Building Your Brand
With Blogging
Expand Your Presence Online

Make Sure Your Message Gets Heard

Building Your Brand With Blogging
• Why start a blog
• Blogs are websites but not all websites are
blogs
• How to set up a blog
• Reach out and engage with your customers
• Find and build your content
• How to grow your fan base

Why start a blog?
Discover your real reason for starting a blog
• Passion to make a difference
• Extend the reach of your brand
• Become a thought leader
• Add value to your company’s marketing mix
You have a voice. And you've been given something to say.
People need to hear it. - Jeff Goins

How much time can you invest?
The investment of time is just that … an investment
• Spend more time in the beginning
• What does your schedule look like now?
• Blogging can be like a part-time job

Blogs can be Websites … but not all Websites
can be Blogs
“A blog is what all ‘websites
wanted to be’ - updated on a
regular basis, contains
content that is of interest to
a select or target audience
and is easy to update and
change.”
– Author Unknown

Blogs can be Websites … but not all
Websites can be Blogs
Ease of Use:
• Blogs publish info frequently, without learning tech skills
• Most sites have static info and require tech skills to update
Written Content:
• Blog copy like a conversation with your customers
• Website copy is written in ‘marketing-eze’ with key words
and links to pull you into the site

Blogs can be Websites … but not all
Websites can be Blogs
Customer Engagement:
•Blogs: posting comments and linking from their blog to your
posts
•Website: only option for comments is your Contact Us form
SEO: "Blog" stands for "Better Listings on Google”
•Blog’s features: frequent posts, linking from other sites to get
your site better listings
•Website: have to wait for Google to ‘crawl’ your site for new
content and could take up to 2 weeks

How to setup a Blog
•Host or not to Host?
•FREE blogging programs – Blogger vs Wordpress
•Host your own Blog

How to setup a Blog
Free blogging programs: Blogger vs Wordpress
Free Blog Sites: your domain will be
mycompanysblog.wordpress.com and you won't
actually own the blog
Host your own blog: more flexibility and freedom to
do what you want
• Have your own domain name and own the blog
• You can get this for as little as $30 per year

Blogger vs Wordpress

Blogger vs Wordpress
Which to use?
Host your domain with WordPress (WordPress.org) - full
functionality and the ability to change any of the code
Most businesses and companies use WordPress for their
blog/website.
Many personal bloggers who are only interested in the blog for
entertainment value choose Blogger.

How to set up a Wordpress Blog
• Choose domain name
• Register your domain
• Get web hosting
• Connect your domain to your web hosting
• Install Wordpress (or it may be pre-installed)
• Choose your theme or style
• Set up the basics
• Start writing your content!

Wordpress Plugins
What’s a Plugin?
Plugins extend and expand the functionality of your WordPress
blog
Popular plugins fall into these categories:
• enhance your readers’ experience
• behind the scenes that help you with blog
management and optimization
To install any of these plugins:
• WordPress admin dashboard
• click on plugins and then search by name

Wordpress Plugins
• Audio, video and photo - add more interaction to your blog
• Twitter tools – add tweets to your blog
• SEO tools
• Google Analytics
• Facebook like button
• Social media bookmarks - visual graphics that encourage
your reader to share your posts

Wordpress Commenting Programs
CommentLuv- visits the site of the person commenting and allow you
to add a link to your blog site; proven to increase click-throughs
and is a great tool for increasing community engagement
Other options: Disqus and Livefyre

You’ve got a blog … NOW what?

Finding your focus
• What am I passionate about?
• What topic do I have experience with?
• What could I write about for a year without running out
of ideas or energy?
• What’s the message that I want to get out?

What’s good content?
Characteristics of Good Content
Provokes thought – add value to their lives
Entertains - engages the reader to share or come back
Educates – become an ‘expert’ in your field
Inform – breaking news, updates on your projects, product
information
Empowers – prospects, customers and clients to take action

Where to find content ideas?
Questions to ask:
• What are your customers or other bloggers talking about?
• How is your industry talking about your businesses top
concerns?
• Where are they getting their information and resources?
• Learn what other people in your focused area are writing
about, quote them and link to their posts

Just the facts ma’am
Stumble upon some facts that are amazing … research to write
about how they relate to your customers
• Industry trends
• Your company’s product facts
• Let me tell you about a pool company

Content, content and yep, more content
Use other blogs for inspiration - write your own post in your own “voice”
keeping your reader’s interests in mind
You’ll be contributing to a larger conversation
• Treat your readers like you care - whether you have 20 readers or 20,000,
acknowledge their presence
• Write your blog posts like a piece of real writing - have a beginning,
middle and end
• Keep it short - long narratives are fine if you’re telling a story,
otherwise, keep it short

We live in a world of smaller screens, smaller attention spans,
and smaller conversations where media platforms
continuously shrink discussions.
Think about it … radio and TV interviews these days are
typically no longer 3 – 6 minutes. And, social media tools, like
Twitter, limit your remarks to just 140 characters.

How do I begin?
Content Calendar
Definition: An editorial
calendar is the listing of
planned themes, features
and promotions to highlight
your company’s projects
and upcoming events

Create a Content Calendar
•Use an old school calendar
•Use a blog plug-in: self-hosting a
WordPress blog, get the plug-in
called Editorial Calendar
•Try a pre-fabbed spreadsheet –
excel spreadsheet
•Use Google calendar

Content Calendar: Topics
Plan 4 – 6 months out
• Leave room if something new comes up
• Create a guideline for ‘themes’ for your posts:
Mondays – updates about your company
or story
Wednesdays – success stories
Fridays – 5 Friday Fun
• Think about your tags that relate to your
categories

Writing Schedule
Don’t feel obligated to post every day -- wait until you have
enough material for a complete post
• Schedule time for research and write drafts
• Add in time to engage/comment
on other blogs
• Set a due date for each post – include research, writing and
review
• Consistency as a blogger may be one of the hardest things we
will ever learn - find a schedule/routine that works for you

Time to start writing!

Blog Writing Tips
Your writing will not improve if you don’t write - get the words out of
your head and onto paper or computer; don’t let well intentioned
criticism of others get you down
Keep on writing!
Bonus blogging lesson: write for just one member of your audience as
is you’re talking directly them
You can’t be everything to everyone

Blog Writing Tips
Keep an Idea Notebook Handy
Carry a pen and a small notebook where ever you go
Write down your topic ideas, resource articles and even thoughts
on what to say in one place
When you’re ready to write – its all in one place!
http://www.facebook.com/eatinganelephant

Blog Writing Tips
Make a List
• Pick one of your topics and make a list – use just a
couple of words for each entry.
• Have a blogging brainstorm session – write as fast as you
can for a specific period of time.
• Don’t stop writing – just think!
http://www.facebook.com/eatinganelephant

Blog Writing Tips
Make a List: Part Two
• Break down your elephant into bite size pieces
• Pick one of the items on your list and repeat
• Do this until the bites are small, you can eat them quickly
and they’re easy to digest
• Add as much detail as you can and your blog post will
emerge
http://www.facebook.com/eatinganelephant

Authenticity means
it’s true to you, your company
and your brand.
‘Be who you are, not who you’d like to be, or who you think
others would like you to be.’
Who are you? Your mission/values, your vision, what makes
your business distinct, and what you can honestly and
authentically live up to?
Be passionate about what you know - share yourself without
being concerned about whether what you’re doing is right
Just be and do what comes naturally and easily to you - learn
to trust and follow your instincts

Commenting Campaigns
Engaging in Commenting Campaigns is one of the
best ways to increase your visibility to readers
• Consistently posting thoughtful, valuable blog
comments will cause other readers to take notice
• Quality over quantity – choose a few
selected blogs
• Drive traffic directly to your site

Commenting Campaigns
Things to Avoid:
• Blatant self promotion - directly promote your blog or
site in comments; it hurts your credibility
•Extremely brief and meaningless comments - such
comments as “good post,” “bad post” and “I agree!”
•Links to your own articles in every comment you post -
only acceptable when the link is relevant and directly
relates to the subject matter discussed
•Don’t be afraid to actively involve yourself in a
discussion, even if your opinion differs from that of
anyone else

Let’s talk about ME
Don’t create a boring About Page
• Second highest viewed page on your blog after your
home page
• Show your personality
• Let them see why you know what you do, write about
what you do and why they want to come back for more

Online Promotions
• Post your blog link on your company’s website
• Create a post on your Facebook fan page and re-
purpose that content to your Twitter profile
• Add Wordpress plugin to Linkedin profile or post blog
link in your Linkedin status
• Join industry groups on Linkedin and post new blog
posts

Offline Promotions
• Add your blog URL to business cards and email
signature
• Promote your blog at industry events
• Get print publications to pick up your blog posts
• Use word of mouth to let customers and friends know
about your blog
• Include the blog URL in your company’s press releases

What did we learn?
• Decide which program to use – Blogger
or Wordpress
• Host or not to Host
• Find to show off your unique voice
• Use the writing tips to create
compelling content
• Create a writing schedule to use with
your content calendar
• Promote your blog!

Questions??
Connect with Penney:
Become a fan at www.facebook.com/FoxInteractiveFB
Follow my Blog: www.innersocialmedianess.com
My Personal Blog: www.authenticlifejourneys.com