Business Blog Consulting

Business M.D.'s - Prescribing Solutions For Your Business

Business Blog Consulting — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:29:11 GMT

"TELL US WHAT YOU DON'T LIKE ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS..."

Common answers we hear are, "I hate my website - not enough traffic." or "I don't have enough customers." or "I need to reach a wider audience."

You tell us your symptoms and we'll help you find the cure.
We are the business M.D.s, Michael Snell and Derrick Sorles.

Utilizing the Internet, we can help bring "pull" new business to you!

You have a website - great! That's one seed.
We know where and how to plant a hundred more seeds because wouldn't you rather have a full-blooming garden?

Or look at it like this,if you have only a website today, that's like having a billboard out in a cornfield on a dirt road. Wouldn't you rather have your billboard on a busy freeway where thousands and thousands of people can see it?

Let us help you take your business to the next level.

We are your business Marketing Doctors!

Michael Snell, Marketing Strategy, M.D.
Derrick Sorles, Business Strategy, M.D.

Your Business M.D.s
VISIT OUR MAIN SITE AT Business Blogging Consultants

derrick (at) businessbloggingconsultants.com
(773) 878-5323

What is the ROI of Blogging, Web 2.0 Strategies and Social Media Marketing?

Business Blog Consulting — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:30:26 GMT

Blogging, Web 2.0 and social media must be examined very differently when it comes to return on investment. A blog account and domain is usually less than $50 a year, plus your staff time. If bring 5000 new eyes to your business, is it worth it? If you get 5 new clients, is it worth it? If even a few customers are helped as a result - the cost is cheap!

Katie Paine is an expert on blog ROI. And she was quoted in Paul Gillins The New Influencers. She is a vetran public relations executive and has spent the last fifteen years researching, writing and speaking on the topic of measuring the value of public relations and social media investments. She believes nearly everything online is measurable; it’s just a matter of choosing what to measure.

We always say, and she agrees, blogging and social media marketing is a competitive necessity and can be a competitive advantage. If you are not out there building new networks and webs, chances are your competitor already is. If he is not, great! You get the first mover advantage. If he is, you can catch up.

Paine has said for her own business, she likes to monitor click-throughs from her blog, to her website. We also monitor very closely performance on Google key search terms and the traffic those bring in. Good search performance is money in the bank. If you can “own” your keywords, that’s a huge ROI, that isn’t quickly translated to dollars, but will, eventually.

It’s all about search. We say it time and time again. Can you be “found” easily online. Are you coming up in keyword searches. Search is the best thing that ever happened for small business. Many companies can not afford costly pay-per-click campaigns around certain keywords. However, through blogging and Web 2.0 strategies you can come up in the same searches and reach an international audience for much less.

We had a client recently spend $5000 with us. Within 90 days he had traffic, owned 4 of 6 keywords on Page One Google, AND he got a new client for $4000! THAT'S HUGE ROI! That DOES NOT usually happen. We usually caution clients to view their investment and ROI over a one year period. It takes time to plant all the seeds and watch them grow. But the return is that people have so many new channels to find you and your services - besides just 1 static website.

Remember, it's all about SEARCH! Can you be found?

Derrick Sorles and Michael Snell - We Help "Pull" New Business To You!
Your Business MD's- Business Blog Consultants -Web 2.0 Consultants and Strategists

ROI blogging social media marketing Web 2.0 google search Turbo Tagger

5 Biggest Blog Mistakes - And Avoiding Them

Business Blog Consulting — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:09:19 GMT

Over the last 2 years we have come into contact with numerous people who wanted to start a blog and most never did. Or they did, and got off on the wrong foot, abandoned the blog, or they had unrealistic expectations about what the blog might deliver in the short-term from an SEO perspective and were frustrated.

We have been doing this for over 2 years now and have launched about 25 blogs. We have made many mistakes along the way and therefore, also have learned a lot. And continue to learn every day as this business changes. Eventually, all of our blogs have ended up on Page One of Google for organic, primary and numerous secondary key word searches...

Here are some of the most common blog mistakes we've seen -

1. Never actually starting one! I have 3 friends and 5 clients that have been talking about launching blog for a year now! Do they realize, if they had in fact launched their blog one year ago, where they would be today??? Just DO IT already!

2. Using Subdomains. We are not a big fan of hosting your site somewhere that has to use a subdomain. (ie typepad, blogspot). If it's personal, that's fine. But for anything business related, where you hope to get search engine lift, we do not recommend it. - Buy a domain and use it. In fact, buy a few domains. If you don't buy it and you don't own it , it's not yours. So www.worldsbestflorist.typepad.com really belongs to typepad. Plus, you deprive yourself of potential search engine lift by hosting your site with subdomains.

3. Design. DO NOT get caught up on design. Blogs are about words, not design. Blogs are all about the content. And that content is indexed by search engines. You can be one page one with the the most awful looking blog out there! Search engines do not care about flash and design. Blogs are about simplicity. That's why search engines like blogs more than websites.

4. Expecting too much too soon. The first 90 days are about building "the temple." Most directories won't even let you list with them until you are 90 days old or have more than 36 posts. Don't even try to get traffic or build traffic the first few months. It's all about planting the seeds, building the temple, and then traffic will come!

5. Making Money. Every month I have clients that want to start a blog to make "some extra passive revenue." MOST blogs do not make a dime! At least the first year or two. Once you get a page rank of 5 or 6, in about 18 months to 24 months, then maybe, you can start to monetize your blog. Sure you can put Google AdSense on your blog. And make about 25 cents per month. If you are lucky! The focus should be on building the blog. Build a following. Positioning yourself as the expert in your area of expertise. If you do it right, you will come up in searches and be found by new readers and potential new customers!

Derrick Sorles and Michael Snell - We Help "Pull" New Business To You!
Your Business MD's- Business Blog Consultants -Web 2.0 Consultant and Strategists

blog mistakes blog tips blogging mistakes
web 2.0 consultant web 2.0 consultants blog consultant Turbo Tagger

Business Blog Consulting and Web 2.0 Strategies

Business Blog Consulting — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 13:01:51 GMT

We are pleased to address your blog consulting,
online marketing and business development needs on a fee-for-service basis.

Today's networked world is here to stay!
What are you doing to profit from it?
We can help you leverage this unprecedented online opportunity, better, stronger faster!

The scope of talent and solutions we can bring to an organization (or individual) is vast.

Our team of Resident Experts are seasoned professionals with at least 15 years of experience in their fields and chosen because of their credentials and value-based leadership.

Blogging and Internet Web 2.0 Marketing

Customized monthly packages to take you and your business to the next level via the next frontier - the Blogosphere, Web 2.0 and Social Networking. We can help you with web marketing, web design, web PR, organic search engine placement, sales optimization through LinkedIn and other online networks. We can help you with publishing books, e-books and design.

The Web 2.0 is the next big frontier and you want to be out there in it before your competition-The time to have a blog and/or strong web presence for your business is right now!

More than 80% of small businesses now have their own website, but when it comes to using the Internet Web 2.0 and specifically blogs, to reach out to customers faster, the percentage is far smaller.

Do you fit this statistic?

Learn how you can take your business to the next level using the Blogosphere and other
cutting-edge Internet Web 2.0 marketing tools.

Strengthen your customer base and bring new prospects to you!
Below is a sampling of the scope of services we may assist with:

IDEATION

Clarify blog's strategy, mission and target audience (with SEO in mind).
Name your blog using select/target key search words in domain name.
Assist in selection and execution of blogging software and hosting service.
Review your online market/services opportunities via Google searches.
Identify and prioritize initial key content, potential categories and overall direction.

IMPLEMENTATION

Provide coaching and education on the back end of your blog and how to navigate and execute desired tasks.
Share best practices on how to maximize your time spent creating content/postings.
Get registered with Amazon, Google AdSense and other affiliate programs.

COMMERCIALIZATION

Install affiliate's banners on blog's sidebar and promote/coach on understanding of basic HTML source coding for uploading additional banners in the future.
Register your blog on select blog registry sites, directories, groups, and forums
Identify top blogs/bloggers to introduce your blog to.
Implement free detailed tracking analytics into the blog.
Optimize RSS feed and an email subscription system.
Develop outstanding blog content/posts with our professional writing/research team.

OPTIMIZATION

Help you develop press releases on sites such as PR WEB.
Evaluate ongoing blog performance reporting through analytics.
Explore seeding your articles on content sources/resources.
Assist in trading links and getting links.
Evaluate if paid directory listings would be of value and seek out examples for your industry.
Provide ongoing support and assistance.

We are coaches and consultants who can help with all of your internet marketing and business development needs. At present, we're focused on Web 2.0 strategies for clients utilizing new technologies (blogs, podcast, video podcast) and other social media networks to drive their web traffic, facilitate online communities and conversations and build a "business celebrity" web presence.

We coach clients on understanding the impact of these new technologies to their business and the importance of first mover advantage and SEO discovery over their competitors.

Contact us today for your consultation - derrick@businessbloggingconsultants.com

Business blog Business blogging blog coach blog tutor Web 2.0 Internet Marketing Turbo Tagger

Blog vs. Website - What's The Difference ?

Business Blog Consulting — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 13:02:18 GMT

If someone gave you $3,000 to buy a billboard, and you could place it anywhere you wanted to, where would you put it? On a busy freeway? Out in a cornfield, off a dirt road, in Tim Buck Too? The freeway, of course!

We have said before, having a website is like putting up a billboard in a cornfield off a dirt road.
Having a blog is like putting up your billboard on a busy freeway, viewable to hundreds of people in a day!

WHY?

2 reasons. Blogs are written in a simple HTML code. The search engines can easily scan and index your words from the blog. Websites are written in more complicated java codes, they usually use lots graphics, and sometimes flash - all of which IS NOT search engine friendly - but it looks real nice! Search engines get to website and usually get confused, hit road blocks and will shut down, before reading all of your information. Therefore the blog is much, much more search engine friendly.

Blogs are dynamic - blogs are usually updated all the time. Search engines LOVE fresh content. Plus, they can be interactive. A Website is static and not updated very often. The website is where you actually describe your products and/or services. You can update a website as often as you like, but this is usually only done if your products change, you have a Sale, or something of that nature.

It’s easy to start a blog. But it is also important to know how to optimize it. Great content needs to be seen – not just published. Anyone can publish content on a blog – we work with clients on not only getting started on the right foot, but helping to optimize their search results on Google, Yahoo, MSN and other searches. We will help you avoid all the common mistakes everyone makes. We’ve already been there and done that! We know what works and what doesn’t. Let us put our Internet experience to work for you!

Business blogging is on the rise for both Fortune 500 companies and the small business / entrepreneur. IT'S HUGE! And everyday, more and more people are discovering the power that blogs offer a company and/or product. Blogs offer new ways for you to market your products and ideas and PULL you a wider audience!

Michael Snell
Derrick Sorles

YOUR BUSINESS MDS
(773) 878-5323

blog consulting SEO blog vs. website Internet Marketing business blogging Turbo Tagger

7 Myths About Business Blogs

Business Blog Consulting — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 13:03:15 GMT

This list of myths about small business blogs are common.

So many professionals hesitate to get into blogging because of not really understanding the true impact of not doing a blog.

Brian Brown from Pajama Marketing posted this list recently of his top 10 myths.

Check out this link, it's a terrific article in it's entirety. Below is a fast summary of our favorite 7 myths:

Blogs are for teenagers, not for professionals - average blog reader is 18-45.
My business doesn't need a blog - Yes - it does. NOW! Before it's too late!
Blogging takes too much time - Once you establish a system, it takes about 3-5 hours a week.
Creating a blog is hard - It's easy. And cheap!
Writing a blog is hard - It's easy.
No one is going to read my blog - You'd be surprised! Most blogs get traffic within 30 days.
Blogs are a fad - no they are not! They are here to stay.

If you remember, you may have had similar feelings about doing a web site for your business. Now, everyone is expected to have a web site. Yet the results from most business web sites are appalling.

Think of a blog as a web site on steroids. Your blog, when done professionally and optimized for business and search engine optimization (SEO), will do the job you dreamed your web site would do: pull in pre-qualified leads to you.

Because you are constantly loading fresh new content, the search engine spiders have all kinds of new ways to find you. Blogs can make your business grow! People will read it. It's not a fad but I think only the good ones will survive.

And you don't have to be a writer. You can just be a publisher. Be the resource your clients turn to. There are a gazillion articles out there you can use for your site. Pick the ones that make the most sense, have the most relevance, and post them. Bloggers love sharing articles. And it's all about linking to each other!

Derrick Sorles and Michael Snell - We Help "Pull" New Business To You!
Your Business MD's- Business Blog Consultants -Web 2.0 Consultants and Strategists

blog consultant importance of blogs blog myths web 2.0 consultant Turbo Tagger

10 Ways A Blog and the Web 2.0 Will Help Drive Your Business

Business Blog Consulting — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:45:55 GMT

Watch this short slide show, outlining the ways the new Web 2.0, and specifically blogs can help "PULL" new business to you!

Derrick Sorles
Personal Publisher, Blog Consultant and Web 2.0 Strategist.
Business Blogging Consultants

business blogging business blog SEO SEM Web 2.0 Turbo Tagger

What is Web 2.0 and What Does It All Mean?

Business Blog Consulting — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:24:43 GMT

Web 2.0, a phrase coined by O'Reilly Media in 2004, refers to a perceived second generation of web-based services—such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies—that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users. O'Reilly Media, in collaboration with MediaLive International, used the phrase as a title for a series of conferences, and since 2004 the term has been widely adopted.

Think of it this way - when the Internet and web development first started, it was this huge space
to post things to be read. There was no interaction. Web 2.0 is all about interaction! and sharing! and linking! It's social now and everyone can play in the game! Everyone from IBM to my grandmother who lives on a farm in Flint, Michigan!

Tim O'Reilly provided a compact definition of Web 2.0 in 2006:

"Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them."

We are presently focused on business development and Web 2.0 strategies for clients utilizing all these new technologies (blogs, podcast, video podcast) and other social media networks to drive their web traffic, facilitate online communities and conversations and build a "business celebrity" web presence. We coach clients on understanding the impact of these new technologies to their business and the importance of first mover advantage and SEO discovery over their competitors. You really have to take advantage
of all the tools out there!

Helping You Build Business Faster Online in a Web 2.0 World
   We are your business Marketing Doctors!

Michael Snell, Marketing Strategy, M.D.
Derrick Sorles, Business Strategy, M.D.

Your Business MDs
   (773) 878-5323
   derrick (at) businessbloggingconsultants.com

Chicago Mattress Store on Page One Google Thanks To Blog

Business Blog Consulting — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:33:01 GMT

We needed a new mattress. Since I live online and shop online whenever I can, I started searching. But it was maddening! Mattress companies assign a dozen different names to the SAME MATTRESS, making it nearly impossible to comparison shop.

I remembered a post Andy Wibbels did about his Mattress experience here in Chicago at Sleep City. So, that's where I went. The service was great. The prices were affordable. I told him our budget range and he showed me a mattress in the range, it was perfect and I took it! He didn't try to upsell me anything, in fact, he through in my choice of a free bed frame or deluxe mattress cover! And he waived the $85 sales tax and is delivering it, today, for free! How can you beat that?! That's good customer service. (Take note BEST BUY...)

And when you Google CHICAGO MATTRESS STORE that post still comes up on page one, over a year after it ran originally. When that post ran originally and even to this day, the owner of the store admits "You wouldn’t believe how many people have come in because of that review on Andy's blog!"

I think finally, more and more businesses, even local businesses, are understanding the power of blogs. People are starting to GET IT! Andy says, "This is why local businesses should blog. Or give discounts to bloggers in exchange for reviews and posting. You don’t have to be in a ‘techie’ business. If you aren’t findable online you’re dead. Blogs are word-of-mouth made trackable, searchable and archived.
This is why you should be blogging. To forge meaningful relationships globally and locally. Bloggers can help new customers find you, a blog can help you find new customers."

EVERY BUSINESS CAN BENEFIT FROM A BLOG IN SOME WAY. A website is not enough, you need to be taking full advantage of the opportunities that exist online today!

Chicago mattress store customer service Andy Wibbels Turbo Tagger

Are You Going To Be a Spider? or a Dinasour? In The Web 2.0 World?

Business Blog Consulting — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:35:55 GMT

You thought you were pretty hot when you had a website and paid someone $1000 to optimize it! So where is all the traffic? Weren't they supposed to be pouring in? WRONG! While you were sleeping, the Web 2.0 effect has changed the whole ballgame. And the rules! The Internet user doesn't just browse anymore, they can jump right in and play and create and manipulate data!

Tim O'Reilly provided a compact definition of Web 2.0 in 2006:

"Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them."

Perhaps the simple definition can be found in the word "you". Time magazine summed it up best by making reference to the "you" in user generated content. Web 2.0 is basically all the platforms that give us this brave new user-powered interactive Internet, generally referred to as social media. YouTube, LinkedIn, MySpace, Flickr, de.licio.us, Wikipedia - these are all sites and tools you need to start spinning a web and connecting too. Or you can sit back and take another nap. It's time to WAKE UP Rip Van Winkle!

So what are you going to do? First and foremost, start a blog with an RSS feed, on your site or along side your site. Blogging is where it's at. It's not just for geeks anymore. Businesses of all sizes have joined the blogosphere by the millions. They're seeking to connect with customers, increase their credibility and grow their businesses. You have to be an expert of sorts to really SEO your website with proper tags. But guess what, just by starting a blog with an RSS feed, and placing keyword categories into your blog, you are in the game and the whole tagging system.

Get Googled better and faster. Join as many interactive sites as you can. Digg, MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog, Naymz, Squidoo. And of course, always link back to your sites in your posts and creations, in these user-created content havens. Become the spider! The more connections you have the more your own sites prosper.

Use interactive platforms on your sites. Create polls, membership forums, feedback forms, even allow user contributions. It's all about being interactive. It's about sharing, connecting, linking and spinning your own intricate web out into the Internet. You can't just sit there on top of your static website and wait for people to come. Those days are GONE.

Derrick Sorles
derrick (at) businessbloggingconsultants.com
(773) 878-5323

Web 2.0 Blogs Spider Dinasour SEO

10 Ways A Blog Can Drive Your Business

Business Blog Consulting — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:18:34 GMT

Here are 10 top reasons you would want to
consider creating your own blog sooner, rather than later.

10. Blogs are one of the least expensive methods of getting the word out on your company and creating buzz. When compared to almost any other form of marketing, blogs are so reasonable to start and maintain that it is almost silly not to add the creation of one to your marketing mix. They don’t require you to learn HTML or to hire a designer or developer.

9. Search engines will find your blog, much faster than your website. Search engines index your ongoing knowledge sharing from your posts (entries). A blog should be full of activity, constantly updating with fresh information, key terms and search terms in your "permalinks" creating more ways for the search engine "spiders" to find your blog and lead customers and prospects to you.

8. Blogs create an organic, powerfully evolving user experience. The personal nature of a blog helps humanize you and your organization. People who like and connect with what you have to say, your thoughts, feelings and beliefs, will want you speaking to them about your offerings on a regular basis. You can post daily or even just twice a week and still create connection with prospects and customers.

7. Blogs build a stronger and more vibrant knowledge base. A blog can be an incredible tool for sharing information and expertise regularly. Kathleen Goodwin, CEO of iMakeNews, says business blogs "Can offer organizations a platform where information, data, and opinions can be shared and traded among employees, customers, partners, and prospects in a way previously impossible: a two-way, open exchange."

6. Prospects are searching the web via search engines for everything, including deals and opportunities. No one listens anymore to sanitized marketing messages (which most of us have on our websites). A blog allows you to grow trust and credibility with your prospects by providing timely, important information that shows them why you are the one to choose over your competitors.

5. You can develop yourself as the thought leader in your industry. If you know the best strategies for blogging, you will be able to grow your thought leadership exponentially. Just as with any amount of practice, the more you blog and know about blogs, the better you will be at it and, in doing so, you will become one of the top people in your field.



4. The winners will be those who host the very best conversations. You have to have great content and inspire conversation. A blog offers the best conversational vehicle for getting and staying connected- imperative to growing new business with your prospects and customers.

3. Having a blog turns you into a producer and star of your own show. I often say, "This is the day and age of the business celebrity," say's Melissa Giovagnoli, Founder and President of Networlding. "You want to be the expert, the one people turn to for information. With today's digital technology, you can create your own combination of magazine and talk show quality messages to highlight yourself on a blog."

2. Blog posts are on the web forever. Remember when the only choice you had for marketing was either to send out expensive direct mail pieces, advertise in the newspaper or perhaps, even more costly, magazines? What was the shelf life of those marketing pieces—a day or, at best, a month? Now the investment of good content on a blog is forever, or at least as long as you decide to host the site.

1. If you aren’t out there, your competitors will be. As you wait to decide what to do about blogging your competitors are out there connecting with your prospect base, building their online blog content and repository and growing loyalty positions for business today and tomorrow. They are also taking the time to find out what your other competitors are up to and matching or beating yours and their offerings. GET ON THE BLOG TRAIN NOW!



No matter what stage of blogging you may be entering: ideation, implementation, commercialization or ongoing monthly development and optimization -

We  can help take your blog to the next level.

Contact us today derrick (at) businessbloggingconsultants.com

   We are your business Marketing Doctors!

Michael Snell, Marketing Strategy, M.D.
Derrick Sorles, Business Strategy, M.D.

Your Business MDs
Business Blog Consulting Services