Outsourcing Your Social Media – What It Involves

 

“We do not have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is – HOW WELL WE DO IT”. – Erik Qualman.

It is swiftly becoming the situation that using social media is no longer a choice for businesses.  Just because you may not use facebook or pinterest does not mean that your potential customers are not using them. It is now a case of HOW WELL you use social media.

How well social media works for your business depends on how well you use it though.  Don’t expect it to be an overnight success  – social media is about building relationships, growing trust, building the blocks of brand awareness.  It is important that you measure your social media activities and results so you can evaluate, make changes, concentrate on what is working well, explore new methods. Social media is constantly changing too – this makes it interesting and exciting, however, for many business people who are already busy running their business, these changes can put them off, can make it seem too difficult and too time consuming.

I decided to write this post to offer a snapshot of what we at Write on Track can do for you, to get your business on track effectively with social media.

Outsourcing your Social Media:

You are busy doing what you do best – running your business. If social media is not something you are interested in or feel you have the time to dedicate to it, then outsourcing your social media can be the answer.

Content Creation

Outsourcing your Blogging – Let us write your blog posts

We love blogging! We both write a number of blogs (for ourselves and for clients) and I’m also the co-founder of Blog Awards Ireland. We can write your blog posts for you and the following list is what we tend to provide for clients (although they can be tailored specifically for your business):

• Average of 400 words per post
• Optimised by using highly searched keywords
• Photographs that are re-sized and named for SEO purposes (also for Pinterest)
• Call to action within the post
• Strong headlines

We can write blog posts for your business in a tone that suits your style, so you can concentrate on other aspects of your business.  All we need to do is set up an initial meeting with you and then we’ll communicate with you on an occasional basis by email.  We will monitor and evaluate periodically and discuss findings and any suggested changes with you.

Blogging Training

It can be difficult to start writing a blog – often due to a lack of confidence, bloggers block, not quite sure how to structure it or how to include a call to action. These are common stumbling blocks that we can help you to overcome.

We can arrange for any of the following:

• Blogging training in a small group
• One-to-one training
• Help you set up your blog
• Monitor your blogging by providing feedback on drafts

Additional Social Media

We can also take care of your other social media for you or offer training in the following:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest

We can do as little or as much as you would like us too. We can assure you of confidentiality, our trustworthiness, our flexibility and our ability to work independently, compile data, undertake research, organise information and above all, write well in an appropriate style for your business.

You can see the various packages we offer too. Do contact us if you would like to enquire about any of our training or if you would like to outsource your social media to us.

Public Speaking

We love talking about social media just as much as we enjoy writing blog posts and being active on all the social media platforms.  We’ve both presented at various conferences and for networking groups. Do contact us if you would like to engage either of us as a speaker for an upcoming conference or a networking group.

You can read more about us here and check out some testimonials too.

Photo: Cearbhuil Studios

 

Find It Friday! Does site speed affect my Google ranking?

Welcome to  Find It Friday in which we help you find the answers to your blogging questions. 

The Question

This week’s question may seem a bit techie..but bear with us..it is an important element of how your blog ranks in Google and enhances your reader experience.

I noticed that my blog took a while to load when I opened it up to show a friend on his computer recently.  He said that speed difference will affect my Google ranking. Is he right and if so, how fast should a page load and what can I do to make it load faster?

The Answer

Yes, he is right. Google uses site speed (i.e. how quickly a website responds to web requests) as part of their search ranking algorithms.

Here is what Google has to say:

Speeding up websites is important — not just to site owners, but to all Internet users. Faster sites create happy users and we’ve seen in our internal studies that when a site responds slowly, visitors spend less time there.

Blog expert, Heidi Cohen recommends that your pages should load in under two seconds and at most three. After checking the speed, determine which elements slow your page down. Google has a list of  free tools that you can use to evaluate the speed of your site at code.google.com/speed.

Final word from Google…

While site speed is a new signal, it doesn’t carry as much weight as the relevance of a page. (However) We encourage you to start looking at your site’s speed (the tools above provide a great starting point) — not only to improve your ranking in search engines, but also to improve everyone’s experience on the Internet.

Do you have a question on how to blog effectively?

Leave a comment below and we will be happy to help you find the answer.

Blogging Success Stories: Móna of Wise Words

I really enjoy seeing blogs blossom, especially blogs that have helped their owner create a successful business or help them in their career. Today I’m delighted to share the story of Móna Wise with you, a lady I met online when she was writing her first blog which was a personal family style blog.  It has now metamorphosed into a blog/website and helped her to launch her first book and secure a job as a food columnist for the Irish Sunday Times.

1. Mona, I met you online via our mutual personal blogs some years ago, can you remember why you initially started blogging?

I started blogging when we moved our family from America to Switzerland in 2007. I was spending a lot of time emailing friends, back home in the US, with photos and little stories of what we were up to and how life in Europe was going. I started with Blogger and it was easy and free to get set up on – so I dove right in without really thinking about it. Straight away I got plenty of feedback from mostly friends and family. Note: Feedback does not mean comments. It took ages for me to engage readers to a point of ‘commenting’ on my blog.

2. Why did you change your blogging platform and can you explain how the blog changed and developed in theme/format/content too.

Blogger was easy and free but I was finding it difficult to leave comments on other ‘blogspot’ blogs at times (I believe this has improved now) so felt if I were going to try to engage an audience and get more readers interacting I needed to make the switch to something a little more reader-friendly.

I found WordPress.com (also free and very easy to set up) very sexy. It had very clean lines and once I uploaded a few photos it looked very professional.

I started really working on the photos then too. I had been to a few food blogger workshops, and had seen a lot of blogs with terrible food shots, and it taught me a lot on ‘what not to do’ so I made a conscious decision to only share a photo that I really LOVED. So, I suppose, because I changed ‘how’ I was blogging, that might have also changed ‘who’ I attracted as readers too. Photos draw people in and (hopefully) the stories engage them and the recipes keep them coming back for more.

3. Did the blog help in the writing and sales of your book and in getting your job as a columnist?

If you want to write a book – then I recommend start by writing a blog. Blogging is great exercise for those typing fingers. And on days when you can’t write … you will always be able to blog. It is so important to keep your fingers moving.

The blog is still the primary vehicle for book sales. We track our traffic incoming and outgoing so can see ‘how’ people find us and then if they link to Kennys.ie or Amazon to buy the book. The (very) nice thing about self-publishing is that you have a lot more control over book sales data so you can see who is buying your book.

I am sure the blog also helped me get my job as a columist. These days, employers (if they are smart) study your digital footprint before they even consider interviewing you in person. How often do you Google yourself? Are you happy with the results you find? If you maintain a clean Facebook profile (personal page included) and write a blog that has a professional look and feel to it, then you already have your foot in the door.

I have another social media platform to thank for my job too. Someone at The Sunday Times (who I was not friends with) saw something they ‘liked’ on my (very) personal Facebook page and they contacted me directly. I was not looking for this dream job. I still feel like I am dreaming actually.

4. Do you think your blog has changed significantly in the last few months since the book was published?

Somewhat but probably just because I have been so  busy. I have not had a lot of time to just ‘blog’. I am INUNDATED with stuff PR companies keep sending me and do not even have time to run a giveaway – which I love to do – especially when I get something cool to share with my readers. Once the kids go back to school I will be back on the regular blogging bandwagon and I am looking forward to that.

Oh – and I am not sure if this is related to the book or The Sunday Times but there has been a very slow and steady increase in my email subscribers. I get five or seven new subscribers per week and this makes me very happy.

5. Do you have any tips for business bloggers?

Yes. Please let me know ‘who’ is behind the company blog. I hate faceless business bloggers. I know that employees change and you need to keep the business name as the ‘blogging persona’ but I like people. I like to see a smiley face and know who is behind the words or the tweets. Otherwise I find it very hard to trust – and if I can’t trust your business then it is very difficult for me to buy something from you.

Also, if you – as a business owner – want to have a blog but do not feel confident enough to write it, have a little inter-office competition and see if any of your employees would enjoy blogging as part of their job function. Same goes for Facebook and Twitter. I know so many business owners that keep stating they do not have time to engage in social media and I think that they are missing out on a huge HUGE opportunity to drive traffic to their online (or physical) site. Chances are if you find an employee that likes Facebook or Twitter they will enjoy blogging too.

6. Is a related-community important to a blogger in your opinion? ie is it important to be part of a community or niche?

I think, just like in real life, a blogger needs to have friends. You need to find (and meet up with) other bloggers to connect with.  My readers, many blogging in other areas of expertise, are all ‘blog readers’ and cooks or bakers. I get more emails from people about recipes and cooking challenges they might have and questions for the chef than I do about anything else. I see a steady increase in the way people engage online on my blog when I read back over the comments. I try to respond to every comment and now see that a lot of my readers, people who have never met each other, are starting to respond to each other – on my blog. Oh – how I love that. It is like they are all sitting in my kitchen having a chat and I am making tea for everyone. Community is very important – but no, it is not important to only be part of a niche blogging community. The world is a big and wonderful place – we should see other people. Lots of them.

7. Do you think that bloggers should use other social media to spread the word about their blog and drive traffic to it?

Online engagement can be a lot of fun. Just do not take your eye off the prize. I find that a fifty-minute work hour and ten minutes of online engagement on FB and Twitter works fantastically well. Facebook readers tend to be way more visual so upload photos a couple of times a week to keep them hooked and when tweeting, share interesting links and RT and share other bloggers’ blog posts.

I think that all depends on what a blogger’s goal might be. If you are trying to generate revenue from adds on your blog then sure – drive all the traffic you can there. If you are trying to sell a book, like me, then yes – definitely have a strategic plan in place in how to get more traffic to your blog.

If you are blogging for business then it is important that you reveal a bit of ‘yourself’ to your readers – who in turn will become your customers. I spend A LOT of time on the internet and trust me, when I am looking to buy a new product or hire someone the very first place I look is my Twitter stream/Facebook page/blog comments to see if I already know anyone that might offer the service I am looking for. I am a consumer after all.

I hope you enjoyed reading our interview with Móna Wise, author of The Chef and I, blogger at Wise Words and columnist with the Sunday Times.  It just shows that from little blogs, great things can grow.

If you are looking for a lovely recipe book, complete with the most interesting, intriguing, funny and heartfelt memoir, then do buy a copy of The Chef and I too.

10 Lessons from 5 Years of Blogging

I’ve been blogging for Garrendenny Lane for almost five years and I know I would probably cringe if I were to dare to look back at my first posts, particularly as they were for a business blog rather than a personal one. However, one learns from mistakes or (more advisably) from reading about someone else’s errors so here goes!

Reading Heidi Cohen’s post on her reflections after two years of blogging inspired this post too so many thanks to Heidi (and her excellent blog)

Having just written a post over at Blog Awards Ireland entitled ‘How Blogging Helped Lorna Sixsmith Beat The Recession‘ outlining how blogging brought in sales for one business and became the formation of another, it seems a good time to reflect on what I’ve learnt from 4.5 years of blogging.

I also love seeing businesses grow from small beginnings, particularly if they used blogging successfully to help them grow and recently featured Hunters Lodge Living as an example in my guest blog at Tweak Your Biz. Blogging can bring your business increased sales and it can also help in more unexpected ways too.

What I have learnt from 5 Years of Blogging:

1. Connections – Write about ten posts first and then start to connect with other bloggers. Find a few blogs to read regularly and write interesting comments to engage with them.  Drop them an email to introduce yourself and tell them about your blog.  They may have time to check out your blog and say ‘hi’. Don’t be disheartened if they don’t – emails can become buried in those inboxes!
2. Blogroll – Add complementary blogs to your blogroll. You will find interesting blogs to read on the blogrolls of other blogs in your subject area and this way, you may become part of existing communities.
3. Photographs – always include at least one photograph. Apart from breaking up the wall of text, they provide visual interest. Try not to use stock photographs all the time as they become boring and unoriginal.  Get your camera out and take photos you might be able to use.  If using someone else’s photographs, always attribute them as the source.
4. Calls to Action – I received many queries via phone calls during the first six months of my blog’s existence. These calls came because people had found my blog but weren’t sure if I sold the product I had blogged about or where they could get it. Initially I thought the blog was working extremely well as people were calling but then the penny dropped! I needed a call to action so that people would know where they could purchase the product and/or what services I offered.
5. Goals and Objectives – Every so often (once every six months), review the goals for your blog and rewrite your objectives. For example, one of the goals for this blog is to promote the blogging training and work we provide to businesses. One of my objectives then is to ensure that readers know we can teach people how to blog effectively and that they can outsource their blogging to us. Hence, I need to show my expertise by writing about blogging in an knowledgeable and informed method, including a call to action.
6. A Store of Topics – Keep a record of your ideas in one place. Keep them in evernote, a diary, a notebook, started as a draft in your dashboard – it doesn’t matter where but keep a list of your ideas. Even if you seem to have more ideas than you’ll have time ever to write, I promise that there will come the day where blogger’s block strikes and you will so grateful that you have a list to choose from.
7. Jumble it up – Don’t be afraid to mix things up a bit. We often do a ‘Find it Friday’ post on this blog whereby people email us questions and we answer them in a blog post but if the questions don’t arrive, we just write a different post.
8. Community – try to become part of even one community – be it another business community or one that is more suited to your subject area e.g. interiors. Comment on their blogs and strike up a friendship on twitter or facebook. Don’t become disheartened if you don’t get many comments compared to others – that takes time and it also needs you to take the time to comment on other blogs.
9. Other Social Media – when I started blogging in early 2008, I only had the blog to contend with whereas now bloggers are expected to spread their content amongst linked in, twitter, pinterest, facebook, google +, stumbleupon and more. If it all seems too much, just choose one or two. Measure the results and see if it is working. If not, add another platform and measure again.  Don’t let them bog you down – use what you have time for and what you find works for your business.
10. Spelling and Grammar – I tend to type quite quickly and although my spelling is quite good, typos do occur. I also skim read very quickly (I actually find it hard to read slowly) which means I sometimes miss typos.  Get someone else to check your work if you need to – offer to check theirs if they check yours.

 

If you are debating starting a blog for your business, don’t delay – do it!  Businesses that blog get more business and leads than those who don’t! Get help to set one up or with the writing. Remember we offer one to one training as well as teaching courses so do get in touch with Marie or I if you’d like to know more.

 

Why Your Blog Links Should Open in a New Window

Have you ever noticed that sometimes when you click a link on a website or within a blog that the original source (e.g the blog) sometimes disappears and you are then faced with a decision to either return to the source or to read the new link, perhaps click a link in that, become distracted and never return to the original blog as it disappears, lost, into cyber space?

Do you prefer when you click a link in a blog post and it opens in a new tab /window? I do. It means that the original post stays open in one window, the new link is also open and if I do become distracted, both of them will stay open for me to return to later. (Yes, I have to admit that I can have up to 20 tabs open on my browser by 5pm any day!)

If you find that you’re like me and end up with multiple articles to read during a spare hour, do try out Pocket which is a handy little bookmarker – you can read all about it on the Spiderworking blog.

How to add a hyperlink that opens in a new window:

Click on the text that you wish to incorporate into the link and highlight it. Just as I have done above with ‘spiderworking blog’, and then click the hyperlink button above (as shown in the image below)

A box opens and you paste in the url of the new link, add a descriptor:

And this is the important bit – tick the box which says ‘open in a new window/tab‘ and then click ‘add link’.

You’re done.

Ensure you do this and you’ll never lose a reader again.

Any questions? Do ask in the comment box below.

How to get your Blog & Website on the First Page of Google

Do you want your website to be referenced on the first page of google? Do you want people to be able to find your online presence easily and quickly?

Why blog? Why spend time writing blog posts? How will a blog benefit my business?  To what extent will a blog help my business?

If you have a website, you want people to be able to find it easily and ideally, you’d like it to be on the first page of google.  However, unless you are prepared to pay  for google advertisements, your website will not necessarily feature on the first page throughout good website optimisation alone.  An effective blog is invaluable in improving your  SEO to the extent of achieving the top of page one.

When I started blogging in early 2008, there were two blogs that I became aware of very quickly.  Why? Because everyone (in related fields) was talking about their success, they were Irish success stories in blogging, they were featured in the traditional media of magazines and newspapers and because they were written by  people with lovely personalities that shone through their blogs.  They were also on the first page of google for related searches. One was Homebug, an interior design based blog who listed my blog in her ‘favourite blog’ section, sending me traffic (usually about 10-20 visits per day and valuable SEO juice. (Homebug ended about two years ago hence I can’t link to it).

The other is Murphy’s Icecream, the blog was started in 2006 and blog posts include their pride in Kerry, what’s going on in their shops in Kerry and Dublin, icecream recipes, videos and all things Irish-related.  Apart from strengthening their brand and reinforcing their quality product, their blog means that when I think of Dingle, I think of Murphy’s icecream and I know I’m not the only person who wants to taste their icecream because of their blog.

If you search for ‘icecream’ in google.ie, their blog at Icecream Ireland is at the top of the page and their website at Murphy’s Icecream is number 4.  Kieran Murphy is an enthusiastic blogger with a passion for his product and it shows.  As a result, his business ranks extremely highly for a popular keyword.

If your business focuses on different varieties of a single product, e.g. T-shirts, wallpaper, vacuum cleaners, mortgage advice – whatever it may be, the challenge is there to try to get to the first page of google but it is a challenge that can be achieved.

How will your blog achieve a position on the first page of google?

Google likes regularly updated content and it likes seeing 2 or 3 main keywords being used throughout a blog post, especially in the first and last paragraphs, in the tags and in the category headings. (Yes, Google has become personified!)

Read our post on how to use the google keyword research tool to ensure you know you are using the right keywords and how to use them appropriately.

Getting to the first page of google will, of course, depend on the competition for the keywords you want to use.  You can find out what the competition is by going to google search and typing in the keyword you want to use in quotation marks and then you will see how many other posts or websites are using that keyword.

As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, “buy wallpaper online” is a keyphrase that I have used to optimise my Garrendenny Lane blog and website and as you can see above, it appears in 511,000 searches.  Hence, I’m pleased that it usually turns up around the middle of the first page for that search term. Your success will depend on the competition but it is still possible to reach that top spot on google organically (through search rather than having to pay for it) via your blog.

Hence, you really need to establish your main keywords, ensure your website is optimised for those keywords and use them properly in your blog posts.

The Value of Backlinks

Another advantage of blogging is that people will link to good blog posts from their website or blog and if they do so using the keyword within the backlink / hyperlink, all the better.

Coincidentally, that happened to this blog yesterday.  I am an advocate of using twitter at conferences for a number of reasons and have devoted some posts to the subject.   I wrote another post on the topic the other day and referenced my inspiration as @TeecycleTim , author of an article in a Toastmasters magazine that came through my door a few days ago. Having tweeted him to acknowledge my source (and including it in the blog post), he retweeted it, and one of his followers, Herbert Lowe, saw it and devoted a whole post to my various blog posts on tweeting at conferences, using valuable keywords in each backlink.  What the results will be remains to be seen but it all adds to valuable SEO juice.

Having a website that is not updated frequently is almost like a rowing boat without oars, it will float around without reaching any destination and may not be found by its target audience.  Having an effective blog will pay dividends and remember, you can monitor the results too (more on monitoring your social media usage coming up soon).

If you would like help to create and maintain an effective blog for your website, do get in touch with Marie or I.

Image: Free Digital Photos

The 7 Hidden Benefits Of Blogging

We write a lot here on Write On Track about the business benefits of having your own blog. We firmly believe that blogging is a fantastic way to profile your expertise, increase traffic to your website, humanize your brand, and sell your products or service. It’s worked for us and it can work for you too.

But today, we want to take you on a little side track from our main business blogging route.  We want to share some of what we have learned about the hidden benefits of blogging – the side benefits that we may not write about often,  but which nevertheless have given our business an added boost. We hope that by sharing these with you, it will encourage you to see even more benefits in starting your own business blog.

1. Blogging has made us more disciplined and organized

In the words of writer PD James “Don’t just plan to write—write.”  Sitting at our computers and writing blog posts every day has given us a disciplined approach to writing and helped us to become more organized in our thoughts.  It is true that you learn best by doing. Trust us! The more you write, the easier it becomes!

2. Blogging has helped us develop our own unique writing style

Our writing styles have evolved over the years and blogging has helped us find our own unique voice.  Your writing voice is not something you create; it is something you find, and it can take time. We now know what works for us and how best to connect with our readers. We write about the topics we are most passionate about and leave others to cover those we aren’t quite so attuned to.  Here’s what writer Jeff Goins has to say about finding your voice:

The bottom line is that finding your voice is the key to getting dedicated followers and fans and that it’s the only sustainable way to write. If you’re not being yourself, you’ll eventually burn out. A writing voice on your blog will strengthen your brand and give you focus. Furthermore, it will create a lasting impression with your readers, allowing you to better fulfill the long-term goals of your website in a more sustainable way.

3. Blogging has taught us how to research and evaluate information

We all think we know how to search online, but when you blog, you really learn how to hone your research skills. We want to provide you with the most up do date accurate information and the latest relevant findings, and in order to do that, we need to know how to gather the information, evaluate our online sources, synthesize the information and bring that information to you in an easy to digest and usable format.

4. Blogging has made us more creative thinkers

Blogging makes us think – a lot! It has made our minds sharper and our thinking more lateral and creative. As an added benefit, blogging has been shown to increase memory function. We are able to juggle many different things at once and have become expert multitaskers. We are always alert to new ideas and solutions to our business challenges.  We definitely think more outside the box these days.

5. Blogging has brought us great networking opportunities

Through blogging we have become networked to a supportive community of like-minded people.  This network has given us great tips and advice, valuable feedback and even provided us with new business contacts and work.

6. Blogging has brought us personal fulfillment

We continue to blog because we love it. We wouldn’t keep doing it if we weren’t passionate bloggers.  It has brought us both great personal fulfillment as a means of self-expression and given us a sense of accomplishment and purpose in our lives.

7. Blogging has led us to unexpected places

You never know where blogging will lead you. When we both started out on our respective blogging journeys, we never imagined that our paths would cross in the blogosphere and bring us together to form a successful business partnership. Consider what Chris Brogan has to say on the opportunities blogging can bring to you:

Every time you post, you build an opportunity. It might be for making business. It might be for sharing thought leadership. It might be the chance to build some new relationships. Mechanically, it might just be another attempt to gain better organic ranking from Google. But each post is an opportunity.

So, there you have our 7 hidden benefits of blogging. We are, as you can tell, passionate about the benefits of blogging – not just for business, but for life. Give it a try and you too may be amazed at where the blogging journey may take you.

How to make sure your blog is set up for indexing by Google

Welcome to  Find It Friday in which we help you find the answers to your how to blog questions. 

The Question 

How do I make sure I’m set up for indexing by Google?

Today’s question is aimed at those of you who are in the process of setting up a WordPress blog. It’s easy to miss a step when you are starting out, and sometimes beginners overlook this one.

The Answer

Usually you don’t want Google to index your pages while you are building your site, but do remember to change your settings when your site is ready to go  live.

Go to Settings > Privacy.

Here, you will see three Site Visibility options.  Click Allow search engines to index this site. This allows everyone to read your blog and enables your blog to be included in search engine results and other content sites.

If you have any questions on how to blog you would like us to answer in our next Find It Friday, then leave a comment below, or contact us on our Facebook page. 

Thursday’s Blogging Tip #4

Today’s blogging tip is to remember that your potential customers are not telepathic, they need to be asked/told what you want them to do.  At the end of each business blog post, you must make a simple request – be it to follow you on twitter, become a fan on facebook, leave a comment or direct them to where they might purchase the product you have written about.

A Blogging Primer By Chris Brogan

We are shamelessly co-opting this primer from Chris Brogan as an endorsement for what we write, teach, and blog about on Write On Track each week.

Chris has outlined 21 points (read the entire list here) and we have adapted the following 12 key points to highlight in today’s post.

1. Get a blog (Check out our post on WordPress Vs Blogger)
2. Pick an area of focus, but one that has broad sides.
3. Start writing (See How To Find A Hot Topic For Your Blog)
4. Start by planning to publish 1 post a week (Read How Often Should You Blog)
5. Make the posts more than 100 words and less than 1000 words most days.
6. Spell-check.
7. Delete the sentences that don’t matter.
8. Realize that posts that are helpful to others get shared more than posts that are merely interesting.
9. Never write a “sorry I haven’t written” post. Ever.
10. Posts that just comment on other people’s posts and sum things up aren’t all that interesting.
11. Do NOT get hung up on the tech. Get hung up on passion.
12. Pictures are a great place to start a post idea (How To Add An Image To Your WordPress Blog)