Marketing With Blogs - Part 4
by Priya Shah
Published on this site: May 19th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month...
In the first three parts of this article series on marketing with
blogs, I discussed the reasons why blogs are excellent tools for
marketing, and provided some tips on using your blog to brand yourself,
boost your reputation and sell your products and services online.
In this article, I provide specific tips on using your blog help
you boost your marketing ROI and visibility online.
Tip 7: Use Good SEO Practices
Besides using keywords appropriately, take the time to learn about
using trackbacks, pingbacks, good linking practices and basic SEO
techniques.
Remember that in blogging, public relations equals PageRank. The
more you link to others, the more they will link to you.
Submit your blogs and feeds to directories and search engines.
Tip 8: Track Your Results
Keep track of your sales, inbound links, citations by using tools
like adtrackers, Blogpulse and Marketleap. Also offer your readers
incentives to participate in surveys.
This information is very valuable because it will help you understand
what your market needs and how to give it to them.
It will also help you understand how much your blogging is helping
your marketing efforts so you can tweak your methods and get more
out of them.
Tip 9: Listen And Learn
When were blogging we usually stating our opinions openly.
As bloggers its all right to be controversial and frank while
blogging.
But what happens when a potential customer posts a nasty or rude
comment? Some bloggers think its OK to be rude right back, and even
go so far as to call that person names.
I dont believe thats the way to treat someone who take
the trouble to sign-in and post a comment on your blog. For all
you know they may have a genuine problem and could be speaking for
others who have experienced the same.
Being rude will not only lose you a customer, it will also expose
you as someone who is too immature to handle customer complaints.
Granted, some customers can be a pain in the butt, but everyone
deserves to be heard. And handling nasty or rude comments with restraint
will not only demonstrate your maturity, but build your customers
respect for you.
People prefer doing business with someone they like and trust.
So if you want your blog to be a place where your potential customers
can interact freely and openly, I suggest you learn how to handle
brickbats as well as bouquets with grace and maturity.
It used to be said that the internet was the great leveller because
it empowers small businesses to compete with big businesses. But
blogs have completely levelled the playing field for marketers.
Anyone with an internet connection can now sell their products
and services solely on the basis of the quality of information they
provide.
And that's the reason blogs are creating a revolution in marketing
online.
Priya Shah is the CEO of eBrand360 http://www.ebrand360.com
She writes the Marketing Slave blog http://marketingslave.com
and publishes an internet marketing newsletter http://www.ebizwhiz.biz.
Subscribe to her free Business Blogging eCourse. http://www.blog-maniac.com
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