Business Blogs: A Practical Guide

Afgelopen week hebben Bill Ives en Amanda G. Watlington hun boek Business Blogs: A Practical Guide uitgebracht. Het boek, dat vanaf $49.95 is te verkrijgen, bestaat uit twee delen: een 237-pagina tellend handleiding waarin de auteurs ingaan op de verschillende facetten van business blogs en een 308-pagina tellende bijlage met praktijkcases. Nu maar hopen dat het morgen ook zo regent 😉

Voor geinteresseerden heb ik de inhoudsopgave opgenomen. Als er specifieke vragen zijn, laat deze dan achter in de comments.

BLOG GUIDE

ABOUT THE AUTHORS ………………………………………………………………………………………..ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………………………………..iii

PREFACE ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………………………………………….vii

LIST OF FIGURES ………………………………………………………………………………………………xi

ANATOMY OF A BLOG ……………………………………………………………………………………… xiv

CHAPTER 1 WHAT?S ALL THIS NOISE ABOUT BLOGS?………………………………………….1

There are Many Uses for Blogs……………………………………………………………………….3

Key Questions for Business Bloggers ……………………………………………………………12

The Typical Blog Reader……………………………………………………………………………….12

Not Just Infovores Read Blogs………………………………………………………………………13

Why Do Blogs Appeal to Readers?………………………………………………………………..14

Parallel History ? TV, Newspapers and the Blogosphere ………………………………..15

Are Blogs Business Tools?……………………………………………………………………………17

Key Concepts………………………………………………………………………………………………17

CHAPTER 2 SHOULD MY BUSINESS BLOG OR NOT BLOG? ? THAT IS THE

QUESTION ………………………………………………………………………………………………………19

Expanding Market Exposure…………………………………………………………………………20

Who should be the blogger?…………………………………………………………………………22

Introducing New Products and Services ………………………………………………………..23

Internal or External Bloggers? ………………………………………………………………………25

Establishing a Thought-Leadership Position ………………………………………………….26

Thought Leadership Requires Real Thought Leaders……………………………………..27

Enhancing Customer Relations …………………………………………………………………….28

Customer Relations Bloggers Should Have Tact and Knowledge…………………….33

Blogs as an Informal Alternative to Your Web Site …………………………………………34

Blogs That Complement Web Sites Need Committed Bloggers ………………………35

Supporting a Cause That Interests Your Customers or Supporters …………………36

Support Cause-Related Bloggers with a Clear Blogging Policy ………………………..37

Providing a Sales Channel……………………………………………………………………………38

Sales Channel Bloggers……………………………………………………………………………….39

Acquiring Additional Revenue Streams …………………………………………………………39

Internal Blogs – Facilitating Internal Communication and Collaboration…………..42

Internal Blogs—Building Community…………………………………………………………….44

Internal Blogs—Maintaining Knowledge and Facilitating Learning …………………45

When Not to Blog ………………………………………………………………………………………..47

Still Not Sure, Keep Reading………………………………………………………………………..48

CHAPTER 3 STARTING YOUR BLOG RIGHT……………………………………………………….51

Establish a Likely Business Need …………………………………………………………………52

How Bloggers Have Identified and Addresses Their Needs…………………………….54

Study Other Blogs in Your Market…………………………………………………………………58

Create a Blog Strategy that Matches Your Unique Needs ………………………………58

Within Your Strategy, Pick Your Outward and Inward Facing Uses ………………….64

Coordinate Your Blog with Your Other Communication Channels……………………65

Select Your Bloggers and a Create a Balanced Blogging Policy ………………………70

Include Intellectual Property Considerations in your Blogging Policy……………….72

Name Your Blog and Write a Short Statement of Purpose ……………………………..73

Determine the Support Needed for Blogging Success…………………………………..75

Determine Measures of Success………………………………………………………………….78

Start, Experiment, Monitor, and Adjust Strategy and Measures ……………………..79

CHAPTER 4 CONNECTING WITH YOUR MARKET………………………………………………..85

Provide Quality, Relevant and Honest Content………………………………………………86

Provide a Mix of Content on a Regular Basis…………………………………………………89

Focus Your Content……………………………………………………………………………………..94

Offer Your Blog as an Extended Resume……………………………………………………….96

Develop Credibility with Your Readership………………………………………………………97

Monitor Other Blogs in Your Field………………………………………………………………….99

Take Responsibility for Where You Link……………………………………………………… 100

Develop and Enhance Communities through Your Blog………………………………. 102

Be Open to the Associations and Connections within the Web ……………………. 105

Use Your Blog to Try Out New Ideas…………………………………………………………… 106

Practice Reciprocity with Other Bloggers in Your Field ………………………………… 107

CHAPTER 5 USING BLOGS INSIDE YOUR ORGANIZATION ……………………………….. 112

Internal Communication and Project Management…………………………………….. 112

Community Building …………………………………………………………………………………. 116

Organizational Knowledge Management……………………………………………………. 121

Learning Channel …………………………………………………………………………………….. 127

CHAPTER 6 SELECTING YOUR BLOG PLATFORM ……………………………………………. 132

Is Free Too Little to Pay?…………………………………………………………………………… 133

Almost Free……………………………………………………………………………………………… 136

Have a Server, or Space on One? ……………………………………………………………… 138

Should Service Price Influence Business Bloggers?……………………………………. 140

To Host or Not to Host?…………………………………………………………………………….. 141

Have It Your Way ? The Easy Way ……………………………………………………………… 143

CHAPTER 7 GETTING NOTICED ? MAKING SURE YOUR TRAFFIC GROWS ………… 148

Understanding the Link Connection…………………………………………………………… 149

Increasing Search Engine Referrals…………………………………………………………… 151

Keywords and Blogs…………………………………………………………………………………. 152

Simple Templates Prevail …………………………………………………………………………. 154

Developing Search-Savvy Content …………………………………………………………….. 155

Navigation ? A Reader?s Map to Your Blog…………………………………………………. 157

Archives ? Evergreen or Not ……………………………………………………………………… 158

Managing Comments and Trackbacks………………………………………………………..158

CHAPTER 8 WRITING POWERFUL POSTS ……………………………………………………….162

How to Write for the Web……………………………………………………………………………163

How to Credit the Resources You Use …………………………………………………………164

How to Write Different Types of Posts …………………………………………………………165

How to Determine Your Audience?s Preferences………………………………………….169

How to Write Posts for Users of RSS Readers ……………………………………………..171

CHAPTER 9 BLOG TOOLS AND SERVICES ……………………………………………………….174

RSS—What Is It and Why Do You Need It? ………………………………………………….175

The RSS Feed……………………………………………………………………………………………175

RSS Aggregators ? Users of the Feed …………………………………………………………178

RSS Readers—Feed Distribution to Readers ………………………………………………179

Four Steps to a Healthy RSS Feed………………………………………………………………180

Creating and Validating Your Feed ……………………………………………………………..181

Feed Generation Determines Your Ability to Measure Results………………………183

Creating Your Own RSS Feed ……………………………………………………………………..184

Submitting Your Feed Is Essential for Blog Promotion………………………………….186

Syndication ? A Two-Way Street………………………………………………………………….190

Adding Multimedia to Your Blog………………………………………………………………….191

Making Money with Your Blog…………………………………………………………………….194

APPENDIX …………………………………………………………………………………………………….198

SAMPLE BUSINESS AND NON-PROFIT BLOGS…………………………………………………198

RESOURCES …………………………………………………………………………………………………219