There are many benefits to start a business blog. It is a communication vehicle for important messages and a friendly interactive way to stay in touch with your customers or fans.

With over 156 million public blogs in existence, there are blogs that thrive and others that fail.  For as many great blog posts, there are a greater number of poorly written or tasteless blogs.

So what is a blog? According to Wikipedia, a blog is a blend or part of the term “web log.” It is usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.

An advantage of a blog is that it is interactive.  It is simply connecting visitors with your blogs. It is about reaching into the blogosphere and tapping into unknown potential future customers. Whether your business has a blog or you would like to start one, here are a few tips to keep in mind.

What is the purpose of the blog. Are you trying to increase sales, awareness, or recognition? Ask yourself this; what do you like to read in a blog? Start with a goal in mind, keep it simple and provide quality content.

Start conservatively. Whether you have the ambition to blog several times a day, it might be easier to build a blog into a weekly work plan.  It will be beneficial to have a solid blog with relevant content than one that is poorly written due to of lack of time.

Engage your viewers. Try and make your blogs conversational. When someone leaves a comment on your blog, take advantage and reply. This brings life to your blog and you will create a loyal following with return fans/viewers/customers.

Create sharing buttons. Let your customers and fans share your great content by simply adding other social media buttons. If they feel strongly about your blog, let them be your “word-of-mouth” marketeers.

It takes time to build a loyal following.  Demonstrate your expertise by producing highly valuable content, make it visible and let the blogosphere do the rest.

If there is no advertising budget to promote your business, try “earned media.”  Earned media or “free media” is one of the most efficient and cost-effective methods to reach a large audience. Unlike paid media or advertising, earned media builds credibility in the minds of consumers because it usually comes from a credible third-party person or organization.  An example of earned media is a customer testimonial sharing their experience of your product or service.

Public relations, word-of-mouth, social media (such as Facebook and Twitter) and public service announcements are also earned media.  A press release published in the newspaper, viewed on a web site, heard on the radio or broadcast on television are all communication vehicles of earned media.  By creating good content that is newsworthy about your business, you can generate media coverage that targets your audience with your specific message. It is simply positive exposure for your business. It is also a powerful communication tool that is underutilized.

Earned media exposure breaks down to whom you know and who knows you. It is important to identify and establish relationships with the media.  It takes time to understand how they work, what they require and what you have to offer.

For a non-profit organization, seize the opportunity to use a public service announcement (PSA). PSA’s can be very effective since broadcasters (television and radio) as well as publishers often run PSA’s in donated airtime or unused advertising space. It is a targeted message to promote and heighten awareness, educate the masses and call viewers to action.  One rule of thumb is that a PSA is not an advertisement, but a service for the public good. Government agencies and almost all non-profits will qualify for PSA time.

Earned media follows the same rules as a press release.  It should be professionally produced with newsworthy content. It should also focus on your niche product or service.

Although earned media is free, your time is not. It doesn’t happen overnight.  Get yourself organized and create an earned media calendar. It is the most powerful free communication tool you have.

The Internet and social media have influenced how we write.  How many times have you seen abbreviated words like LOL or numbers and words like 4u? If you are writing a press release, web site update or other marketing collaterals; the rule of thumb is to use business standard English.  Another words make sure that you use plain and simple English. Direct communication using conversational flow will enhance your message to connect with your customers. Know and practice your ABC’s – accuracy, brevity and clarity.

Accuracy – Be careful and meticulous. Make sure your content is free from error.

Brevity – Be crisp and concise. Emphasize with compactness of expression.

Clarity – Be clear and open. Make sure your content articulates your point across.

Here are a few tips to improve your writing style.

The four-eye theory. Find someone that can be your editorial buddy. It is difficult to see your own mistakes, so have a trusted source that can proof this before you send it out. Four eyes are always better than two when it comes to proofreading.

Spell out the acronyms first. A good rule is always to spell out the acronym before using it. There is nothing more frustrating to try and guess what the acronym stands for if the reader has not been informed beforehand. It can always be interrupted wrongly.

Remember the five W’s. Remember the five “W’s” is key. They are who, what, where, when and why. These five “W’s” are your guide to clear communication.

Check for homonyms. A homophone is a word is pronounced the same but has a different meaning. For example, their or there; dear or deer; through or threw. Even spell-check will not save you here!

Watch for poor word choices and clichés. Clichés are overused and become stale, so if you must use one, keep them at a minimum. For example, “To be or not to be, that is the question,” “As old as the hills,” or “What goes around comes around.”

During the height of the economic downfall, businesses downsized and kept only the core departments. Now that the recession is over, there are many businesses that are struggling with their brand. Why is branding important? Since the relationship between the company and client was not maintained, it becomes challenging to sustain and grow their business for the longer haul.

Branding is the heart and soul of your business.  Branding is simply not a logo, but it is about your customer’s experience. Branding makes your business attractive to investors, consumers and future employees as well. In a non-profit world, it is about your donors.  Did you cultivate your donors during the harsh economic times?  For companies, did you stay in tune with what your customer’s needs?  For small start-ups, did you brand your product or service to your target audience?

Building a relationship with your customer does not happen overnight.  It needs to be cultivated.

Here are four tips to give your brand a boost:

Define or re-define your target audience. – Who are your target audience?  Are they the Millennials, Gen X, Baby Boomers?  It is imperative to be specific and target the type of customers, donors or clients in your business.

Focus on PR and advertising. – Create a balance between public relations and advertising.  Public relations play an important role in any business as it helps build your brand.  A key element to remember before spending advertising dollars is that self-proclamations do not build brands; the media does.  Earned media (public relations) is much more respected by customers since it articulates your brand.

Have a strong web presence. -  If you do not have a web presence, you are missing an opportunity to build your brand and grow your business. Every business and non-profit should have a strong web presence. This allows people to learn more about your products or services.

Encourage social media with your employees. –  Facebook and Twitter are the most popular social networking sites, but there are businesses that do not understand the power of social media.  Your employees are your best brand ambassadors and enabling them to share their stories will benefit your business.

A press release is a news-story, written in third person objective point of view that adds newsworthy value for the media to report it out. It is a great communication vehicle to spread the word about an event, news or announcements.

For best results, create a template that has the relevant factual information on the top and bottom. The middle is saved for the actual press release topic.

At the top:

The company logo

The press release needs an identity where it coming from. The company logo is essential to have front and center of the press release.

Media Contact

The media contact, phone number and email address is usually the person that is writing the press release.

Date and Location

The date of the press release must be included along with the city and state (Example: Bellevue, WA).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is significant because it informs the reader that the news is ready to be communicated.  It is always written in upper case.

The heart of the press release:

Press Release Headline

The headline or title should be optimized to grab the reader’s attention. The headline should include upper and lower case.  Sometimes a subhead can be written just below the headline. The headline format should be centered.

The Lead

The lead is the hook of the article.  It is an introduction that can briefly summarize the entire press release. It should explain who, what, where, how and when. This paragraph must be clear and concise.

The Quote

It is good practice to have a relevant quote that holds substance to the press release. The quote can be a stand-alone paragraph and is always the second or third paragraph in the press release.

The Rest of the Press Release

This is the perfect place to explain in detail about the press release.  For example, if your organization is having an event, explain the importance of it. Does someone benefit from the event?  Will the proceeds be donated?

At the bottom:

“-30-“ or “###”

The -30- or ### at the end of the press release simply means that the topic of the press release is completed.

The Boilerplate

The boilerplate or the very last paragraph is usually three to four sentences about your organization.

• Some key points to remember:
• Limit the press release to one or two pages
• State only the facts and always double-check them
• Submit an image or logo
• Write in a professional manner
• If you add links, be sure to select keywords for best search engine optimization

Writing an effective press release is quite simple once you master the technique.

There are over one trillion web sites today. It is no longer enough to have a visually appealing web site that people will notice. You need to provide compelling content for them to share and most importantly, features that will keep them coming back to your web site. Before building a web site, you need to have a design plan checklist. What are your marketing objectives? What are your primary and secondary objectives with the web site?

The web site needs to establish your credibility, describe your products and/or services, offer customer service and/or support and communicate the identity and brand of your company. It should be search engine friendly, generate repeat users and encourage new users to your site.

Here are a few tips:

Create a web site design look & feel. – Always appeal your web site to your target audience. For example, if you are selling baby shoes, build the contents and multimedia to parents. There are many items to consider such as colors, columns, if the navigation bar will be vertical or horizontal and if photos or videos will be added. Remember the objectives are to always encourage visitors to stay and view the other pages on your web site.

Have robust rich content. – Content is king and a good web site will have robust rich content that generates repeat traffic, increases customer loyalty and encourage visitors to recommend the site to others. Content is something that is expressed through some sort of medium. This can be a company brochure, presentations, case studies, testimonials, blogs, videos and so forth. Be careful with overloading your web site with pop-up windows, auto-load videos and sound and blinking or scrolling text.

Make sure it is easy to navigate. – It is best to keep it simple and easy for your customers to click through your web site.  It should be clear and concise. If you have links, make sure they work and are easy to identify. A nice and simple feature is to have your company logo linked so it returns to your home page. A good rule to remember is to design your web site for your target audience and think how they will navigate through your site.

Designing your web site is key for a positive user experience. Media Footprint can assist with your web site marketing design goals. Contact us today for more information.

Recently a small business owner went to her local Wi-Fi coffee shop in the afternoon and started working on her laptop. Several hoodlums entered the coffee shop and stole her laptop while she was typing on it. The hoodlums departed not only with a $2,000 laptop, but a wealth of irreplaceable information and database.

In today’s global workplace, we have been breaking away from the traditional office locations to have informal meetings at public places.  There is a greater risk for damage or thief. Here are some tips to prepare you for a quicker recovery.

Create a post-disaster communications strategy. Entrepreneurs spend a tremendous amount of time, money and resources to become successful. Having an emergency preparedness plan in place can help you stay in business following a disaster. Create a plan by identifying what your business needs to protect yourself in a natural disaster, fire or theft. A plan should include current phone numbers and email addresses for your clients, employees, suppliers, utility companies, local media and emergency agencies. Keep the contact lists in a safe place, perhaps on another computer that is not attached to the network, an external drive or offsite. A portable generator could become useful and may be a part of your plan.

Back up your data. It is easy to fall out of the habit of backing up our computers.  Fortunately, there are several tools that can easily be adopted to suit your business needs.  External hard drives and or cloud computing are great solutions.  The key to backing up your computer is vital for a quicker recovery.  Get into a routine to backup your system daily.

Update your plan. It is recommended that every business have a disaster plan and reviews it. Does your office have extra bottle water, packaged food, flashlights and a first aid kit?  If so, check to make sure the batteries are working and the food and medical supplies have not expired.

Get proper insurance coverage. There are so many different business insurances that will cover your basic needs. Talk with an insurance agent and research the varieties offered.  As your business grows, make sure to have your insurance policy cover the additional requirements.

Have you seen web sites where you found simple spelling errors or typo mistakes? This can change your informative content into an irritable user experience.

In today’s business standard, plain and simple English is the best. Using “big words” are lost on web sites and in the social media world. Direct communication using conversational flow will enhance your message to connect with your users. Know and practice your ABC’s – accuracy, brevity and clarity.

Accuracy – Be careful and meticulous. Make sure your content is free from error.

Brevity – Be crisp and concise. Emphasize with compactness of expression.

Clarity – Be clear and open.  Make sure your content articulates your point across.

Here are a few tips to improve your writing style.

The four-eye theory. Find someone that can be your editorial buddy. It is difficult to see your own mistakes, so have a trusted source that can proof this before you send it out. Four eyes are always better than two when it comes to proofreading.

Spell out the acronyms first. A good rule is always to spell out the acronym before using it. There is nothing more frustrating to try and guess what the acronym stands for if the reader has not been informed beforehand. It can always be interrupted wrongly.

Remember the five W’s. Remember the five “W’s” is key.  They are who, what, where, when and why. These five “W’s” are your guide to clear communication.

Check for homonyms. A homophone is a word is pronounced the same but has a different meaning. For example, their or there; dear or deer; through or threw. Even spell-check will not save you here!

Watch for poor word choices and clichés. Cliches are overused and become stale, so if you must use one, keep them at a minimum. For example, “To be or not to be, that is the question,” “As old as the hills,” or “What goes around comes around.”

Social Media Marketing is growing.  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs are four top social media tools used by marketers. One of greatest benefits to social media marketing is to generate exposure for your business.  It can result in new business partnerships, improve sales and reduce overall marketing expenses.

In a recent study by Social Media Examiner, businesses were skeptical about social media two years ago. Today, 90% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business. A remarkable 58% of marketers are using social media for six hours or more each week. Those with more experience in social media spend more time each week conducting in these activities.

It is a time commitment and should be treated as part of your overall business and marketing strategy.  Hiring an effective community manager is a great investment if social media is a tool you want to incorporate in your business.  A community manager or social media guru can help your business stand out in an increasingly noisy world. They can generate more exposure to your business while improving your web traffic.

From start-ups to multinational corporations, a community manager can take advantage of a growing social media world and expose your company in the online universe.  A community manager is the face and voice of your brand. They live and breathe in a flexible 24/7 schedule that can login anywhere at any time. They must have the personality and passion that will reflect your brand. They are your first point of contact for customers and can impact a positive or negative opinion of your brand.  It is imperative to find a community manager that fits your company’s culture and work in an independent manner.

Small business owners are more likely to use LinkedIn to grow but larger organizations not only use LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and blogs, they also incorporate YouTube or other video to reach to their audience.

Confused? Media Footprint specializes in digital media. We are happy to assist your business with your digital media footprint.

Timing is everything when you are trying to reach out to the masses. It is important to know when to tweet or post on Facebook, send an email or blog.  The traditional 9am to 5pm computer login is gone, as the Internet never shuts down.  It is constant, global and 24/7.

Social media is social interaction. If you want that window of opportunity to grab someone’s attention, it is best to deliver content at times when other people are not delivering as much content.  This will enable a better chance to gain attention.

A recent research conducted by Hubspot found some surprising results. For Twitter, it is best to tweet late in the day and late in the week. Naturally if you are tweeting Pacific Standard Time (PST), remember the time zones for the Eastern Standard Time (EST). Think about the followers on EST and plan accordingly. Tweet as often as possible since followers are used to 144 characters or less and if they don’t like it, they can skip that tweet.

For Facebook, it is best to post on weekends since many employers block Facebook in the office.  Unlike Twitter, post every other day.  Facebook is popular during the lunch hours, so it is good to update your page around midday.

Did you know that email gets more attention on the weekends when people have additional time to read over them?  The highest email traffic tends to be early mornings on the weekends.

If blogging is your most effective social media tool, it is best to blog early in the morning, before traditional working hours. Most people like to read their blogs when they sit down for that first cup of coffee or lunch.  Depending on your blogging software, you can set your communications ahead of time so you don’t have to set you alarm clock to 6am to post your blog.

It helps to know your audience, but if you do not, try your own survey.  Ask your core target group and spend time to understand your individual audience.  You can action the best course of treatment and you may see more results if you Tweet late, Facebook on weekends, email early and blog before the lunch hour.