Article Content Provider

Display Category\|Title\|Newest\|Oldest
Leveraging the Social in Social Media Social media marketing is about the conversation, not the pitch. Having conversations with people is nice, but the goal of a brand is ultimately to get people interested in spending their time or money on the brand, after all. What does having this conversation accomplish, and just how does a brand use that conversation to get the critical conversion from conversation to customers? That First Impression: Title Considerations While it certainly isn't as much work as crafting the body of a superior article, selecting a title for a piece is definitely an important element of the entire process of content creation. Here are some thoughts on crafting a perfect title. Dynamic Content: Using Analytics to Write Your Blog The role of web analytics in setting useful metrics for a site has been discussed in-depth in any number of places, but this is far from the only useful function that web analytic practices can offer. As in any field, a little thinking outside the box can offer extensive rewards to the creative researcher. Creative cultivation of web analytics can help conquer blogger's block and help a good writer come up with some unique angles for content they thought they had peaked out on. Social Media Marketing Tools – Putting Your Finger on the Pulse of the Web Social media marketing is the home of successful brand promotion, and finding the right mix of tools to take advantage of it has become the defining issue of the modern brand. Knowing the focus of each of these tools and the best way to use them is the key to bringing all this power under control and using it to help promote a brand to its full potential. Blog Writing - Ghostwriting Dos and Don'ts There are still some misconceptions about ghostwriting that pop up from time to time. To that end, it can be helpful to clarify the nature of ghostwriting and how it relates to creating a high-quality blog, particularly through examples of some of the best and worst practices that can pop up when employing a ghostwriter. Beyond Expectations - Getting the Most out of Like and Share What started as socialization programs only slightly more complex than the average e-mail client has grown into one of the newest and most promising marketing niches in the entire world. Taking advantage of this means familiarizing oneself with a few surprisingly simple concepts that have unusually far-reaching implications. In particular, marketers are finding that the Four Types of Blogs and How To Use Them Blogging clearly has arrived and is here to stay, according to the buzzword-slinging set. It's the “next big thing” or the “wave of the future” - even a “revolution.” Still, most of the people commenting on the blogging trend aren't sure exactly what it is, how it works or even what the different kinds of blogs are. Here are a handful of blogging types and what sets them apart from the others. Tips for Escaping Writer's Block Most writers will experience at least some form of writer's block in the course of their efforts. It must be said that there is no cure for writer's block â€” those who suffer it push through to the other side with sheer willpower. Be that as it may, there are a number of techniques that can help rally a writer's determination in order to bring them forward through the wall of fear and into the realm of joyful writing. Once More, With Feeling: Producing Consistent, Quality Blog Content Quality is a key element in good blogging. If the material isn't interesting, it isn't going to be read. Of course, there are different standards of what is interesting. But what is it that makes content quality? How does one get those good ideas and, more importantly, convey them week after week with a steady updating schedule? Yes You Can Judge a Book By Its Cover: Blog Design Considerations Paying attention to appearance and to some basic web and blog design elements can make the visit to your blog more enjoyable for your audience and help you retain those vital traffic numbers. Making Corporate Blogging Credible Blogging is about communication. It is a dynamic medium. (That’s why blogging software comes with a comments function.) Yet so many corporations just use it as another type of newsletter or circular, not really taking advantage of the chance to break out and take advantage of the blogging ethos the way it was intended. So what are some ways a corporation can make its blog more credible? Blog Writing Tips - Where to Find Great Guest Posters One of the best ways to keep a fresh angle in blogging is the guest blogger. They can provide good content, take some of the work load off the primary blogger and can bring new perspectives and ideas that the parent blogger can follow up on in later posts as he or she sees fit. It may not be for everyone, but those who embrace guest posting have a lot going for them. So where, exactly, does one find these mysterious guest posters? Blog Writing Tips: Keeping Content Fresh Content may be king, but to torture a metaphor somewhat, even the most brilliant crown can grow tarnished. Generating good content isn't always an easy thing, and it requires a great deal of effort to avoid getting into rote postings and halfhearted content that isn't of the quality a blog and its audience deserve. To that end, what are some of the things bloggers can do to keep their content fresh and interesting? Me-Too Branding and the Dearth of Creativity Nothing new under the sun, good writers simply steal well, homage, pastiche, parody, satire... the assorted excuses that come up for shamelessly ripping off other advertising ideas may as well be named Legion, for they are certainly many. Some Thoughts on Specialty Blogging Blogging is held up in many circles as the epitome of the personal project. Blogs are praised for their focus on the personality of the blogger, the flexibility of the medium and the relatively limitless topics that can be blogged on. Let's have a look at some of the pros and cons alike of dedicating a blog to a particular topic. Blog Management - Go Blog Wild Maintaining a blog is about much more than simply presenting the latest news in the life of a person or a brand. A good blog is about conveying the writer's personality and interests to his audience. To that end, the comments section should be one of the liveliest parts of a blog. Social Media Management: Quality Social Experiences You've heard it before: Social media is about much more than exposure or coverage. Simply putting a friend request out and amassing a ton of retweets is not enough to achieve genuine social impact. Before you go slashing the budget to your social media marketing department, hear out these few issues that explain why this means more attention, not less, should be paid to social media efforts. Blog Management - Know When to Let Go Sometimes a topic just isn't working - you can tell when you're writing and reading it. Maybe the humor is forced, tired, or rote. Maybe the blogger didn't go into the same level of interesting side detail that he usually does, or perhaps her topic looks like she fell back on a safe and reliable piece, rather than going somewhere new like her last eight. Whatever the reason, not every topic is created equal, and sometimes a post just isn't up to anything like your usual standards. Brand Management - Press Release Fundamentals Certain concepts just carry over well from print journalism. The press release, the tried and true method of updating the public on an organization's affairs, is an example of just how well such a concept can survive. While there have been a few adjustments to the specifics, such as the use of keywords and SEO-oriented writing, the core structure of the press release remains the same. Here are a few of the simpler but oft-overlooked steps that can redeem this marketing tool into a primary force. Good Press: Promoting Your Blog There are numerous ways to get a blog noticed and mentioned online. Some are good and others are atrocious. We're all aware of Response and Rebuttal: Having a Good Argument on a Blog The strongest arguments are those that can relate their case to other fields of knowledge and understanding. While there are always those who will buy into constantly debunked arguments, by and large the web is a place where the meritocracy of truth can hold court. So, how exactly does one harness this for his or her own blog? In Their Own Way: Stories of Online Branding Success Here are a few web branding success stories. These are not the names that are usually thrown about, like YouTube or Facebook. Rather, these are people who have developed a niche success in their own field, and have become world-famous brands in their own way, and their own time. Building Inroads: the Inclusive Path to Branding Brand success is no longer the sole domain of those with the money to employ creative teams and retain advertising firms, but an open territory for any willing to seize the initiative and do the work. Online Brand Management: Optimizing Facebook We\'ve previously discussed the Web\'s amazing tendency to take very good ideas and adapt them to techniques largely unrelated to their original intent. Search engines rate all websites based on their internal criteria, and this increasingly includes Social Media pages such as Facebook. With that in mind, let\'s consider five key ways you can apply SEO techniques to Facebook in order to drive interest. Online Brand Management: Brand Protection Basics One of the greatest strengths of the Web is that it gives everyone with a connection the ability to publish content, period. Anyone can register domain names and build attendant webpages, often for what amounts to a pittance. Naturally, this flexibility has attracted the attention of people with less than honest motives for their efforts. Here we share three common hazards and their solutions for safeguarding your brand. Online Brand Protection: Don\'t Get Crazy It is true that there are people out there who intend to misuse and abuse brand associations that others worked hard to create, and there are steps to take to limit them. However, there is such a thing as overzealousness. Attempting to outright control the Web is an exercise in folly, and we provide a clear example of when going too far can go wrong. Hitting Your Stride: Four Keys to Timing Your Blog There are a number of important factors that go into the production of a first-class blog. One that many people wrestle with is how often should the thing be updated. Innocuous as it sounds, post frequency is actually vital to the success of any content project, and especially to blogs. Time, place, and availability of content all have parts to play in determining just how often you need to update your blog. Social Media Management - Watching the Chick-fil-A Cows What can you do as a small- or medium-sized business owner to increase your reach with your customers? One smart idea is to look at what the big guys are doing. One company that is maximizing its marketing efforts online and offline is Chick-fil-A, the second largest chicken-based fast-food restaurant in the United States. Online Brand Building By the Numbers In the process of building your company\'s online brand, you\'re going to have to deal with a veritable ton of information. However all the information in the world isn\'t going to do your online marketing efforts a bit of good if you aren\'t able to measure it against carefully chosen benchmarks of performance. In short, you need to identify your metrics.