Last night I got a signed copy of Corporate Blogging for Dummies by Doug Karr and Chantelle Flannery. Doug and Chantelle were the featured speakers at the event I attended and although I don’t consider myself a “dummy”, I was eager to hear what they had to say and learn some new tips I can use to help clients. Note: I haven’t had time to read the book yet (since I just got it 12 hours ago!), but a few highlights from last nights talk that stood out:

Blogging helps to remove potential buyer’s fear.

Money back guarantee, free delivery, secure server connection… all of these help a buyer feel secure if they are making a purchase online. However, even for service providers who don’t sell directly online a blog can accomplish the same thing.

Here’s an example for a client I am currently coaching, Center for Christian Life Enrichment. They are a group of therapists in Northbrook, one of Chicago’s North Shore neighborhoods. What fear needs to be removed for their potential clients?

• fear of confronting whatever issue they may need to face
• fear that they will pick a therapist that doesn’t resonate with them or will not understand them
• fear that the therapist is inexperienced, etc.

A blog is a perfect way for a particular therapist to express themselves and give (anonymous) examples of how they have helped other clients tackle life challenges similar to the reader’s. The potential client can get a sense for the therapist’s tone, sense of humor, ethics, interests, family life, etc. all of which may allow the client to build a sense of trust with the therapist, even before the first session begins. I’m willing to bet that relationships formed with a higher degree of understanding at the beginning are likely to go more smoothly than selecting a therapist from a list of names in a telephone book (does anyone use those anymore?) or just a listing on a web site.

Improve your odds of being found with organic search.

The other basic reason businesses need to be blogging is to improve their search engine optimization (SEO.) Doug Karr stated last night, ”Do the math–it just stands to reason that when you use key words more frequently, you’re going to index higher with Google and other search engines. It’s a numbers game.” Organic (or natural, unpaid) search tends to be more trusted by consumers because they know that they earned the positioning because of content and consistency, not because they were the highest bidder in a pay-per-click ad campaign.

In my preliminary coaching session with clients, one of the first items we address is what key words or phrases do you need to “own” on Google in order to drive prospects and buyers to your site? This a critical first step. Otherwise, you’re just putting down random words on paper and hoping for the best. Intentionality and consistency are highly rewarded in the world of corporate blogging.

I’m happy to report that after just four weeks, my client the Center for Christian Life Enrichment is now ranking on the first page of Google (twice) for one of their key phrases: “Christian Counseling Northbrook.” At the beginning of our time together, they weren’t visible at all until page 4 or 5. They were delighted and so was I.

Some skeptics might claim the key phrase is too specific–who else would be competing for that phrase anyway? Doug Karr claims that local search is one of the most overlooked areas that companies miss. Corporate Blogging for Dummies states that local search has continued double digit growth for the last few years.

Chantelle Flannery says, “Using geographic terms in your content can help you appear on long-tail keyword searches that include geographic terms such as states, cities, zip codes, area codes, school districts, street names and so on.” They are some of the easiest terms to obtain ranking for. Even though the number of people searching for the term is generally quite limited, the quality of the lead tends to be very good precisely because the search result is a great fit for their query.

Look for Corporate Blogging and other group training opportunities soon or contact us to arrange private coaching.

In our workshops we encourage attendees to structure their time on LinkedIn efficiently—we recommend limiting time spent to intentional, targeted activities spent in 20 minute daily segments. One activity typically offers a high payoff: scanning your inbox for possible leads, connections or meetings.

How many emails do we get from new contacts each week just in the course of conducting regular business? How many of these escape our “connection radar?” Try taking 20 minutes every week or two to scan email in your inbox for new and interesting prospects. Reach out to those contacts via LinkedIn to form a more lasting connection. Traditional scrolling is one way to go about it, but there are several helpful (free!) tools you can use integrate with Microsoft Outlook to make this chore more efficient.

Four popular tools available now include: Xobni (inbox spelled backwards), Gist, Outlook Social Connector and LinkedIn Toolbar for Outlook. I have personally tested each of these except of Outlook Social Connector. (Actually I am simultaneously running each of the other three—not necessarily recommended! It cramps your desktop and may make Outlook run more slowly. The things I do in the name of research!)

How do these tools work? This video gives a one minute explanation:

Each plug-in operates somewhat differently, but generally each offers the user a way to:

• Get current contact information for connections
• Grow your LinkedIn network more easily by clicking an icon from your Outlook account rather than logging on to LinkedIn to make connections
• Track the latest activity from members of your network

For me, using this tool has meant that I probably still spend close to 20 minutes for day developing my LinkedIn network; however, this particular task is now something I weave into nearly every day, and even every email exchange—simply because it is now so easy to do. This leaves me free to concentrate on other tasks such as ‘Group Diving’, appointment setting or other business developments we teach in our workhops on other days.

Go ahead. Take a few minutes today to mine your inbox for gold. Please share any stories of success you are able to find. Happy prospecting!

I usually like to focus on the up-side of social media marketing for business. After all–it’s free, not too difficult to learn and manage with proper training and a great way to build and maintain relationships with customers. So what’s the “other” side? Reputation management. In a nutshell, businesses need to think about what they could be losing by refusing to participate effectively in social media. I have a bit of bad news for those businesses–just because you decide you don’t have the time or inclination to participate in social media doesn’t mean negative comments and conversations aren’t Read the rest of this entry »

“THARG!” What the heck does it mean? It kind of sounds like something a pirate might say when provoked, doesn’t it? In this case THARG is an acronym developed by Indiana’s own Amy Stark in her book “The 2009 Tweeter’s Almanac.” THARG stands for:

T – Transparency

H – Honesty Read the rest of this entry »

I began thinking about how Twitter, Facebook and even LinkedIn have changed the nature of the networking events I attend. Curious whether others had already commented on this phenomenon, I tried Googling a few related words and stumbled onto a post from the Chicago Tribune that said, “Just as beer is a social lubricant in real life, Twitter and Facebook are social lubricants Read the rest of this entry »

This post is as much about asking for advice as giving. I’ll give you what I’ve got (so far), but sincerely hope to hear from people who are much smarter than I am about this so we can all learn something… My problem? I’m addicted to connecting with people. As far as I know, there is no 12-step program for this and as far as addictions go, I guess it’s pretty tame. Read the rest of this entry »

I just got back from a Learn at Lunch lecture by Post-Tribune Columnist Jerry Davich at the Porter County United Way in Valparaiso. Jerry was speaking about his recent book: “Connections: Everyone Happens for a Reason.” I was intrigued by the book’s title because it’s something I’ve always inherently felt to be true—just hadn’t come up with that particular wording… Read the rest of this entry »

I had a great conversation with a terrific woman by the name of Evelyn Johnston recently. Evelyn is the Premier Short Sale Realtor in Elkhart County, Indiana—a busy niche during this challenging economic climate. I met her through a connection with Dave Woodson, a.k.a. “The Mad Mortgage Machine.” Evelyn and I compared life stories and learned that we had more than a few similarities… Read the rest of this entry »

As the year draws to a close, I feel the need to take a moment to express gratitude for the new people I’ve met, new opportunities presented to me, new lessons learned and new ideas I’m looking forward to exploring in 2010 and beyond. Here are a few highlights…

I’ll start with yesterday, December 30th. Steve Dalton, Dave Woodson, Aaaron Simac and I headed down to Indianapolis to attend Indiana’s Inaugural Social Media Summit Smackdown Awards Ceremony, organized by Indianapolis’ Amy Stark, a force to be reckoned with and a heck of a nice lady to boot! Steve, Dave and I had all been nominated–as well as several others from Northwest Indiana who were unable to attend: Nat Finn, Read the rest of this entry »