Business Blogging Pros

Google Reader is Broken

Google Reader and Google Blog Search appear to no longer be on speaking terms.

If I click on "Subscribe to a blog search feed for _______ in Google Reader" at the bottom of the Search Results page, it responds with "Google Blog Search: has no items."

Or if I right-click on the "RSS" link in the left sidebar of the Google Blog Search Results page, select 'Copy Link' from the menu and then attempt to add the feed to Google Reader manually, I get "No feed available for ________________"

It's pretty pathetic with Google Reader doesn't like the feed URLs provided by Google Blog Search.

Social Media Panel at Scottsdale Chamber First Friday Breakfast

Jay Jennings, Chip Lambert, and I were on a panel Friday morning at the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Breakfast. There is a good write-up of it in AZ Central (Registration Required):

Click Here

Re: Will Spam Kill Twitter

I read an interesting post over on Opinionated Markets today titled 'Will Spam Kill Twitter?'.

I've noticed a recent tactic - which I deplore - that works like this:

1. Let's say you make widgets.
2. You do a Tweetscan for 'widget'
3. You follow anyone who uses that term, hoping they follow you back.
4. You can then send them your marketing messages via Twitter.

I'm sorry, but you'll never find me engaging in such a tactic, and you can't hire me to do it for you.

I do think that Tweetscan is a legitimate tool. It allows you to keep your finger on the pulse of your market and reputation. I also think it is legitimate to reach out to a Twitter user who has twittered about a bad experience with your product or service.

I also think it's very legitimate to set up a Twitter account that your customers can subscribe to and get your updates. Then it's THEIR choice.

Workshop Content Finalized

I've gotten a lot of input the past couple of weeks regarding content for the workshop. Here is the outline of the content (actually, a condensed version of the final draft of the workbook's TOC). If you have any last-minute wishes, now is the time to speak up!

- Using Feedurner to collect stats about your RSS feed
- Social Bookmarking, what is it and how to leverage it
- Technorati, why you should claim your blog in Technorati and what you should do next.
- Keyword / Search term strategies
- Google Juice and the important factors to get it
- Reputation Monitoring
- Building Your Custom Driftnet Stretched Across The Internet
- Finding Blogs
- How Use Your Driftnet
- Join the Conversations
- Comment & Trackback Strategy
- How To Leave a Comment 28
- Trackbacks How they work and how to do them
- Other Features/Functions Your Business Blog Needs

BTW, the workbook is about 32 pages of step-by step instructions with lots of screenshots.

Another Tuned-Out Company

I am a big fan of the folks at Pragmatic Marketing. They have a new book about to be published called Tuned In. They've had a blog up called Tuned In Blog for a while.

We all know examples of companies that are tuned in and companies that are tuned out. A few months ago I pointed out how tuned out Delta airlines is even though they have a pretty active blog.

I have another example of a tuned-out company: Williams-Sonoma. A couple of weeks ago, I blogged on my foodie blog about a bad experience I had at the Williams-Sonoma store. Since then no less that five other people from around the country have left comments about their similar experiences.

A truly tuned-in company would be monitoring the blogosphere and almost immediately be alerted to any mention of it's name, url, etc. This capability is not just for the big boys. Anyone can set up the same thing for free using a few search engines, Google Alerts, and RSS. A truly tuned-in company would have tried to contact me to ameliorate the problem, particularly since it appears their customer-service problem is widespread.

DId I hear from Williams-Sonoma? Nope. Tuned Out.

Let me emphasize this: This is how little companies can eat a big company's lunch.

It costs nothing to set up a good reputation monitor except a little time. It takes only a few minutes per week to use it. When you find someone who has said nice things about you, thank them. When you find someone who has had a bad experience, here is your chance to fix it - and even turn the situation around - before any real damage is done. With a little effort, you can even turn that disgruntled customer into a raving enthusiastic fan.

Add Twitter to your Reputation Monitoring

There is a lot of conversation going on using Twitter. tons of conversations. For Twitter users, it is often the first place they turn to vent when they are unhappy about a product or service.

I have long advocated using search-driven RSS feeds to monitor what is being said about you, your company, your products, services, website, etc. Twitter searches should be a part of it.

You don't have to understand Twitter or even be a Twitter user. Use TweetScan to search twitter, click on the RSS link, then save the feed URL as part of your drifnet.

Workshop Topics

I mentioned my new workshop in an earlier post. Here are some of the topics we'll cover:

- Coming up with good search terms and Technorati tags
- Building systematic search tool using RSS and Google Reader
- The importance of Technorati tags
- Techniques for boosting your Google rankings
- Claiming your blog in Technorati
- Using Google Alerts to monitor your reputation
- The hows and whys of commenting
- Trackbacks explained
- Social Bookmarking

What else do you want to learn or talk about in this workshop?

Words Mean Things

David Meerman Scott on Web Ink Now wrote a great post yesterday about the definitions of some of these terms we bandy about like New Rules of Marketing, Web 2.0 Marketing, Social Media Marketing, and Social Network Marketing.

I'm pretty much in agreement with David's definitions. One thing interesting to me are the parallels between David's book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR and Gonzo Marketing, written by Chris Locke way back in 2001.

It is interesting to see these two very different guys present the same message in very different ways. On one hand, I think that Chris has never gotten the recognition he deserved for Gonzo. IMHO, some of what he wrote was truly groundbreaking at the time.

On the other hand. if you are trying to convince your CEO of your point of view, you would be FAR better off giving him New Rules than Gonzo. There is a lot of Chris' personality in Gonzo and you have to have suffered some kind of warpage to 'get' Chris. (I think I do 'get' Chris - I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing - and I am privileged to consider him one of my mentors.) Some of the stuff on Chris's blog would definitely not go over well in a Fortune 500 company boardroom.

David's New Rules, on the other hand, is written in a language your CEO will understand.

And don't get me wrong, that's not a slap to Chris either. Chris and I know each other well enough that I'm comfortable asking him for advice. I wish I new David that well too. I think getting advice from two such totally different perspectives would be really useful to me.

April 24, 2008 Workshop: The Cure for Underperforming Blogs

Is your blog meeting your expectations?

If not then this workshop is for you:

Hands-On Workshop: Making Your Blog Work For You
Presented by Dave Barnhart, Founder of Business Blogging Pros

Your blog has the potential to be the most powerful marketing tool you have. This three-hour hands-on workshop will teach you how to get the most out of it. Most workshops consist if a bunch of lecture, some abstract exercises, and a workbook you take home and - let’s face it - will never look at again.

This workshop is different. It is being held in a computer lab and is hands on working on your very own blog.

• You won’t just learn about search terms. You will build a list of search terms for your business.
• You won’t just learn about reputation monitoring. You will build a reputation monitoring mechanism for your business.
• You won’t just hear that you should be reading blogs. You will come away from this workshop with a list of blogs specific to your niche. Not only that during the workshop you will build the mechanism that you will then forever use to monitor those blogs using only a few minutes a week.
• You won’t just hear about using searches and RSS feeds to keep up with your industry and market, you will build your own custom driftnet stretched across the internet, capturing conversations on topics of interest to you, providing you with ideas for new blog posts, and identifying conversations you should participate in.

There is nothing you will have to go home and implement on your own blog because you will have already done it in this workshop!

Some of What You'll Learn:

Keywords and Search Terms - How to think like your customer and create search terms and keywords that get results for your business.

Technorati Tags - What they are, how you should use them, and why you should care.

Automated Search-Driven RSS Feeds - How to use free tools on the internet to locate conversations of interest and spend just a few minutes a week doing it.

Monitoring Your Reputation - Use the same search driven RSS feed mechanism to detect when anyone mentions your name, the name of your company, website URL, etc. Learn how best to respond.

Engaging the Blogosphere - Learn how to use Google Blog Search and technorati to find other bloggers speaking to the same audience you want to reach.

Trackbacks - What they are, when to trackback, and why.

Technorati - Why you should claim your blog in Technorati.

Stats - Learn how to use the statistics information build right into Typepad and Feedburner.

Social Bookmarking - Learn how to leverage this tool that could bring tens of thousands of visitors to your blog.

Google Juice - The specific steps you must take to boost your Google rankings.

There are only 12 seats in this workshop!

This is your chance to learn how to unlock the true power of blogging for your business. With only twelve seats, you will get the individual attention you need to insure your success. There are only twelve workstations in the computer lab. When this workshop is filled, that's it! Don't miss out.

When: Thursday, April 24, 2008, 1pm-4pm
Where: Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA) Computer Lab 4130 East Van Buren, Suite 150 Phoenix, AZ 85008
Price: $199
To Register: Click Here
For More Information: contact Dave Barnhart at dbarnhart@BusinessBloggingPros.com or 602-647-7847

The Alternative Board - Scottsdale

Business Blogging Pros welcomes our newest client, Allan Himmelstein and the Scottsdale Arizona franchise of The Alternative Board

I was talking to a friend who is the CEO of a multi-million-dollar company just yesterday. He was bemoaning the fact that he does not have a mentor or anyone to bounce ideas off of. He has nowhere to turn to discuss his problems and issues. He is a candidate for joining one of Allan's boards because their purpose is exactly that - to provide you with a peer group with which you can share and discuss ideas, challenges, and issues and learn from each other.