Rick Burnes' presentation on blogging at the eMarketing Techniques for Business conference in Austin, TX on Jan 29, 2009.

1. Slides: SlideShare.net/HubSpot
Twitter: @rickburnes
How to Blog for Business
Rick Burnes
HubSpot Inbound
Marketing Manager

2. Agenda
I. Five Keys to a Successful Blog
1. Pick Your Target Keywords
2. Create a Mix of Posts
3. Write Great Posts
4. Sustain It
5. Spread It
II. How to measure your blog

3. Key #1: Identify Target Personas
Kadient photo by: David Meerman Scott

4. Your Content Pulls in Your Personas
“Create the kind of
online content that
your buyers
naturally gravitate
to.”
- David Meerman Scott
Author of The New Rules of
Marketing & PR
www.webinknow.com

5. What Keywords Will Attract Your Personas?
• Fill posts with them
• Build an archive of content full of them

6. How We Pick Keywords: Keyword Grader

7. A Word of Caution
• Writing for your personas
DOES NOT mean writing
about the products and
services you sell them
• Write about the things they
want to learn about

8. Key #2 Create a Mix of Posts
Flickr Photo: jek-a-go-go

9. Step 2: Plan a Mix of Posts
News
Opinion
Feature
Photos
Video

10. Many Types of Posts Get Traffic
Page Views
Post
Did You Graduate From Link Building High School Yet
11,270
State of the Twittersphere - Q4 2008 Report 8,768
You Oughta Know Inbound Marketing 7,498
6 Tips for Making a Business Marketing Video 4,211
Twitter in Real Life: The Follow Back [cartoon] 4,137

11. Raisin Bran – Basic, Everyday Posts
• How to posts
• Rich in keywords
• Get good at
whipping them
out
• Make sure they’re
useful
Flickr Photo: greeneyesmilw

12. Spinach – Healthy, Thoughtful Posts
• Should establish
your site a
thought leader in
the industry
• Put time into
them
• Don’t do too
many
Flickr Photo: ulteriorepicture

13. Roasts – Big Blog Projects
• Lots of work
• Lots of links,
discussion and
attention
• Pick them well

14. Chocolate Cake – The Sweet Stuff
• These posts make
your blog fun
• A chance to poke
fun at yourself
• Lots of traffic/links
• Often video, images
Flickr Photo: scubadive67

15. Tabasco – Posts That Start Fires
• Make a bold
statement
• Be prepared to
defend yourself
• Lots of comments
and links
• Too many of these
post could lose trust
Flickr Photo: ANOXLOU

16. Key #3 Write Great Posts
Flickr Photo: Olivander

17. No Need to Be Hemingway
Just follow a few simple rules.
Photo: Wikipedia

18. Tips for Post Structure
• Use Headings
• 500-800 words (or
shorter!)
• Lists are OK (just
not too many)
• 1 idea per post

19. Always Add a Photo
• Flickr
• iStockphoto
• Shoot your own

20. How to Search for a Flickr Photo
Go to Advanced Search
Then search for CC licensed photos

21. Where Do You Get Ideas?
• Everywhere
• Keep a list
• When you learn something, flesh it
out
• Check your email outbox!
• Ask your readers

22. Write Great Headlines

23. How to Write Great Headlines
• Write the headline before the article
• Imagine the reader won’t see the article
• Surprise people
• No spelling errors!
• Use your keywords

24. Key #4: Sustain It
Flickr Photo: michalo

25. Pick a Publishing Schedule
• Once a week? Every Monday
and Wednesday?
• Stick to it
• The goal is to build up a body
of keyword-rich content
(create an asset)

26. Different Ways of Doing Posts
• Email interviews
• Video interviews (conferences, office visitors,
clients)
• Guest posts from people with similar blogs
• “Best of” lists
• “How we do it” posts

27. Should I Hire People?
It depends.
Pros:
• You don’t have to do the work
• You hire a “professional writer”
Cons:
• Nobody knows your business like you do
• You don’t build your personal reputation
• You don’t participate in the conversation

28. Key #5: Spread It
Flickr Photo: felipearte

29. Think of Blogging Like a Job Search
Would you sit at home and wait for a call?

30. Take Comments Seriously
• Make sure you comment back
• Find out who the people are
• Follow their links
• Subscribe to their blog, follow them on Twitter
Use these links

31. Publish on Social Media
• Post directly
• Post via twitterfeed.com automatically
• Post to your status
• Post automatically via a feed to your fan or
profile page
Also consider LinkedIn, other sites.

32. Where Do You Link to Your Blog?
• Your homepage
• Press releases
• Business cards
• Email signatures

33. Engage People; Stay on Their Radar
• Write posts that link to or
follow up on bigger
bloggers’ radar screens
• Most people do Google or
Technorati searches for
their name, so they’ll see
your post

34. Agenda
I. Five Keys to a Successful Blog
1. Pick Your Target Keywords
2. Create a Mix of Posts
3. Write Great Posts
4. Sustain It
5. Spread It
II. How to measure your blog

35. Metric #1: Subscriptions
• A measure of you blog’s total reach
• A “sticky” number

36. Metric #2: Pageviews
• Great for media sites selling display advertising
• Potential problems for your business:
• Doesn’t measure RSS
• Weak measure of engagement
• What’s the business value of a “view”?

37. Metric #3: Comments
• Quantitatively, a good indicator of engagement
• Qualitatively, a great way to listen to market

38. Metric #4: Inbound Links
• Measure the SEO impact of your blog
• An indicator of your blog’s role in outside conversations

39. Metric #5: Conversions

40. What Does HubSpot Do?
It’s a software system that helps you get found
Social Media Tools
Search Marketing
Tools
Blogging & CMS Tools

41. Thank You!
Free Tools:
http://Website.Grader.com
http://PressRelease.Grader.com
http://Twitter.Grader.com
Rick Burnes
Inbound Marketing Manger
HubSpot
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rickburnes
Twitter: http://twitter.com/rickburnes