Archive for Blog
Anybody There at Feedburner? I Need Help
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Image via CrunchBase
My blog is automatically distributed to my subscribers when I hit the “publish” button. It usually works very smoothly. But lately, the gremlins have been at work. So if you are a subscriber, I apologize that twice last week you received an email with my latest blog post and the links to 9 previous posts. I had nothing to do with it!
No Customer Support
Feedburner, owned by Google, is a service that 99% of bloggers use to distribute their posts. But there is no way to get in touch with the company when you have a problem. You are directed to Feedburner Help Groups whose members are simply other Feedburner users who may be able to help you with your problem if you can’t find an answer in Feedburner’s Q&A section. Fine and dandy, but I saw my question posted earlier by other users. The response? Nada.
How are ordinary folks, like me, supposed to work out these technical problems? As I’ve often said, technology is great when it works. It’s not working, Feedburner!!
If you are a fellow blogger and know what is causing the problem, please leave me a comment.
Thank you!
Become a Blogging Maniac — Start Your Own Blog
Posted by: | CommentsAs many of you know, I learned to blog from a master, Bea Fields, who conducts the Become a Blogging Maniac program. There is still time to register for her next course which starts on Monday, October 24. If you want to register, you can click on the banner ad at the lower right, “Get Your Blog Up and Running.” At the end of the program, you’ll have set up your own WordPress blog. I took this course from Bea almost three years ago and I’m a true believer!
Here is more information from Bea:
- 12 hours of live webinar instruction (both audio and video)
- Access to our online library (both the old and the new)
- 12 hours of video so that you can go back and watch any classes you missed
- 4 (one hour) coaching sessions with Bea Fields on getting your blog up and running
- Over 100 resources and tutorials to get each and every question answered. We really go for it in this program!
So if you’ve always dreamed of having a blog, now is the time to start.
Facebook Kills Discussions So Start a Blog
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Image via CrunchBase
Facebook will be delivering another roundhouse punch to members when it eliminates the Discussions app on October 31st. The behemoth wants you to have these discussions on your Wall.
So what happens to all those juicy discussions you’ve had over the years? Poof. Gone. So if you want to save them, better make plans to copy and store them someplace else.
Why a Blog is Essential
Facebook’s latest announcement – and fans are still reeling from all the recent changes (for the better?) – reinforces my oft-stated case that a business needs to have its own forum for discussions with customers and other stakeholders. And that forum is your blog. (Even Facebook has its own blog). Read More→
Inbound Marketing – Hitting the Online Jackpot
Posted by: | CommentsIs paid advertising dead? To hear the experts, it’s certainly on life support. Inbound marketing is all the rage.
HubSpot is credited with coining the term inbound marketing and the company makes its living by selling services to help companies figure out ways to get customers to come to them instead of the other way around. HubSpot describes it in this diagram:
It’s true that consumers are tuning out paid advertising and more often finding you by searching the web – your blog, through your participation on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook and now Google+. Those of us who write blogs are continually fretting over key words and SEO. We distribute our content to a wide range of social media networks. Build it, promote it, and they will come. Or, maybe not.
Inbound Marketing Campaigns
Thing is the companies that are reaping the rewards of inbound marketing are spending millions on inbound marketing campaigns. They run sneaky display ads to get you to their Facebook pages and corner the market for keywords by bidding up the prices of Google ads that will get you to visit their sites. More power to them.
So the notion of inbound marketing being “free” is a misnomer. Of the hundreds of thousands of blogs out there, many thousands never receive a visitor or get a comment. A lot of marketers are sitting around still waiting for their first visitor.
Going Offline
I may be in the minority. But going offline has me intrigued. You remember offline don’t you? That involves calling a prospect on the phone and making an appointment to discuss your business in person. Two live people in an office talking to each other. How novel!
I’m being a little facetious, I know, so please forgive me. But it’s important to re-evaluate how we communicate with our customers and how we sell to them. There are too many social media “gurus” out there who are selling programs that promise to “monetize” your blog. Take their advice and rake in the money from products and services you sell directly to consumers. Web searches will lead them to you like the Pied Piper.
What Works For You
Can we all take a breath for a minute and think, really think, about how we’re going to build our business? Inbound marketing is great and growing but it’s not the whole story. I have a friend whose husband is a lawyer with a special niche. She spends $100 a month for a local Google ad that’s always at the top of the page and that’s how he gets all his leads. Paid advertising.
Some people do make a nice living monetizing their blogs. But others use their blogs as brand builders and as portfolios of their work.
Find what works for you. Don’t be embarrassed just because you found your newest customer next to you in line at the movies or in an elevator leaving a networking meeting, like I did.
