Harlan Editorial

Can a free blog do all you need it to do for your small business? I’d say, yes, but.

(Since you asked!)

Yes — if you’re a solopreneur or a small business without the need for paypal or a shopping cart on your blog; if your branding is such that it can be imposed over an existing template (most are); if you’re content to have your blog live on Google or Wordpress or one of the free Web 2.0 sites that exist; if, in some cases, you do not mind having ads on your blog.

But I’m not convinced that free is all it’s touted to be, not when you can download blog software to your server or to a server you subscribe to for 8 bucks/month. And, once setting up your blog on your own server, then you are flying solo, your own pilot.

You can’t get more free than that!

Tags: Business blogs, How to blog, Small business blogging by Judith
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Every blog platform has its blogger fans. I happen to be partial to Wordpress. I like the look. I like the user-friendly dashboard, and I like the fact that so many developers out there are making new Wordpress widgets all the time. I have my favorite bloggers too, and today I want to share my favorite Wordpress guru / blogger. – Lorelle.  

Her site, Lorelle on Wordpress, is a virtual treasure trove on Wordpress how-to’s, fixes, and insights into setting up and using Wordpress. I plug into it whenever I’m not too blog-tired at the end of the day to absorb a bit of new stuff. I always learn something when I go there.

 (Set up a feed; her site’s worth it!) Yours, Judith

Tags: Blogging, How to blog, Wordpress by Judith
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If you’ve been yearning to start a blog but just can’t get off the dime, then join me for this workshop.  It is custom-made for you. We’ll be jumping into blogging – much like I did right here just last summer –and we’ll do it hand-in-hand. Together! We’ll have a few laughs along the way, and we’ll all end up blogging.  It’s a 2-night workshop presented through the Washoe County School District Community Education department. We’ll be using computers in a middle school classroom.

Tags: Blogging, How to blog by Judith
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Some of the best blogs — so they say — are online coffee shops. So, leave it to coffee shops to come up with some excellent retail store blogs. Here’s one I came across, from Wisconsin, where I suspect they appreciate a good cup of steamin’ hot coffee when they come in out of the cold to get one.

What I like about the site is its use of blogging to both market its events and to create a cozy, family feeling. Exactly what we seek in our coffee shops. I’d stop in at one of these coffee spots; they sound like they know what they’re talking about, and besides, they’re a cheerful group. I like ‘em. Now, that’s a good blog!

Yours, Judith

Tags: Blogging, How to blog, Small business blogging by Judith
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The never-ending need for content on your blogging site will catch up with you, so “they” say. And here’s proof that “they” are right: it will. Or, at least, it did for me. I’ve been off in the last couple of weeks writing magazine articles, setting up a couple of Websites for small businesses, and a workshop on blogging.

But what have I NOT done? I haven’t blogged.So that’s how easy it is for blogging to get thrown by the wayside. Business interferes. Life intervenes. Mea culpa. I allowed it. But what to do about such things if you are setting up a blog yourself? (And you know that when you set up a blog, you set up expectations in your client base.) Excellent question. From my experience here on the Harlan Editorial business blog, I’d say,

• Make blogging a priority.

• Put it on the Calendar — Make time for it.

• Keep a notebook handy for flashes of insight to include.

• Don’t just read other blogs, drop in formally and share your thoughts.

 (Now, if I can just listenn to my own advice and remember to do some of this stuff myself, you’ll see me back in a mere day or two or three.)

 Back online, Judith

Tags: Business blogs, How to blog, Online Content, Small business blogging by Judith
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Don’t talk.

Bloggers are infamous for chattering too much and listening too little.

Use your blog to reverse the information flow: Give customers a place to tell you what they think instead of you telling the customer what you’re selling.

That’s my reason number 3 to have a blog. It can be a place to Listen.

Sound upside down? It is, but that’s the ultimate in a business blog, one that’s so successful that your customer is posting more on it than you are. And when you’ve engaged your customers to that extent, then they have a vested interest in keeping you in business. Can there be anything better than that?

Tags: Business blogs, Free Advice, How to blog, Small business blogging by Judith
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