTube, Facebook and MySpace, at least once a week
• More than 44% visit at least once a month
• Nearly 16% of journalists receive five or more RSS feeds of news services, blogs, podcasts or videocasts every week
• 37% receive at least one regular RSS feed
• 20% say they look for audio and vidoe material at least once a month
• 64% report that they use Google or Yahoo! online news services

If you don't yet have an online newsroom this needs to be top of your list for 2008.

Learn to optimize your news content for search so that it can be easily found when these journalists are searching Yahoo and Google News.

Add images, audio and video to your news content.  it's fairly simple to do and it won't break the budget.

Syndicate all your content with RSS feeds. If you don't have an RSS feed then you have no chance that yours will be that one feed they read regularly.

The Role of PR in a Web 2.0 World
If your head is still in the sand about new media now would be a good time to change position

As many of you know I am also the official blogger for Bulldog Reporter, an industry newsletter that has over 50 000 PR practitioners as subscribers.   Last week I was in San Francisco speaking at the TurnPROn Online PR Summit.  Jim Sinkinson, CEO of Bulldog Reporter, was there too and we had a delightful dinner together in the city after the event.

One of the topics of discussion was the role of PR and media relations in a Web 2.0 world. Jim had mentioned in his presentation earlier in the day that a recent Bulldog survey found that PR people rate driving traffic to their corporate website as one of their main concerns today.

In an interview with the Daily 'Dog today MJ Gilhooley says

Simply put: Audiences are more in control than ever and increasingly savvy about filtering marketing messages. As a result, PR pros have a new hat to wear: listener, learner. With the tables turned per the advent of Web 2.0, sheer Darwinism alone will lay to rest the pros who five years ago considered major market headlines and covers the end game. Bottom line for PR: Control of the message is out. Engagement and dialog is in—especially in social media communities.

McKenzie Worldwide published data recently indicating that 67% of today's consumers would prefer to get their purchasing facts from other consumers—not "communicators."  This supports the study out early in the year that showed that the most trusted form of advertising is recommendations from other consumers 'just like me.'  

Consumers are turned off by some kinds of digital advertising, like text messages, pop-ups or banners, that may explain digital marketers' eagerness to work indirectly, through blogs, social networks and other kinds of online forums. Of all survey respondents, for instance, 61 percent said they trusted consumer opinions posted online, says another report from Nielsen Buzzmetrics..

And the recent IBM study of online behavior revealed that audiences are increasingly savvy about filtering marketing messages. Consumers are seeking consolidated, trustworthy content, recognition and community.

Consumers are increasingly contributing to online video or social networking sites and of those who contributed content, an average of 58 percent worldwide did so for recognition and community, not monetary gain.

The report predicts that marketers and advertising revenues will follow consumers' habits.  Given the rising power of individuals and communities, media and entertainment industry players will have to become much better at providing permission-based advertising and related consumer-driven ratings services.

U.S. users report more usage of social networking sites and user generated content than almost any other content services category:

• 45 percent use social networking sites
• 29 percent visit user generated content sites
• 24 percent use a music service such as iTunes
• 24 percent subscribe to premium television content

The following key skills or practice areas are becoming increasingly crucial for communicators of all disciplines:

• Better positioning of clients with outreach in the blogosphere
• Mastering skills necessary to optimize web video placement opportunities 
• Engaging in virtual-world interaction and visibility 

If the new media Web 2.0 world is still unfamiliar territory,  find a partner who can deliver social media training and help you to develop social media strategies for your clients.

 

Will E-Publishing Become the New Leader?
Let the truth be told I am not a big supporter of e-books even though I wrote an entry earlier with regards to the advantages of them. Though I am not a fan, e-books are good for one thing, and that is establishing yourself as an expert.

I Can’t Find a Niche Topic that I’m Passionate About!
This is one of the most asked questions from niche marketers. “Should I make a website that I’m passionate about?” or “Should I go where the money is made?” Personally, I’d go where the money is. If you can find a topic that you are passionate about and also where great money is being [...]

This is one of the most asked questions from niche marketers.

“Should I make a website that I’m passionate about?” or

“Should I go where the money is made?”

Personally, I’d go where the money is. If you can find a topic that you are passionate about and also where great money is being exchanged in that market, that would be wonderful. But it is not common to find one like that.

I’ve been marketing in the niche markets where I have absolutely no idea nor interest in. But I successfully pulled it and made great passive income from them. Because I was willing to sacrifice my comfort zone, I’m now able to go after what I’m passionate about. I no longer have to worry about if my new sites will be making money or not. I have sites that makes me absolutely no money. I made them just because I wanted to share my knowledge and interest with others.

So my answer to this commonly asked question is to go after the money, then you will be able to do what you are passionate about eventually.

Any other opinions welcomed. Please use the comment section.

The Advantages of Creating Your Own E-Book
E-books have become more and more popular in the recent years. Although some people prefer a printed book in their hand, e-books are still in demand.

SEO Affects Sales of Consumer Packaged Goods CPG
CPG retailers need search marketing in their mix

44% of traffic to consumer packaged-goods sites comes from search, according to new joint research from comScore, Procter & Gamble, Yahoo and SEMPO. And these buyers spent 20 percent more in the month following their search activity, reveals the study.

Who knew? Even those looking for CPG go online first..Nearly 163 million unique consumers visited baby, food, personal care and household product sites during the three-month span of the study--with 71 million of those visits originating via search. Baby and food products drew the most search traffic, with 60% and 47% of the visitors arriving via search respectively. 

These stats show both the brand-building and purchase intent benefits that CPG brands can derive from adding search marketing to their mix.

Search-driven CPG site visitors' motivations are important to understnad, says the study.

• 30% were looking specifically for the company Web site
• 73% were researching products
• 64% were seeking help with an actual purchase decision
• Almost 50% were looking for product promotions

Understanding these CPG search motivations is the key to linking brand benefits to search behaviors says the rpeort.

And if you are a CPG retailer bear in mind the impact of natural or organic search results.  "If you think you're covered by Pay Per Click ads in the search engines, think again" says Marketing Sherpa. 

According to eyetracking studies you get far more views and clicks from organic search.

 

Of course the trick is to raise your search engine visibility and get your website onto page one in Google for all the brand and generic key words and phrases CPG searchers use to access products like yours.

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Where is Bo?
First of all, I’d like to say happy new year to you. I know I haven’t shared anything with you for a while. I hope you are still reading this blog, because I’m going to share even more niche marketing stuff with you in 2007. I was struggling with coming up with [...]

First of all, I’d like to say happy new year to you. I know I haven’t shared anything with you for a while. I hope you are still reading this blog, because I’m going to share even more niche marketing stuff with you in 2007. I was struggling with coming up with the blog content because I noticed that what my readers need is not “techniques” but rather, motivation and inspiration. I’ve tried to do both, and was kinda lost, to be honest. So, in 2007, I will make case studies and share the experience with you. I hope this will motivate you and inspire you to go after the things you desired to achieve.

Anyway, the main reason why I wasn’t able to come near the PC was that I’m in the progress of moving to a new house. To be more exact, we are moving back to one of my investment houses. We are going to sell the house we are currently living and move back to the one which has a big basement.

The reason for this move is to make a physical office for my online business company. Marketing Syndrome Inc. will have its physical office at a basement of my house :) Currently, I’m busy doing the renovation of the house and the office. It’s about 10 minutes from my current house and I’m making a trip daily to do some work. I have to hire contractors for some tasks, but I’m doing the most of the work myself. Ah! I know what you are thinking! Outsource! well, no. I’m doing it because I love doing house renovation with my wife. It’s our only hobby that we both enjoy doing :)

So, here is what I’m up to. If your goal is to earn a full-time income from niche marketing, working from home, make sure to come back to my blog. Because you will learn everything about it from this blog. I have a lot to share with you in this field and I barely scratched the surface. I haven’t share with you anything about my main affiliate campaigns that bring me the major portion of my income. You will read all about it for free in 2007.

I’m also exploring new ways to bring passive income online consistently, so I will be sharing this with you also. The software I’m currently exploring is called “Build A Niche Store“, which is believe to be a very effective tool for niche marketers. I will be testing this software thoroughly in January and February. So expect to hear more about it in the next posts.

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