Avoiding Typer’s Block: Planning Ahead (Part 3-Quality Posts & E-books)

Quality Posts

Having this consistency leads to an increase in quality also. The great thing about having a topic planned ahead is that quality comes from this planning as well. People are more likely to have a more well-thought-out post when they know what they are going to be typing about. When a blogger does not have an idea and simply posts an article right before deadline the article is more likely to be lacking in quality. A consistent quality in blog posts will have readers coming back for more.

E-books

This is a small side note but still a great benefit of planning ahead. This allows a blogger to put together an e-book at the end of a series. Having an e-book is a great tool for businesses to share with their community or for future clients to see the topics that your company is knowledgeable about.

These are three simple benefits which come from planning ahead. We know that planning ahead can solve a host of issues. Planning ahead can solve for typer’s block and help companies have a better offering to their reading audience. Are there any more benefits to planning ahead which you would like to add to the list? Place them in the comments below.

Avoiding Typer’s Block: Planning Ahead (Part 2-Consistency)

We know planning ahead is not anything new to our readers but with blogging this concept can bring about several benefits.

Consistency

People love consistency. Having consistency in blog postings is great for company blogs. Readers enjoy not only having a common day of the week when articles are posted, but they also enjoy consistent subject matter as well. We can learn from our past typer’s block articles that having a good post structure and different subject manner are also helpful. Both of these article topics play into this idea of consistency. Planning ahead also creates consistency. Taking the time to line out what will benefit both the company and readers is not only rewarding, but also helps a blogger avoid typer’s block.

The Facebook Revolution (New Brand Pages Part 2)

What exactly are the changes?

Overall Facebook has updated to the timeline feature which went live for individuals a few months ago. This change for brand pages allows for a large banner image and all of the posts organized in a timeline manner. If you haven’t seen one and would like to look at an example, check out our friends over at IWearYourShirt. These updates are going to take away a first-time visitors landing tab — however, you will still be able to link people to a Welcome tab or any other custom tab your page has. There just won’t be a way to set a welcome tab default. The tabs move to the top of the page with larger photo links. Only the first three tabs will be displayed at a time. The greatest update is that companies will be able to message individuals. Having this new tool will allow for companies to reach out to their fans in a more direct manner than before.

 

The Facebook Revolution (New Brand Pages Part 1)

 With the latest change to Facebook we are beginning to see how they have truly changed how companies look at branding, and to us it appears to be a real revolution.

There are many articles floating around right now about the latest update. Some are at quite a loss about the new changes, some are highlighting the positives of the changes, and some are already trying to theorize how to use the new layout in the most effective manner. We are going to focus on the facts that are presented through these articles. We’ll look at where companies should focus their time on in the front in and what they should look for down the road.

 

Avoiding Typers Block: Lessons Learned & Research

Blogging about lessons learned

The saying “You learn something new everyday” applies here.  We are constantly learning in business.  If there is a certain aspect of your job or company in which you learned a lesson, share it.  Even though “history may repeat itself,” posting lessons learned can help shorten the learning curve.  Being able to relate a lesson learned back to a particular aspect of business or experience can also help people remember the lesson learned better because people remember things better in story form.

Blogging about research 

We all do research in business.  Granted, some research we want to keep to ourselves, but some research is great to share with the online community.  Sharing research can be a great conversation starter.  It can also help readers see that your business is dedicated to staying current as well as continually searching out the best way to do business.

These are five great ways to generate blog topics. Are there ways that you generate topics that we didn’t list here?  Please share them with us in the comments below!

Avoiding Typers Block: Expertise & Services

Blogging about your expertise

We are all in business for a reason.  One of the best ways to avoid typer’s block is to blog about what we know best.  Not only does this  make a business seem more reputable, but they also can stand out as an expert in their field.  This definitely makes it easy to come up with topics to blog about and it also can help generate leads for business.

Blogging about your services

Yet another great topic of knowledge for a business is the services they offer — very easy to write about and a great way to keep customers updated whenever services change.  Being open about the services offered allow for potential clients to feel that the company is going to work well with them and not hide anything from them.

 

Back to Blogging

Well I’ve been out of the country during my Christmas break.  At this point in time I am required to blog twice a week for this class at a 100 word minimum.  This means that you will be reading the “meat” of my weekly blog posts for the online marketing business I work for.  Hopefully you have time to go through the posts I’ve had before or if you’ve been following welcome back to my blog.  This semester should be full of surprises and hopefully a little more practical application for businesses and social media.  I do typically blog about social media though at times my PR major spills over into that, enjoy.

PR Principles for Small Businesses: Blogging Pt. 5

Most of this information about blogs are very simple for companies to embrace.  Some may already be implemented.  However, it is a great reminder that things can come together to do wonders for a company in the field of public relations.  If you have any thoughts about how public relations relates to blogs feel free to leave them in a comment below!

Thanks for reading my blog throughout this past semester.  As I wind down the semester I will not be able to keep it updated regularly after next week until after the break.  Hope the holiday season is finding you well right now.

 

PR Principles for Small Businesses: Blogging Pt. 4

The web site implications for a blog should be covered but are always secondary when looking at public relations.  There are Search Engine Optimization implications that always come with a blog.  This is compounded for public relations because if a company has major news that they are releasing, if they are up to date on their SEO when they release their information, people searching for it will be automatically directed to the host site instead of any secondary sites.  This ensures that the company’s information is being received straight from their mouths.  This should go without mentioning but a blog should be professional looking.  It should carry over any theme that the company has on their web site and should be appealing to the eye.  When a consumer comes to the site and sees this, the credibility of the company is boosted.

 

 

PR Principles for Small Businesses: Blogging Pt. 3

A company wanting to engage in public relations practices will use a blog as a way to engage clients.  This is the main aspect of using a blog for public relations purposes and has many different modes.  A company can use the blog to simply harbor conversation (something we covered in depth last week when we talked about community management).  A company can also use the blog to post new information about company changes or new products.  This can come in the form of a press release or in-depth article lining out specific outcomes, plans, and product specifications.  Blogs can also be used as an opinion research tool, using the companies followers to determine areas of improvement and potential growth.