Social Media Strategies » Types of Social Media

Setting Up Your Business Blog: Getting a WordPress Blog

Radiance — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:27:51 +0000

Today I’m going to give you a detailed explanation, with screenshots, on how to set up your WordPress blog using WordPress hosting. This is the option that allows you to have a blog setup very quickly with little computer expertise. In yesterday’s post I explained the options for setting up your blog.

The First Steps:

Go to wordpress.com. If you are using the other alternative where you put the blog into your website, you would go to wordpress.org. But today, we’ll be in wordpress.com.
You’ll see a number of things. Near the top right of the page you’ll see, “Express Yourself” and underneath that, a button that says, “Sign Up Now”. Click on that orange button.
Fill in the blanks.
- First, make up a user name. Be sure to write it down so you can remember it.
- Create a password. Avoid things like your name of birthdate. Again, write it down.
- Confirm the password.
- Check the legal.
- Click on “Give me a blog”.
- Click Next
The first step in setting up your blog.

A problem arises.

The name is already taken. I have to think of something new.

It took a few tries but I came up with a name that works. Here is the view of that.

Successful choice of name.

Click Signup.

Now, you will see the following message.

Check your email to confirm your registration.

Check your email and you’ll see a similar message to this. Click on the link and your account will be activated.
Follow the instructions in the email to activate your blog.

If that works, you should see the screen below.

You now have a blog. Congratulations!

You can click on “View your site” if you want but it will be pretty boring at this point. Tomorrow I’ll show you how to jazz it up and create some of the settings.

Please let me know via the “No comments/comments” link below if you have any questions about what I’ve written today.
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Social Media Strategies Begin with a Blog

Radiance — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:27:07 +0000

Three Reasons Your Business Needs a Blog

You need a blog for three very important reasons. First, Google loves new material and a blog (if you keep it up of course) provides lots of new material. Two, a whole raft of Internet Search professionals list blogging as the number two way to get traffic to your website via search results. Three, the blog is the center of your social media universe. In his book, The Social Media Marketing Book, Dan Zarrella puts the blog at the center of his social media strategy diagram.

What’s a blog?

A blog is simply a website that is regularly updated with new and interesting information about your subject. The most recent news is found first on the blog and older news is lower on the page or archived. The first handful of blogs were created in the mid ’90s.

According to Wikipedia,

As of December 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 112,000,000 blogs.

For some fun statistics on the state of the blogosphere, check out thefuturebuzz.com.

What Should You Blog About?

As a small business owner, you most likely have a wide range of knowledge about topics related to your business. Here are some ideas.

News about your business. You’ve added new staff. You’ve won an award. You’ve sponsored a charity event.
New products. This should be a chatty piece about the new product, not a sales pitch.
Special events. You’re having a demonstration on how to build your own terrarium. You’re having a book signing.
Special offers. Have readers print a coupon or give them a special code for a discount.
Your thoughts on news affecting your industry.
Your expertise – for example – you run a building supply. How about articles on how to refinish a deck, or how to replace your bathroom taps.
Answers to common questions. People who come into your store or use your services have some questions. In person, you give answers. Gather some of these answers into a series of blog posts. You can build your reputation for giving added value.

How do you get a blog?

This week I propose to write a series of articles on setting up your own business blog. I’ll include lots of detailed instructions so that even if you have only average computer skills, you’ll be able to do this yourself. Tomorrow we’ll start with naming and setting up your blog.

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Add a coupon to your local listing in Google

Radiance — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:11:01 +0000

Today I want to give you instructions on how to add a coupon to your local listing in Google. The following are the steps to accomplish this.

Creating Your Coupon in Six Easy Steps

To get your Google local listing you had to set up a Google account. To create your coupon, you need to login to that account.
Here is the screen that will appear

First step to adding a coupon.

Click on the “local business center” and the following screen will appear.

The coupons tab in the Local Business Center

Now, you see the coupon information

An explanation of the coupon feature

As you fill in the form on the left you’ll see your coupon appear on the right. You can also allow for a mobile phone coupon, give your coupon a number for ease of tracking and add an image.

Your coupon takes shape

Adding an image.

When people click “More information” on your map bubble they will see more details of your business and your coupons. When they click on one of your coupons, this is what they’ll see.

Here's my coupon. Click on it to see the actual coupon live.

Publicize Your Coupon

You can link to your coupon from your website, your blog or your Facebook account. In fact, I’ll go over there and do it right now.

Please feel free to ask questions or make comments via the “No comments/comments” link below.

Thanks again for following my blog.

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Social Media Strategies: Cyber Monday

Radiance — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:22:16 +0000

Happy Monday! I’ve been searching for a topic of interest all weekend. Writing a blog for your business can be extremely useful for attracting search engines to your website. In a previous post I mentioned that a survey of over 80 search specialists listed blogs as the #2 item in search engine optimization value.

Can companies really “engage” with consumers in a meaningful way?

However, it’s not always easy to find interesting things to say. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and reading about social media. The buzz word these days is “engagement” but can companies really “engage” with consumers in a meaningful way?

Why do they follow you on social media?

According to Razorfish’s (Razorfish specializes in digital marketing) FEED report,

44% of consumers who follow a brand on Twitter do so for deals and,

37% of consumers who “friended” a brand on Facebook and/or MySpace do it for deals.

So if you thought they did it because they love you, then perhaps you need to recognize the truth. They do it for your deals.

An idea for your business – create your own version of Cyber Monday

Here’s an idea for your business. Is there a day in the week when traffic is slow and sales low? Perhaps you could create your own version of Cyber Monday (or Tuesday, or Wednesday) and let your Twitter and Facebook followers know that on that day there will be a special, perhaps a printable coupon, an extra discount, a two-for-one or something else that is exclusive to your social media followers.