Researching Blogs that want to write about you

April 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment

The great thing about blogs is that active Bloggers are looking for relevant topics and content to write about regularly. They are often very open to doing an interview, linking to a good article, etc.

But how do you find the right blogs to contact?

Specialized Blog Search Engines

Your best friend will be the specialized blog search engines.

Technorati was once the leader, but Google has some great features that often make it better. With Google, you can sort by date of key word, bringing you the most recent posts to include your keyword first.

Technorati is different. It has search, but also has a social network aspect. You can find one blog you like and then look at those other blogs in their neighborhood, in the cloud tags, etc. to find others that may be writing on the same topic.

Blog Directories

Blog directories are another place to find blogs. The great thing here is that they catalog them by topic, which helps give you a focused list to review.

Blog Rolls

One of the best ways to find blogs in your topic is to find a good blog, and then use the blog roll of that blog. A blog roll is a list of related blogs that the blogger sometimes publishes in the side bar of their blog. Blogs do not always have these, but a good one could save you many hours of research.

Contest Results

Lots of places have contests to select best blogs on a topic. You could start by searching for “Best Gardening Blog” (Replace Gardening with your target) and see if people have assembled lists and winners. Also replace the word Best with Top.

It takes time to find blogs that fit, but finding good fits and writing a good email can get you great rewards.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Buzz with Blogs, Blog 

Are you being Blogged to Death?

April 7, 2008 | 2 Comments

I recently had a reader ask my why I was not writing more.  I told him I’d backed off slightly to focus on other content, but still try to post 2-3 times per week.  Considering the number of posts I already have out there, I feel like I have earned a little more downtime.

Today I saw on CNN a blogger that is commenting on a NY Times article.

They refer to the difficulty of creating a successful blog and keeping it updated.  It can be very negative on your health, it turns out.

Don’t worry, I blog less, excersize and have lost over 40 lb. in the last 6 months.  I may post less, but I plan on being around for a while. 

You may find those two links interesting if blogging is taking up more time than it should.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Identify your own VALUE

April 1, 2008 | 2 Comments

Buzz is about value.  The value may be in the story itself, such as a very unique and remarkable story that provides information.  But often it is in the value that you product or service provides someone else.

Years ago we sold very good CMS software for website management.  The software was fair priced and had lots of great features.

So why didn’t customers always get great value from our system?  Because the value they needed was web marketing, not just a software package.  They needed to be able to understand how to do, and often they needed someone else to help them do the activities.  Buzzoodle was founded to address those issues and provide more value - regardless of the software a person uses.

That is not an easy process.  Can you look at your products and ask yourself if you are providing the value they want?  It does not matter if you product is good if it does not deliever on your customer’s needs and expectations.

So here are some questions that can help you identify gaps in your value:

  1. Do customers rave about our product after purchase?
  2. Do nearly all customers use and benefit from the product or service when they buy?
  3. Does our product or service provide more time, more securtiy and a better lifestyle for our clients?
  4. What % of customers tell their friends about us?
  5. Do customers end up needing additional (unexpected) services and incur unexpected charges to finally realize the expected benefits?
  6. Do we simplify the adoption of our product or service so that clients employees look forward to the change?

What other questions can you think of?  Add them in the comments if you have a good one.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Word of Mouth Marketing, Blog 

How an informal networking group turned into a franchise business

March 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I have a friend and business associate, Ron Finklestein, who recently converted his Business Mastery Advisory Board into a franchise opportunity. For years he has put together informal and formal groups for networking and advising.

Obviously, this is a good way to create buzz, add value for other people and build your network. His business has grown because of it.

He also worked hard at perfecting the format.  Eventually, he created an advisory board that is all business owners that act as each other’s advisors.  I have been in that program and the candid discussions around how to improve each person’s business were incredibly valuable.

When the time was right and the process worked well, he found it very easy to roll it into a franchise.

You can check out what he is doing here:  www.rpfgroupinc.com

If you want the benefit of years of experience, buy his franchise.  Or you can just wing it and start a networking group of your own.  You never know where it will take you.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Networking, Blog 

How to request a link from a blogger

March 28, 2008 | 6 Comments

I got an email from someone promoting a business article about debt for business. Normally I only write about marketing topics, even though I do care about other business topics as well. However, this email just seemed perfect, so I wanted to find a way to make it marketing relevant and post it here.

Here is the email:

Edited: The emailer requested that I remove the identifying parts of the email, so I am taking those out immediately.

Hi Ron,

We just posted an article “ABC” (http://www……………………..). I thought I’d bring it to your attention just in case you think your readers would find it interesting.

Either way, thanks for your time!

Thanks,

Name Here

Now, this could be some spam bot - but I checked out the url and it is a good article. Sure, there are affiliate links, but people do have to eat.I am posting it here because it can be a good template for you. Short, shows appreciation for the blogger, does not pressure the blogger and is a very fast read.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Buzz with Blogs, Blog 

Google Affiliate Program

March 22, 2008 | 6 Comments

One of the great things about having multiple products is that you can tie them together and make new packages.

Google has Google Analytics.  I really like that service and use it all the time.

Google has an eCommerc solution called Google Checkout, which did not work the one time I tried it but I am sure it will improve with time.

Now, I am setting up a new product that has affiliates and I am looking through Google Analytics and it occurred to me: With all this great tracking going on, why can’t Google combine my analytics and their checkout program to make an ultra-sweet affiliate management system?  You have all the pieces to make it so easy for people.

Google Analytics already have goals with monetary values.  If you tie in the affiliate tracking to the goals and use Google checkout to send out the affiliate payments, you could have a really great and valuable system.

I know that many shopping carts already have this, but in my case I usually code it into a system, and that is not fun.

Just a thought - Sorry to get so technical on you guys.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Hi Twinsburg Chamber - Here are those 99+

March 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Today I spoke at a chamber in Twinsburg, Ohio.   Nice group.

Many of them are checking out this blog today and everyone was asking - How do I find that blog post on 99 places to create buzz.

Well just to make it easy on you all, there is the link.  And if you have not been around here for a long time, you may have missed it.  Years later it is still one of our most popular pages.

Other News:  We have been a bit quiet as we are getting ready to launch a new service and brand.  We will pick up the pace again soon.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

What are your Relationship Tools?

March 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I toss around the term “relationships” a lot on this blog.  I am thinking that some readers may thing I mean a two way communication between you and the people you want relationships with.  There are a lot of ways that you can have a “two-way” relationship and never actually communicate with the other person directly.  Here are some examples.

Blogging - You push out your information (one-way) and the response you get is your website traffic, comments, etc.

Speaker - You speak - people listen.  (one-way) - The response you get is people talking to you after the talk, emailing you later, hiring you, etc.

eNewsletter - You publish your valuable information (one-way) and you get feedback,list subscriptions, unsubscribes, forwards to friends, etc.

Publish a Book -  You publish and market your book (one-way) and you get sales, speaking opportunities, hired as a consultant, PR, etc.

Social Networks -  You put up your profile (one way) and then people request to connect with you.  (This one is better if it is actively two way, but can be one way)

These are just some of the ways you can create relationships without having to get to know each person personally.  I like to get to know people, but realistically, there is only so much time in the day.  Using all of the tools above, I have created lots of relationships - many I am not even aware of.

What are you doing to create mass relationships?

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Small Business, Blog 

Planning for Moderate Influencers

March 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Excellent post at Guy Kawasaki’s Blog.

This really speaks to our strategy for the last 4 years.  It is great to have big names recognize you, but it is easier and has great long term value if you focus on the mid-tier information players.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Marketing ROI, Small Business, Blog 

2 Successes

March 7, 2008 | 3 Comments

Last night I went to an event where I ran into several people that have seen me speak before.

One told me that after seeing me speak, he and his partner both started blogs.  His has not done much, but she really got into hers and she is now seen as an expert in the Akron area for her specialty.  It resulted in a large bank calling her (after reading the blog) and asking if they could send all their Akron inquiries her way. 

A second person I talked to said they took a while to get LinkedIn going, but once they really started using it they were very plesantly surprised.  They have generated several new clients in a short time.

It is really gratifying to me to know that people are not just walking away happy about the speach, but that they also walk away with tangible benefits that help them.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Buzzoodle, Blog 

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