vanguard technology - the blog factor: why starting a blog today is more important than ever

July 2009

Chris BonneyVP of Business Development

cbonney@vtcus.com

Management Conference Week

Blog basics: What is a blog, really? Determine why you should (or shouldn’t)

blog Understand elements of a successful blog How to start a blog How to market your blog

Passion Sustainability Relevance

What Is A Blog?

Blogging is a conversation

Create more interest

Increase participation

Perpetuate trust Be viewed as an

expert Expand your

online visibility

Starting a conversation

Creating value Being transparent Being

knowledgeable, relevant, passionate

Becoming Google-friendly

By

1. You have something to say – and a unique way to say it.

2. You have something to say – and a unique way to say it and you’re passionate about it.

3. You have something to say – and a unique way to say it and you’re passionate about it and it’s relevant to your audience.

4. You have something to say – and a unique way to say it and you’re passionate about it and it’s relevant to your audience and it provides value.

5. You have something to say – and a unique way to say it and you’re passionate about it and it’s relevant to your audience and it provides value and you can sustain it.

Read other blogs Subscribe to other blogs Comment on other blogs Track your organization

What type of blog will you write? Who will your audience be? What subject(s) will you write about? Are you passionate about your topic and the

idea of blogging in general? Can you sustain the effort?

Blogging is like

rowing upstream

Blogging is like rowing upstream.

Thought leader/expert Practical advice Advocacy Corporate Journalistic

The Biggest

BlogsIn

The LandJuly

2009According to technorati.com

1.Huffington Post2.TechCrunch3.Engadget4.Boing Boing5.Mashable!

Your members Your prospects Your staff The press Your vendors Industry influencers

Determine audience Leverage gaps What you know What you can sustain Your passion

Are you passionate about your topic and the idea of

blogging in general?

Well, are you?

Blogger: Marketing director Audience: General public/patients Subjects: Tips, tricks and strange facts Schedule: 2x week Goal: 100 posts

Blog vs. website TypePad, WordPress, Blogger Preview, post, save, or schedule Category, tagging Trackbacks

Title Picture Intro hook Body Sub-headers Closing question Photo credit

“What The ADA Has To Say About Cosmetic Dentistry”

OR

“7 Things The ADA Will Never Say About Cosmetic Dentistry And Why”

• Who Else Wants…• The Secret Of…• Here Is A Method That Is Helping (blank) to

(blank)• Little Known Ways To…• What Everybody Ought To Know About…

Excerpted from CopyBlogger.com: http://www.copyblogger.com/10-sure-fire-headline-formulas-that-work/

Lists Numbers Anticipation Contrarian viewpoint Irreverence Call to action

RSS Email About Blog roll Best posts Archive of previous posts Your Picture

Consider audience Consider your schedule Consider the topic Consider the long haul

1x week minimum2x day maximum

How Do You Market Your Blog?

Remarkable Content

Brings Traffic

Twitter Digg StumbleUpon Facebook MySpace LinkedIn Del.icio.us FriendFeed SlideShare

Write in other places like Squidoo, HubPages, Helium, EzineArticles

Comment on other blogs Blog rolls Guest bloggers Write great content

When would now be a good time to start your blog?

PPT and other resources: www.vtcus.com/ada.aspx

Email: cbonney@vtcus.com Web: www.vtcus.com Blogs: chrisbonney.typepad.com and

vanguardtechnology.wordpress.com Twitter: @chrisbonney

BOOKS Naked Conversations – Robert Scoble and Shel Israel The News of PR and Marketing – David Meerman Scott Here Comes Everybody – Clay Shirky The Blog Factor (e-book) – Chris Bonney (www.vtcus.com/ebook)

BLOGS http://www.theforumeffect.org/ http://www.copyblogger.com http://www.diaryofareluctantblogger.com/ http://cindyae.blogspot.com/ http://www.blogoclump.com/

Rowing - Peter - http://www.flickr.com/people/psmithy/ What is a blog – Brian Solis - http://www.flickr.com/people/briansolis/ Conversation – Gideon - http://www.flickr.com/people/malias/ Clock – Roberto41144 - http://www.flickr.com/people/9385421@N08/ Secret – MMGoode - http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmgoode/ Trump tower – chascarper - http://www.flickr.com/people/chascarper/ Syrup – i_yudai - http://www.flickr.com/people/y_i/ Seth Godin – www.sethgodin.com Cat – Katherine - http://www.flickr.com/people/aka_kath/ Audience – James Emery - http://www.flickr.com/people/emeryjl/ Stadium – Ian Ransley - http://www.flickr.com/people/design-dog/ Elephants – Tai Stietman - http://www.flickr.com/people/21949386@N07/ Tape measure – Shereen M - http://www.flickr.com/people/shereen84/ Starting line – elisasizzle - http://www.flickr.com/people/crayoncauldron/