This document provides best practices for using business blogging. It recommends focusing a blog on a specific audience and area of expertise. Posts should have a first-person voice and focus on building an engaged community through regular, authentic posts and comments on other blogs. Blogs help businesses by increasing visibility, saving time and money compared to traditional marketing, and generating revenue through content, audience, and advertising. The document provides examples of successful business blogs and tips on finding new blogs to follow.

1. Best Practices for
Business Blogging
October 1, 2009
Andy Wibbels, Six Apart
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2. Andy Wibbels
• Six Apart
– TypePad, the leading
hosted blog service with
support
– Based in San Francisco
– Pioneers since 2001
– www.sixapart.com
• Trainer and product
manager at Six Apart
– Author of Blogwild:
A Guide to Small
Business Blogging
– andywibbels.com
– twiCer.com/andymaEc
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3. Agenda
• What blogs are
• Some examples of great blogs
• How blogs help business
• How to get started tonight
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4. What is a Blog
• Instantly easily updatable website
• Personal point‐of‐view, journal‐style
• InteracEve with commenEng
• Managed with soNware called a blog plaOorm
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5. Why Blog?
Save
Money
Increase Save
Visibility Time
Page 5

6. h"p://www.wagreflex.com/
Page 6

7. Natural Beauty Workshop
h"p://www.naturalbeautyworkshop.com/
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8. Seth Godin
h"p://sethgodin.typepad.com/
Page 8

9. Lipsticking
h"p://www.lips<cking.com/
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10. Keys to Success
• Audience – Paint a picture of your ideal customer
and their needs
• ExperEse – Define what you talk about – be
specific
• ObjecEves – Research? Leads? Visibility?
• Be Real – First person voice, avoid jargon, be
authenEc
• Be Involved – Comment on other blogs
• Post Regularly – Consistent culEvaEon
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11. How Blogs Make Money
Content
Audience AdverEsing
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12. Where to Find Blogs
• Blog directories
– Blogs.com – www.blogs.com/topten
– AllTop – www.alltop.com
– Blog Catalog – www.blogcatalog.com
• Blog monitors
– Blog Catalog – www.blogcatalog.com
– TechnoraE – www.technoraE.com
– Ice Rocket – www.icerocket.com
• Search engines for a keyword or topic and the word blogs
• Look for blogrolls, a list of a blogger’s favorite blogs in
their sidebar
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13. Get Started!
hCp://typepad.com/
Use code: ATL09
(10% off TypePad Pro for life)
Much more about blogs and business at
h"p://typepad.com/small‐business‐blogs/
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