The title “I don’t blog” got my attention right away. All the time our clients are asking us if they should be blogging, and, if so, what should they blog about? As Heidi over at Beanstalk said, “Blogging is writing and writing is hard work.” I completely agree! But I also think that blogging can reap some great rewards for business owners… if you are inclined to create a blog.

For us, and our clients, blogs offer:

• A great tool to get messages out to our audiences (messages that call for more than 140 characters of a tweet).
• A simple and easy-to-use tool to add content to your Web site. (We love this, as adding new content often means we are working on building links into the site. And, more links means more visitors.)
• A way to educate your audience. (I know I use past posts to refer to when explaining various things to prospective and existing clients.)
• A way for your audience to leave feedback about what you are writing, provide another view, and enrich everyone’s thoughts on the topic.

As Heidi stated, blogging can be hard work, and there are other ways to get your URL seen on the internet. So should you blog? Yes, if…

• You can keep up on the blog. (At least one a week is advised.)
• You have topics of interest to post, educational articles, or relevant industry information to share.
• You want a simple way to create new relevant content on your site.

Still want a blog but think that this is just way too much to handle?

Consider hiring a ghost writer for your blog, and/or working with an internet marketing company to help you out with topics. Ghost writers will do the writing for you, and post on your blog under your name. Some even have a great sense of what is going on in your industry (or ways to find out) and can offer topics for you. Internet marketing companies can help you figure out what to blog about based on what people are searching for. Then they work their magic and build links to your blog post to help drive traffic to your site.

Still not sure about blogging?

As Heidi said, blogging is not for everyone, and that’s OK! Not every company has to have a blog, but do explore other social media outlets and use them to their full advantage to get your URL (and company) brand recognition on the internet.

While I don’t believe that eBooks will ever take the place of the printed word, the internet is definitely the place to be for socialization, networking, business transactions, etc.-and it just keeps growing.

This short DBJ report on social networking (found in my twitter feed of course – thanks to @buzz4help) shows a 300% growth vs. last year.

So, how “on-line” is your business?

Are you blogging, tweeting, advertising on the internet, being found in search engines for the right keywords?

There’s no one “magic button” for internet exposure, but effective internet marketing can help you find the right place to be, and the right places to invest your time and dollars.

If you’re looking to increase your on-line exposure, find a company that knows the current environment and has a proven track record for helping other businesses. Look for

• Someone who will look at the big picture and understand your budget, goals, and incorporate how much time your business has to invest in internet activities.
• Experience – there are new companies opening their virtual doors every day. Take the time to check references. Ask for proof (case studies, reports from past projects, etc.) to validate their expertise.
• On-line and off-line integration – remember, the eBook will not replace the printed word. Make sure you work with a company that understands cross integration of your print and on-line efforts.
• Honesty – if they tell you your site will get a specific percent of new traffic, or a specific placement as soon as you sign up, be wary. The internet is a virtual organism and no one can make any such promises without using paid ad spots (which can be very effective, but are not the right solution for every site).

With great potential comes risk, choose wisely who you will work with to avoid unnecessary expenses and to focus on investments for your business’s on-line marketing. When we’re working with our clients to develop an on-line strategy, we base every decision on the goals, budget, and potential ROI of each recommendation; and we review our results every month, which allows us to validate and/or alter our course of action for future investments.

Re-Tweeting

RT is short for “retweeting”, a term developed by the twitter community, not by twitter. While it is not an “official” Twitter command, it is a community standard used to re-post someone else’s tweet. Simply put RT somewhere in the tweet you are re-tweeting, it’s a great way to pass along useful information to your followers.

Have a blog? Post updates to your twitter account!

For those of you using WordPress for your blog, consider using the “Twitter Tools” plug-in to automatically tweet when you have a new blog post. Another option is http://twitterfeed.com/ a free service that will also tweet your posts for you.

How to keep up to date without visiting your twitter home page.

The one item that was a must have for me was an easy interface for tweeting, and I knew I would not check a webpage everyday. So I went on the search for a desktop application to serve my needs. I found that twhirl suited my needs (including ability to RT, reply, tweet, and read all of the tweets that I am following with a single click), but there are quite a few app’s available. Visit the Twitter downloads page to find one that fits your needs.

So who’s following you now?

I think this little tip is one of my favorites. Twimailer is a free service that delivers information right to your in-box about new followers. It enhances the default Twitter new follower e-mail notification to show you more information about your new follower such as their recent tweets, how many people are following them, and gives you the option to follow them back right from your e-mail. Very handy!

Brand your tweets.

For those of you tweeting, take some time to visit the settings link on your Twitter page and customize your landing page! Add a custom background, customize the font’s, color, etc. and brand your page! Also, don’t forget to upload an image. It helps your followers recognize your tweets in their twitter apps, and adds that touch of personalization that we all desire in this digital age.

There is so much more…

We also had the pleasure of attending seOverflow’s social media presentation at Denver Media Group a few weeks back. They went over a lot of great information on Twitter as well as other social media resources like Linked-In and Facebook. You can see the slides from the presentation here.

Happy tweeting! — Kandra

To my pleasant surprise I found that Alex King (a really great local Denver WordPress developer) has a wonderful plug-in that (of course) does just what I was looking for.

Well I finally signed up for a twitter account and started tweeting!

From getting a good laugh in the middle of the day to hearing about events and special tid-bits of news about other business are working with, Twitter is proving to be a great little tool. The “hardest” part was figuring out how it all worked, and how to keep up on everyone’s tweets. I found a few tools on the twitter Web site that make tweeting convenient and found that twirl was the best fit for me.

Another nifty gadget is the Twitter badge that lets you put your latest tweet on your blog and other social networking sites.

If you are twittering (and don’t see me following you) let me know!

Find twitter to be a resource for you and your business? Let us know about that too!

Want to follow me on Twitter? @phasesdesign
Just want to see what I am tweeting about? http://twitter.com/phasesdesign