Publish and Prosper: Blogging for Your Business

201 Pages·2006·4.35 MB·English

by  D. L. Byron

Chapter 1
Publish and Prosper:
Blogging for
Your Business
DL Byron and Steve Broback
Publish and Prosper: Blogging for Your Business
DL Byron and Steve Broback
New Riders
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Find us on the Web at www.newriders.com
To report errors, please send a note to [email protected]
New Riders is an imprint of Peachpit, a division of Pearson Education
Copyright  2006 by DL Byron
Acquisitions Editor: Michael Nolan
Project Editors: Kristin Mellone Kalning, Ted Waitt
Development Editor: Davina Baum
Production Editor: Tracey Croom
Copyeditor: Joanne Gosnell
Compositor: Diana Van Winkle, Van Winkle Design
Indexer: Jack Lewis
Cover Design: Aren Howell
Interior Design: Diana Van Winkle, Van Winkle Design
Notice of Rights
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For
information on getting permission reprints and excerpts, contact [email protected].
Notice of Liability
The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis without warranty. While every precaution has
been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the authors nor Peachpit shall have any liability to any person
or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions
contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it.
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Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim, the designations
appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout this
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with this book.
ISBN 0-321-39538-7
987654321
Printed and bound in the United States of America
DL Byron:
This book is dedicated to my family:
Pam, Ryan, Angela, Cap’n the Pug, and my parents,
who always knew I’d write a book someday.
Steve Broback:
To Vicky, Dalton, Emma, and Brody for being so
patient with a distracted daddy.
Acknowledgments
DL Byron:
The book was authored with much help from Teresa Valdez Klein, Davina
Baum, Kristin Kalning, Michael Nolan, Kim Larsen, Erin Kissane, and the
rest of the staff at Peachpit.
Due props to Scott Benish and Wesley Pierce for their work on Clip-n-Seal
and to all the fact-checking, idea discussions, and general instant messaging
conversations with Timothy Appnel, Eric Rice, Cameron Barrett, Drew
McLellan, Mike Davidson, Anil Dash, Lenn Pryor, Jason Fried, Jim Coudal,
Doug Manis, Shaun Inman, Toby Malina, Matthew Oliphant, Frank Steele,
Jason Swihart, Mie Yaginuma, Jeremy Wagstaff, D. Keith Robinson, Nick
Finck, and Shel Israel.
Special thanks to Jeffrey Zeldman for starting me on the book path and to the
rest of the Blog Business Summit co-founders Brian Alvey, Glenn Fleishman,
Molly E. Holzschlag, Robert Scoble, and Dave Taylor. Also thanks to Chris
Brownrigg, Dave Weitz, Jim Condoles, Shannon Fowler, and Fritz Johnston
at Boeing.
Of course, the book wouldn’t have happened without my co-author Steve
Broback and the blogosphere.
For all those hours I spent in the Richland Public Library as a kid, reading
books randomly from the shelves and studying obscure words in the Oxford
English Dictionary, I’m grateful.
Steve Broback:
Special thanks to Robert Scoble, Glenn Fleishman, and Molly E. Holzschlag
for bringing me into the wonderful world of blogging. My writings would
never have been conceived without their gracious tutoring.
The Blog Business Summit team: Kim Larsen, DL Byron, Maryam Scoble,
Krista Carreiro, Jason Preston, Eric Anderson, David Lake, and Teresa
Valdez Klein.
Summit speakers and blogging gurus who have taught me so much: Jeffrey
Zeldman, Buzz Bruggeman, Debbie Weil, Halley Suitt, Dave Taylor, Biz
Stone, Mary Hodder, Matt Mullenweg, Lenn Pryor, Janet Johnson, Eric
Rice, Dori Smith, Jeff Angus, Anil Dash, and Mie Yaginuma.
Supporters of our blogs and events: Shannon Fowler, Fritz Johnston, Jason
Swihart, Tom Peters, Margaret Cobb, Dean Hachamovitch, Alan Nusbaum,
and dozens of other people and organizations that have helped us along
the way.
Long time co-conspirators and family: My parents, Julie and Kip Myers, Jim
Heid, Toby Malina, Steve Roth, Jon Fitch, and Larry Westfall.
The production and editorial team at Peachpit: Marjorie Baer, Michael
Nolan, Kristin Kalning, Erin Kissane, Rebecca Ross, Davina Baum, Tracey
Croom, Ted Waitt, Diana Van Winkle, and Joanne Gosnell.
Thanks to my co-author DL Byron whose insights and knowledge made this
book an effort I am proud to be associated with.
Last and far from least, special production and editorial kudos to Teresa
Valdez Klein, who worked so hard and contributed so much toward making
this book (and our many blog sites) a reality.
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Table of Contents vii
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Meet the Blogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
What .Exactly .Is .a .Blog? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
How .Did .We .Get .Here? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Enter .the .Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Types .of .Blogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Why .Should .You .Blog? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Blogging .Is .Easy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Add .and .Update .Content .in .a .Snap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Get .High-Power .Features .on .a .Low-Level .Budget . . . . . . . . . 13
Broadcast .Your .Content .Automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Blogs .Are .a .Marketer’s .Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Readers .Like .Blogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
A .Genuine .Conversation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Search .Engines .Love .Blogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Why .Shouldn’t .You .Blog? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
A .Blog .Choice .for .Everyone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
What’s .Your .Blog .Focus? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Chapter 2 . Determining Your Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
A .Marketing .Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Encouraging .an .Interactive .Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Raising .Awareness .and .Visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Closing .Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Driving .More .Traffic .to .Your .Current .Web .Site . . . . . . . . . . 29
A .Public .Relations .Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Dealing .with .Disasters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Reputation .and .Recognition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
A .Customer .Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
viii Table of Contents
Measuring Success. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Start Blogging Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
You Go Out, You Get Better. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Chapter 3 How Much Blog—and How Often? . . . . . . . . . . 43
What’s It Going to Take? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
A Basic Blog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
A Full-Time Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
A Sponsored Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
A Companywide Blog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Assessing Resources, Barriers, and Culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Regular and Ongoing Posting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Staff Availability and Dedication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Culture of Openness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Financial Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Fostering Corporate Buy-In. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
Get a Champion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Simple Sells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Chapter 4 Designing for Readers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Essential Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Meta Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Organizing Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
RSS and Syndication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Other Features to Consider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Comments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Trackbacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Calendars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Table of Contents ix
Design Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Page Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Fonts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Usability and Accessibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Iterative Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Chapter 5 Tools and Implementation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Assessing Your Blogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84
How Many Blogs?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84
How Many Bloggers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84
What Kind of Technical Resources Are Available to You?. . . . . .85
How Much Control Do You Need? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Selecting a Software System or Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Hosted Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Installed Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
Custom-Built Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Enterprise-Level Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Publishing Your Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Pinging and Publicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Posting from Your Desktop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Podcasting and Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Enhancements and Add-ons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Adding Features to Your Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Plug-ins and Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
RSS and Syndication Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Ads on Your Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Ad Services for Bloggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
How Ads Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Ad Strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109