White Paper – Part 1
How Can You Maximize the Networking Opportunities Within Your Organization? ‘Blogging’ is the key
By Rita Wilhelm People join groups for a variety of reasons. If they join a business networking group, they want to increase their visibility to their market by meeting new people. Is your organization keeping up with the online networking technology to allow your members to become ‘findable’? In this white paper, we will discuss the impact of blogging as an online networking tool. The word ‘Blog’ will eventually become as common as the word ‘email’ is today. In fact, marketing experts are already saying that it is now crucial for businesses to have a blog as well as a website. The front cover of Business Week (May 5, 2005) states “Blogs will change your business. Look past the yakkers, hobbyists, and political mobs. Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. Our advice: Catch up… or catch you later.” Those are pretty powerful words!
The fact is, more and more people consult the internet before making a purchase. Dave Taylor, a blogging consultant, says that 65% of people conduct research on the internet to help make a purchasing decision. And… “if your business is not ‘findable’, it does not exist.” Blogging makes you ‘findable’. A blog is like an online diary written in a casual, personal tone. Each entry is a short blurb, about two paragraphs in length, and may be written about a range of topics related to your field. It’s a way of sharing your expertise with a large online audience. Because a blog is updated regularly, the search engines really like them. Sample Blog
It is important to create links within your blogs for two reasons: search engines find them especially desirable and they serve as a networking tool for your online community. A link (see blue underlined text in sample blog above) connects a visitor to your blog to another community blog or website. As members link to
one another’s blogs, an informational network is created, which will increasingly attract visitors looking for related products and services.
When it comes down to it, people do business with people they like, and feel a connection with. When your members are looking for a company to do business with, they also want to feel like that person has the expertise and know-how to do the job right. Blogging provides your members an opportunity to share their expertise and build a reputation with their target market. Your members can use blogs to write tidbits about their area of expertise. For instance, if there is a business owner who sells a specialty food mix, they can blog about recipe ideas. If the person is a realtor, they can talk about market conditions, or provide tips on increasing the value of one’s home. Members can write about what is happening in real estate industry, review books, or write about something interesting that happened to them today. People can blog about topics such as a telephone call from a happy customer, or what their thoughts are on customer service, etc. Members entries should be written in a style similar to that of a short email to a friend, using a casual voice. How can your members’ blog reach out to the entire world? The secret lies in another feature of eVideoDirectory known as RSS (Really Simple Syndication), which sort of like a newsfeed. In order for websites to attract and retain visitors, they need a constant stream of fresh content to regularly update their sites. Blogs supply this content through RSS feeds. This demand for content affords your members the opportunity to announce their expertise to the world. Your members can easily create a RSS feed from their eVideoDirectory control panel. Content is King Here’s how RSS works to expand your organization’s online presence. Newsreaders and websites search for specific keywords related to their content needs. When an individual member’s blog or your community’s portal of posted blogs is picked up, these blogs begin to appear in the places where they can make the maximum impact! It is when people add that RSS channel to their web sites (that is, they “subscribe” to your member’s feed), the fun begins. When visitors to these other websites click on that headline, it takes the viewer right to your member’s blog entry, and ultimately to their website. As readers who become attracted and interested in what your members have to say, they will begin to subscribe to this content. Subscribers are then notified every time your member adds a new and interesting entry. As subscribers link to one another, they inadvertently promote your organization and your members. Gradually, your members come to be recognized as experts in their profession or
trade, and in your particular community! You are now providing a huge service to your members and promoting your organization!
How does the eVideoDirectory bring interested customers to your doorstep? Collaborative Blogging
Let’s say you are a member of a community using an eVideoDirectory. You begin by creating your directory listing, and then launching your blog. Now it’s time to invite other members to “link” to your blog, and in turn, link to theirs. Linking immediately raises your blog’s credibility and credentials in the eyes of the search engines. And it is the search engines that bring more and more interested visitors (and customers) to your doorstep! This is one of the advantages of being part of a unified blogging community. As part of the community, members can also blog about points-of-view and interesting ideas that other community members have blogged about on their own sites. Providing a link to that member’s blog – on a reciprocal basis – increases bonding within the community, and increases everyone’s incoming and outgoing links, which the search engines LOVE! All the new blog entries are showcased on your community’s website for the benefit of the visiting public. Not only does the community benefit as a whole, but every member gets increased visibility to their unique target audience. eVideoDirectory also provides a gathering point, the directory, that lists each business that would like to be part of this collaborative marketing effort. Within your organizations custom directory, members can find people who are looking to receive comments on their blog entries, other members who are looking for links, and who would like to add friends to the directory - just like you. Every effort you make to help other members, will also help you. Everyone listed in the directory will have: • • • • • • up to six colorful images to showcase their self, their products and services a 30 second video commercial extolling the benefits of their business 500 character text description of their products and services a link to their website choice of multiple listing categories a blog, with a link to that blog from their directory listing
The act of ‘commenting’ on blog entries, helps both the ‘commenter’ and the blogger.
As part of the collaborative effort, we suggest that each member selects 3 blogs per week from the directory and make ‘comment’ on a member’s blog. • The person writing the comment to a blog entry has a signature. That signature includes a link to their website, which then adds a link for search engines and other people visiting the blog. (This is one of the ways that community connections begin to happen). The ‘commenter’ would need to read the other member’s blog, so that they can write something worthwhile and add to the discussion. As a result, your members learn about each other and get to know each other. The member receiving comments is also receiving regularly updated content, which attracts the search engines. The more people connect, the more they are able to network, and the more valuable your community becomes.
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The power of blogging as an individual is amazing; however, the power of blogging as a community … TRANSFORMING!
Add an eVideoDirectory to your website today!
www.evideodirectory.com
Because Every Member Has a Message …