How Blogs Work 4 U

A lot of companies (and more importantly, people in companies) are reluctant to embrace the blogosphere. This post is designed to explain the basic mechanics of blog software, and demonstrate how blogging software enables the creation of high quality IBL (in bound links) to your site, which directly improves your search rankings on Google.

To me, blogs are like tofu. A lot of people say they don't like it for various reasons even though they have never actually experienced it. Or certainly haven't understand all of its benefits.

Blogs are powerful in two ways:

1. Blog software enables cross-linking and networking as if your site is on steroids.
2. Blog content is where the action is these days on the internet.

In my opinion, if you want to be successful online, you must understand how blogs work. If you want to "control your message" as many companies do, your best move is to be proactive with your own blog, or as Realty Objectives says, Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant. Remember, anyone can start a blog and say just about anything they want about you. Are you ready and able to respond? Are you willing to talk candidly to your customers? Can you make the time to share some of your enormous wisdom and satisfy the deep hunger people have to know before they buy?

Here is a short primer on how blogs work.

Add a comment on a blog

This is the easiest way to get your feet wet with blogging. You do not need a blog to so this! And your site will benefit immediately because your comment will create a link back to your site. (AKA "backlink" or "in bound link - IBL)

Trackback to another blog

Once you have a blog, you can trackback to another blog. This means, you add a link on your site, to someone else's blog. If their blog is configured correctly (not all blogs are equal!) then a link to your article will show up on their site. Robert Scoble gets a lot of comments and trackbacks on his blog. The trackbacks can be distinguished from the comments as they start with a bracket "[...]". Click on the "Comments" link for any article to see the details.

Gain an In Bound Link from the Trackbacked Article

Again, if the other blog is configured correctly, your trackback will create a link on their site back to your site! Then all of the people reading that person's blog, will be able to click on over to your site and read your blog as well.

Ping the Main Blog Directories

New directory sites track the activity on millions of blogs. This is where people can go to find the most recent blog discussion on virtually any topic. If your blog software enables it (not all blogs are created equal) then when you post a new blog article, you can "ping" or contact these directories to say, "Hey! I just posted a new article on my blog, and it's called "Five reasons Why Blogs Can Save Your Business." This is done automatically for you, in the background, by the software.

Gain an In Bound Link from Each Directory

Once you ping the directory, your link then shows up at the top of the list at each site. This generates more IBL going to your site, on very specific, keyword-dense topics. It also exposes you to millions of people looking there for articles just like yours.

The Results

Where to begin? There are so many!

• Increase in bound links to your site, from quality web sites, means better Google rankings for you.
• You have more of your expert content on the web, positioning you as leader in your business space.
• Customers flock to you as a knowledge provider.
• Customers pre-qualify themselves by learning about you and your business.
• You make it easy for others to link to you and collaborate online.
• You have a tool to respond quickly and forcefully should others be discussing you and your business.
  

We'll talk about tagging and RSS later.

blog, business, barefeetstudios, ping, trackback, how to,

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Gliffy is Glorious!

Gliffy is an online tool for making diagrams and flowcharts. Imagine, being able to crate a diagram in a web browser, then share it with colleagues, who can make their own changes, and everybody’s versions are saved so you can revert backwards if necessary, or view different iterations of a concept. Whew! It’s awesome.

I love Gliffy. We are developing a new site and Gliffy creates a process that is light years ahead of me having to make the initial site plan diagrams in OmniGraffle, then convert to PDF, then distribute via email or BaseCamp, then get revisions by fax or in email as people try to say, "Can you move that blue box in About over to the left of Contact?"

It takes collaboration from concept to reality when it comes to software like Visio. It is a great use of web-based functionality. It makes my life easier as now I am not the only one who can update these maps, or test different strategies, or track versions. And for now (it's in Beta) it is free. I'd be happy to pay for it.

It is a Flash-based app that has a very clean, intuitive interface. It acts just like a desktop application. Since it is based in your web browser, it is Mac-PC compatible.

Mahalos to Alison, the Click Chick for turning me onto this terrific new business tool.

collaboration, visio, software, web-based, application

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Business Leaders Respond to Market

My dad (a retired Fortune 10 Veep) and I used to disagree a lot. His main claim was that I was too idealistic; people don’t change; money will always be more important than people. But actually, I see evidence of change in the business landscape all over the place. Fortune online has a new list for CEO’s, and that icon of last century, Jack Welch, now represents the “out” column.

It's no coincidence that my Dad and I now agree on a lot of things. As Bob Dylan reminded us many years ago, the times, they are a changing. And how could they not?

Dad agrees that CEO salaries have gotten out of control. He agrees that employees at all levels of the org chart perform better when compensated fairly and with a stake in the the success of the company. He still thinks I am too idealistic, but heh! Someone's got to be out front exploring what could be possible.

Here's how Fortune sees the shift.

What's your take? Does your company manage money and soul?
My friend Richard Whiteley wrote The Corporate Shaman "way" back in 2002. For those of us who can see possibilities, the future tends to arrive slowly. But nonetheless, it does manage to get here eventually.

Tags: business spirit richard whiteley shaman

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