Slide 1: Blogging and Podcasting for Business
Louise Rijk Vice-President Marketing and Sales Advanced Media Productions
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Slide 2: Blogging and Podcasting for Business
Overview
Blogging For Business - What is a Blog? - Why does a Business Need a Blog -- Blog Applications and Platforms - Before Starting a Blog - Important Blog Features - Writing Blog Posts - Blog SEO - Blog Syndication Through RSS Feeds - Blog Promotion - Blog Analytics
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Audio Podcasting For Business - Podcast Audience - Podcast Components - Why Business Podcasting? - Podcast Applications - Podcast Production - Landing Page Optimization - Sound File Search Engine Optimization - Submitting the RSS Feed
Slide 3: Blogging for Business
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Slide 4: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
What is a Blog?
- Blog - Web Site or Section within a Web Site
- Blog Post - Written Text Entry by the Blog Author(s), Organized in Categories and Listed in Reverse Chronological Order
- Comment - Most Blogs Allow Readers to Comment on Individual Blog Posts
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Slide 5: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
Why Does a Business Need a Blog?
- Direct Communication - Brand Building - Position You as Expert - Media and Public Relations - Search Engine Marketing - Competitive Differentiation - Relationship Marketing - Exploit the Niches - Reputation Management
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Slide 6: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
Blog Applications
Internal and External Blogs Internal Blogs - Team/Project Management Communications - Internal Communications and Knowledge Sharing - Idea Generation - Personal Knowledge Management External Blogs - Marketing/Product - Customer Service - Industry News Aggregation and Analysis - CEO Blog
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Slide 7: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
Blog Platforms (I)
- Hosted versus Software Application
- Hosted: Blogger.com – Software Package: Wordpress
- Open Source/Vendor Supported
- Open Source: Wordpress – Vendor: Movable Type (Six Apart)
- Top Blog Platform Contenders - iUpload (hosted), Six Apart (Movable Type), Wordpress - Other Solutions (Typepad), Userland Software - Drupal, Roller, Telligent Systems, Tractor Software, Six Apart
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Slide 8: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
Blog Platforms (II)
Source: Forrester Research, Inc.: “The Forrester Wave ™: Blogging Platforms”
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Slide 9: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
Things to Consider Before Starting a Blog
- Search Engine Marketing Benefit - Individually Branded versus Integrated
- Individually Branded Blog - Carefully Choose Unique Domain Name - Host Under Unique Domain Name (company.blogspot.com versus www.company.com) - Integrated Web Site Blog - Entry to Blog Must be Visible on the Home Page and in Global Web Site Navigation - Blog Template Must Match Visual Appearance of the Web Site
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Slide 10: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
Important Blog Features (I)
- Reverse Chronological Text Posts, Audio and Video with - Blog Roll - Comments - Manual/Automatic Trackbacks - Pinging - Archives - Months Category - Clean URL’s
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Slide 11: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
Blog Features (II)
Permalink Title bar Optimization
RSS Feeds in Category
Keywords
Most recent or popular entries Social Media Quick Links 11
Slide 12: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
Blog Are Not For Text Only (I)
Show Notes
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Slide 13: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
Blog Are Not For Text Only (II)
Show Notes
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Slide 14: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
Practical Writing Blog Posts
- Make Your Opinion Known - Post Often, Write Less - Use Descriptive Post Titles - Use Frequent Paragraph Breaks When Writing Longer Posts - Edit Your Post Before Posting - Invite Conversation and Encourage Readers to Comment - Engage with Others by Writing Posts that Reference Other Blogs - Thank People for their Comments
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Slide 15: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
Blog SEO (I)
- Keyword Research - Post Title (Permalinked) – If Possible Keyword-rich - Keyword-rich Categories - Keyword-rich Blog Post Entry - Keyword-rich Meta or Page Title – Different Than Post Title - Keyword-rich Meta Tag Description
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Slide 16: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
Blog SEO (II)
- CSS-styled H1, H2 and H3 Tag Heads and Sub-heads - Cross-link Similar “Themed” Web Site and Blog Sections - Short and Clean Internal URL Link Structure - Use Keyword-rich Anchor Text in Embedded Links
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Slide 17: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
Blog Syndication RSS Feeds
- RSS Feed – Separate Feeds for Each Category - Enable Autodiscovery
-“Announces” Your Feeds Availability to Browsers and Search Engine Crawlers - Simplifies the Subscription Process for Many Readers
- Turn Pinging On
- Submit Blog to Ping-O-Matic
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Slide 18: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
Blog Promotion (I)
- Chiclets – Quick Links to Social Media Web Sites (Digg, Del.ico.us, Furl) - Bloglines and OthersInclude Subscribe Buttons for My Yahoo, Subscribe Buttons – - Blog Search Engines and Directories using RSS Submission to – Submit Blog RSS Feed Wizard (e.g. “Submit RSS Feed”)
- Personalized Signature Forums and Leave Blog URL in Forums – Participate in
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Slide 19: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
Blog Promotion (II)
- Distribute an Online Press Release with a Link to the RSS Feed - Post Comments on Other Blogs -Notify Other Bloggers About Your Blog via Comments and Email
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Slide 20: Blogging and Podcasting for Business - BLOGGING
Blog Analytics
Blog Tracking Systems - Technorati
Feed Tracking Systems - Feedster
Trending Systems - BlogPulse
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Slide 21: Blogging and Podcasting for Business
Audio Podcasting for Business
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Slide 22: Blogging and Podcasting for Business – AUDIO PODCASTING
Podcast Audience
- 9.2 million Web Users or 6.6 percent of US Web Users Have Downloaded Audio Podcasts in the Last 30 Days – (Nielsen//Netratings) - 11 percent of Americans have listened to an audio podcast, 53 Percent under the age of 35 (Nielsen//Netratings)
- Estimated year-over-year audience growth: 15-30 percent (Arbitron)
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Slide 23: Blogging and Podcasting for Business – AUDIO PODCASTING
Audio Podcasting Components
- Digital Audio File in MP3 Format - Audio PlayBack Device:
- PC – Streamed or Downloaded - MP3 Player – Downloaded - Burned onto a CD and played on a DVD player - Cell phone – Streamed or Downloaded
- Syndicated Distribution Through RSS File
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Slide 24: Blogging and Podcasting for Business – AUDIO PODCASTING
Why Business Podcasting?
- Communicate New Ideas with Prospects and Customers - Promote Products and Concepts - Additional Marketing Channel to Extend Reach - Deepen the Relationship with Customers
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Slide 25: Blogging and Podcasting for Business – AUDIO PODCASTING
Audio Podcast Applications
- Music Promotions - E-learning - Audio Guides - Product/Service Information - Aggregated Industry News and Commentary - Product Promotions - Audio Books
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Slide 26: Blogging and Podcasting for Business – AUDIO PODCASTING
Podcast Production
- Strategy and Planning - Identity, Content and Messaging - Script Writing - Recording, Editing, Mixing and RSS Feed Creation - Landing Page and Optimization - Podcast Hosting - Search Engine Optimization
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Slide 27: Blogging and Podcasting for Business – AUDIO PODCASTING
Strategic Planning
- Goals, Objectives and KPI - Competitive Analysis - One-off Standalone Podcast or Multi-episode Podcast Show - Determine Show Topic, Content, Overall Tone, Taste and Attitude - Podcast Name and Episode Names
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Slide 28: Blogging and Podcasting for Business – AUDIO PODCASTING
Identity, Content and Messaging
- Audio Logo - Content and Content Organization (depends on type of Podcast)
- Product and Service Descriptions - Features and Benefits Descriptions - Technical Specifications
- Marketing Foundation
- Target Audience, Geographic Focus, Call-to-Action, USP
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Slide 29: Blogging and Podcasting for Business – AUDIO PODCASTING
Script Writing
- General Information
- Podcast or Episode Name, Overall Length, Segment or Segment Break Length
- Producer and Participants - Segment Topics with Scripts - Show Notes
- Podcast or Episode Title and Description
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Slide 30: Blogging and Podcasting for Business – AUDIO PODCASTING
Recording, Editing, Mixing and Creating RSS Feeds
- Recording - Sound Editing - RSS Feed Creation - Tools that Automatically Create Regular RSS Podcast Feeds and iTunes Feeds - Feed For All - Podifier - Webmaster Podcaster
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Slide 31: Blogging and Podcasting for Business – AUDIO PODCASTING
Landing Page and Optimization
- Develop a Separate Landing Page for Each Episode - Implement one Page for the Podcast Show with Links to Each Episode Page - Provide a Download Link with Audio File Length and Size for Those who Want to Download - Provide a Keyword-rich Title and Show Note for Each Episode - Include Subscription Information on Every Landing Page Landing Page
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Slide 32: Blogging and Podcasting for Business – AUDIO PODCASTING
Sound File Search Engine Optimization
- Optimize the ID3 Tags Field - Optimize the Sound File Name
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Slide 33: Blogging and Podcasting for Business – AUDIO PODCASTING
Submitting the RSS Feed
Podcast Directories Podscope.com Podcastalley.com
Podfeed.net
Podcastdirectory.com
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