A Quick Guide to Blog Comment Etiquette

A Quick Guide to Blog Comment Etiquette

Blogging
We learned why you should comment directly on a blog, and all the benefits and goodwill that manifest as a result in the previous post 9 Reasons Why You Should Comment On Blogs. Let’s take a moment to briefly mention a few rules of blog comment etiquette as you begin commenting more often.   Blog Comment Etiquette Tips Act Like You Care. Say more than just “hello”, “great post” or any other generic line. Mention the topic, answer a question posed, and let the writer know you really read the post. Avoid the Hit and Run. Don’t comment and run. Make sure you check back, or better yet, subscribe to follow-up comments via email. This way you'll be able to see when someone replies or references your comment. Manners Matter.…
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9 Reasons Why You Should Comment on Blogs

9 Reasons Why You Should Comment on Blogs

Blogging
Do you visit a friend's house, stay for dinner, enjoy a delicious meal, and leave without saying thank you? Do you read blogs, learn their valuable info, and skip town without saying thanks for the information? It sounds kind of rude when you think about it like this, doesn't it? We’re so accustomed to using social media to send quick thank you’s and opinions that we’ve lost sight of the value of leaving comments on blogs. Or is it that we never really had a firm grasp on the importance of doing so? Blog comments can be a valuable tool to use to build relationships and build your business. Comments can show your expertise, expand your audience, and possibly land you a new client. First things first, your gravatar needs to be…
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6 Simple Ways to Promote Your Blog Offline

Blogging
We all know of many ways to promote your blog online. But what about offline? Yes, you can easily promote your blog offline, it just takes a little ingenuity. It doesn't matter if your blog is for business or fun, you can still use these offline marketing tactics. Get up from behind the computer and take your blog on the road! 6 Simple Ways to Promote Your Blog Offline   Who said you had to put your website’s home page on your business card? Add your blog url to your business card instead. Create a brochure that is catered directly to your blog. You can take the top read post from your blog and make it into a brochure. You could also give excerpts from 2-3 posts, with a “click the qr code…
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Simply Hitting Tweet Does Not Constitute A Blog Promotion Strategy

Simply Hitting Tweet Does Not Constitute A Blog Promotion Strategy

Blogging
As a blogger, you have a powerful platform to demonstrate your expertise. Your blog is the basis of your content strategy, and you pour your heart and soul into every word you post. You promote blog posts every day. You’re proud of your awesome blog, and wonder when your traffic will skyrocket. When your subscriber list will see a big increase. After all, maintaining a blog is a time-consuming, yet extremely rewarding exercise. You research ideas, write content, edit content, find pics, take pics, generate ideas, write some more… and hit publish. You tweet out your new blog post. And you post it to your Facebook page. And you sit. And wait. And sit and wait some more. Then move on to the next blog post. Sound familiar? But I did…
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5 Steps to Conquer Mount Blogger’s Block

Blogging
If you’re a blogger, excuse me, content creator, you like so many of us will eventually come across blogger's block. You will either stare at a blank screen (gasp) or have mess of notes that don't match any particular concept. A handful of random thoughts, headlines with no body text, half sentences, rough drafts, scribbles, notes on your phone, napkins, notebook, etc. – none of which amount to a decent blog post. Just plain muck. As I sit here,  I'm tweaking a list of draft blog posts, rummaging through all the various half-written posts I have. It's hard to choose just one to settle on, but I'm overdue on a post. So what better way to answer the "what to blog about" question than to share a few tips? Here are…
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Organization With A Simple Blog Planner

Blogging
Are you blogging as part of your overall content marketing strategy? Are you blogging  just for personal expression? Are you intimidated by blogging, and have yet to try it? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you're going to like this new organizational tool! Organizing your blog ideas and to-do's can be a rather involved task. How do you manage all your blogging ideas, random notes, affiliate programs, giveaways, new plugins to try, etc.? Personally, I've used a combination of notebooks, different color post-its, lists and spreadsheets to keep track of all my randomness. Although this hodge-podge of methods has worked for me, I admit it's not most efficient way to manage my blogging strategy. It definitely leaves much to be desired. But alas... I found this great…
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First Things First – Content Strategy Before Social Strategy

Blogging, Marketing Strategy
This is a guest post from Patricia Redsicker,  Principal at WordView Editing.  At the heart of social media is the desire that every consumer has to talk about something interesting, compelling and relevant and to share that information with his or her friends. The question marketers must ask themselves is: “What makes my brand so interesting that people will want to talk about it and share it with their friends?” (Even boring brands have something interesting to say!) You can’t succeed in social media if you don’t have something interesting to say. At this point in your social media experience, you (hopefully) understand that social media marketing is not just about having a Facebook page or a Twitter profile. Social media is the vehicle for communicating and distributing interesting stories…
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Event Recap: BarkWorld F-U-N

Event Recap: BarkWorld F-U-N

Blogging, Branding, Marketing Strategy
I jumped into the final quarter of 2011 by indulging in a new experience and making a bunch of new friends in the process. I had the pleasure of hanging out with the pet loving community at BarkWorld, what an experience! First, I have to personally thank Women Intelligently Networking via TarynP for sponsoring my ticket. I had no idea what I was getting into, but if you know anything about Taryn and Denise Quashie, founder of BarkWorld™, you know they know marketing and social media, so you just go with it! What is BarkWorld? According to the website “BarkWorld is THE social media conference covering ALL facets of social media, pet lifestyle & business education for all pet lovers.” This is EXACTLY what the conference is all about! Even though I’ve owned…
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