Business blogs can be an extremely effective promotional tool, but can take finesse and expertise to master. Blogs are customarily a personal outlet, and as such are not restricted by rules of etiquette or strategy; business blogs are a derivative of this free form of communication, but without the freedom of expression. Because a business blog is viewed by potential clients – and probably competitors – it has to be restrained, professional, and written with an authoritative voice. 

Authority as Mystery

Using restraint in communications isn’t a Herculean task, and most people can manage at least an acceptable level of professionalism in their writing. What eludes them is an authoritative voice, as speaking with authority in a blog is not an exact science. The best blogs – the ones that tens of thousands of people follow – usually employ very different styles, and have very individual voices, but they all share that one quality that keeps readers coming back: authority.

What does it take to be an authority? How can you make your business’ blog more authoritative? The good news is that being an authority isn’t the same as holding a doctorate in business. In fact, high-minded or pretentious blogs are often alienating and condescending, which deters repeat readers. 

Authority as Insight

The real secret to an authoritative business blog is to be knowledgeable about your subject, and to communicate it confidently, charismatically and informatively. 

In some respects, speaking with authority is easy – only you know your breadth and depth of knowledge. And, while many others might know what you know, your interaction with that knowledge will be different from theirs, and will have different implications to you. So you will bring insights to the table that no one else can.

Authority as Narrative

So in relation to the above, although your experience in the field is different than anyone else’s; even if you and your competitors are telling the same story, you won’t tell it the same way.

Because ultimately that’s all you are doing: telling a story. Imagine you have a captive audience and it’s only you in the spotlight on stage. Are you going to drone on about stock trends, quoting numbers, figures, texts, news, or anything else? No. What you will do is give an engaging presentation, one that tells a complex story in simple terms that everyone can relate to, one that gives examples, directions, advice, makes arguments, examines everything, takes nothing for granted, assumes no prior knowledge, represents problems in their entirety, and offers complete solutions. 

If blogs are an answer to a question, you must at all times remember what the question is. Blog with a purpose and an answer in mind; don’t wander aimlessly or throw arguments around like dice, hoping for winning numbers. Stay relevant, stay charming, and above all else, stay accessible. If you tell the story your way, and give your audience answers, they will listen in rapture, and will keep coming back. 

Author Bio:

This is a guest post by Nadia Jones who blogs at online college about education, college, student, teacher, money saving and movie related topics. You can reach her at nadia.jones5@gmail.com.

Share your blogging tips with the Quest PR team.

Do you want to become a millionaire from the comfort of your own bedroom? Course you do, who wouldn’t right?

Well the good news is that it can be achieved! In fact there are people out there, such as Darren Rowse, or Steve Pavlina who have amassed a fortune by building highly successful blogs.

The bad news is that the vast majority of people who try will ultimately fail.  

So maybe you can be different. Follow my tips below to get a robust plan in place and get started.

Decide on a topic.

Before you start you will need to figure out a clear concept for your site, what it is about and who it will be aimed at. The internet is littered with blogs which don’t have a clear target audience – don’t be one of them.

Here is a good example of a post on SEO tips which does exactly what the title suggests and is clearly targeted for the blog’s readers.

Figure out your USP.

It’s not enough to just write good content; there are plenty of people who can do that already. You need to look at other blogs in your niche and figure out what you can do differently to achieve stand out and add your own unique spin.

Build a mailing list.

The key to making money from a blog is traffic. Without a strong base of loyal readers and a significant amount of traffic you cannot monetise it.

There are a variety of ways to build a following, but few are as solid and reliable as developing your mailing list. From day one you use an email opt in form to entice people to sign up. These are followers with whom you can build a relationship and trust – and, through your powerful content, can   keep them coming back to your blog.

Build links, do SEO and network.

In reality, only about 30-40% of the work is in actually writing content for your blog; especially when starting out. You need to have a clear SEO strategy and spend plenty of time building links, networking and getting to know other bloggers in your niche.

This will not only help to establish you with the key players in your niche, but also help get your site appearing in the search engines, which should generate more traffic for you.

Monetise.

Once your blog is established and getting some actual traffic, you can start to think about making some money. The reality is that monetizing your blog is the easy part. If you have enough traffic, making a little bit of money is the easy part. However, getting good at this can substantially impact just how much money you can make.

You can use Adsense, which is the easiest option. But offering well targeted affiliate products is likely to generate a better return – it takes a little more effort, but if you find good products and build trust with your audience, you will be able to make good sales – and ultimately, a  lot more money.

Be Patient.

In reality, real riches are going to take a long time coming. The process will progress from you making a few dollars a month to something more substantial. If you persevere and keep improving, that figure will grow.

Kirsty McCubbin; owner of affiliatestuff.co.uk started out working part time as an affiliate marketer and was able to exceed her work income within 12 months. But you can bet that there were days early on when she wondered whether she could really make any money at it.

If you work really hard and have a bit of luck, then you too might be able to quit your job in a year’s time, or it might take you two. Results vary for everyone and it really depends on just how much work you are prepared to put in and how well you have selected your niche. The difference between the successful bloggers and their fellow bloggers is that the successful ones are often more determined and tenacious.

So will you take up the challenge? If you’ve already ‘made it then share your tips with us.

About The Author:

I’m Nisha Sandhu, the Editor at merchantaccountforum.com. I love to write and give online business advice to new and growing businesses. Please visit my site to see the latest merchant account reviews.

The importance of social media platforms has been emphasised by Quest PR in a number of previous blog posts. Now we’re going to examine the role of viral videos – videos which are shared peer to peer, generating huge buzz and free publicity across the web, and which can be posted on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.    

There have been a number of big viral successes in recent years. The Old Spice ‘Man your man could smell like’ video generated around 6 million hits in 24 hours and rejuvenated the brand, which then increased its sales by 106% from the previous year.  Other notable videos have been made by Sony Bravia, also on YouTube, and an interactive trailer for The Last Exorcism film on Chatroulette.

Most bloggers analysing the trend agree that a successful video needs to strike an emotional chord with its audience, the two most common and effective emotions being humour and/or shock.

However, engaging content is not the only – or even necessarily the most important – element of a popular viral video. With about 200,000 videos uploaded to YouTube daily, it is no longer enough to have just a funny or thought provoking video. 

Generating external coverage for videos is now big business, with many start-up businesses offering a minimum guarantee of 100,000 hits or no charge. This involves huge networks of friends on Facebook, strategic tagging of videos and often multiple accounts on forums and social media platforms, all to create a ‘buzz’ around these video clips and drive them to new audiences.

So what does the future hold for viral videos? Forward-thinking companies view them as a largely untapped resource, without the audience wariness that accompanies traditional forms of marketing. Social media and YouTube continue to grow in popularity and the rise of the Smartphone means peer to peer sharing can now be done faster and much more regularly. 

The continuing success of viral videos may also act as a prompt to PR companies who should doubtless be considering how video can enhance their clients’ marketing activity and public image. The internet already offers great opportunities for wider coverage than press and television outlets combined and clients may well begin to expect more bang for their buck, targeting an audience share that can easily run into the millions, not just the hundreds of thousands.

Which viral video works best for you? Tell us and we’ll see if any popular favourites emerge!

As we emerge – albeit at a snail’s pace – though the upturn, the importance of ensuring your internal PR is as successful, inspiring and effective as your external marketing, PR and social media campaigns can’t be emphasised enough.

Quest PR’s latest guest post features Clive Wilson, deputy chairman of people and organisational development consultancy Primeast, who has some fantastic top tips to share. We’d also love to hear your views on this key subject.

Social networking sites offer a different medium of expressing your message – not just with text but also through images, video and other multimedia. It’s all about the conversations it can generate, putting a face to that once distant contact. Social media is transforming the sometimes tedious task of networking meetings and other physical events with a leisurely click of the button. This latest technological advancement has created a new business community, which you can’t afford to be excluded from.

Think about the cost effectiveness: only a decade ago cultivating business relationships involved time spent in a restaurant, at a conference or on the phone. Now you can forge and maintain a relationship in mere minutes with a simple tweet or a comment on a blog.

Your online profile also has the advantage of getting you talking offline. You see someone’s name at a business seminar, all it takes is “I read your latest blog and found it really interesting…” and you’re away. It’s like being a member of an exclusive club, leaving those who can’t talk the talk (or should that be tweet the tweet?) out in the cold.

A study by Stanford University suggests texting and tweeting makes people better communicators, especially Gen-Y members. This is because social media users need to be adaptable, reading their audience – of which there can be hundreds or thousands and each with their own needs – and engage accordingly. Researchers even hint that the online community is also superior at face-to-face communication.

There’s no denying the fantastic benefits of social media, yet it would be folly to rely solely on this medium. 90% of face-to-face communication is non-verbal and it is crucial to be able to read those messages. This is a skill that can take some people a lifetime to perfect but it’s not possible to hide behind a screen all the time. Offline interaction is a just as valuable a communication tool, which can mean the difference between landing that deal or joining the dole queue.

So, yes, social media does help to forge links quickly and effectively. However, you still need to be able to back up your online skills in the 3D world.

For those who need help logging onto social media, Quest PR is hosting a social media strategy seminar on Thursday 10 February, 9am – 10.30. To book please contact Sue Roberts at sue@quest-pr.com.

The Quest PR team wishes all our clients, business and networking partners in the UK, and our fantastic friends further afield – including Gini Dietrich and the team at Arment Dietrich and Jon Buscall from Jontus Media – a fantastic 2011.       

To kick off the New Year we have a guest post from Charlotte Britton of Optimum Exposure who shares with us the findings of a recent survey on how Yorkshire SMEs are harnessing social media to help secure new business.  

The results of the survey were fascinating – revealing how different sized companies in Yorkshire have integrated social media into their business and achieved a positive return on investment for their campaigns. Many of the companies have logged onto the benefits of social media as a tool to garner new business.

Blogs, Twitter and LinkedIn are undoubtedly the most popular networking sites amongst businesses. However, whilst small and medium businesses have really honed in on promoting themselves via LinkedIn, larger companies (50+ employees) are not actively exploiting the advantages of the site. Video content (YouTube) is lagging behind, presumably due to the perceived expense of creating a professional video.

As well as new business, Yorkshire companies are utilising social media to bolster their PR activities. 75% of respondents confirmed social media has been responsible for creating positive PR and 40% revealed that social media has helped with issues management.

Company websites are a common vehicle to promote businesses’ social media activity. 55% have links to their social profiles from their website’s homepage, whilst 30% have a dedicated ‘community’ webpage which signposts users to the various social media sites.

The survey demonstrated that social media is becoming a core part of the marketing mix.  Companies that are adopting the technologies and techniques are creating a competitive advantage for themselves as more people are using sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs. However, companies need to understand the objectives and metrics for success before embarking on any activity, so they know what success looks like as the campaign grows.

The research shows many Yorkshire companies appreciate the value of social media, leaving their non-web savvy competitors dead in the water. Yet there is still some way to go before perfectly mastering it as a fine art. 

View the full survey on SlideShare at:
http://www.slideshare.net/charlottebritton/yorkshire-social-media-survey-2010

Charlotte is Managing Director of Optimum Exposure (http://www.optimumexposure.co.uk/ , a consultancy that specialises in digital marketing strategies that help companies to make the most of the social web.

Charlotte Britton is a visionary leader and a widely acclaimed expert in the internet and digital marketing. She has regularly featured on expert panels and is a keen blogger.

Follow her on Twitter,, LinkedIn and her blog.

• Are you getting closer to your hot prospects by inviting them to submit guest posts?
• Are you maximising the power of influencers by filming and interviewing them for a storming guest vlog?
• Are you linking up with your peers by positioning your blog as a ‘sharing and learning’ platform for them to get involved?

At Quest we love to celebrate the expertise of guest bloggers such as Gini Dietrich, Mickie Kennedy and Jon Buscall.

It’s also fantastic to be invited to spark debates on your peers’ blogs and meet more great people.

So get your guest bloggers planned into your blogging and vlogging calendars and enjoy the ‘win-win’ of:

1. Giving them a great opportunity to boost their profile
2. Giving yourself an opportunity to show them how awesome (and fun) it is to work with you
3. Enhancing your relationships with clients, prospects, peers and influencers
4. Boosting your SEO
5. Watching your blog become a magnet for generating ‘buzz’
6. Giving yourself a breather from your calendar to keep creating great content

Before you take off down this route – here’s a couple of excellent tips on what to do before you invite your guests. As More Google Traffic says ensure your blog is worthy of your visitors by having a respectable ranking and that it well prepared for them by looking good.

After all you wouldn’t invite anyone to dinner without getting dressed, setting the table and getting the shopping in – would you?!

For more information on how Quest PR can help you to build your profile through the power of blogging contact Sharon Cain on sharon@quest-pr.com or through Twitter @sharoncain or on LinkedIn.

They’re proud to be opinionated, they aren’t constrained by the politics of the newsroom or by journalistic creeds, and there are millions of them with more popping up every day – they are bloggers, and reporters are increasingly seeking them out as sources on every topic imaginable. If you’re a PR pro and you don’t have a blog, you may be missing out on interviews with print and broadcast media.

Blogging acts as a complement to a traditional media relations campaign, allowing you to reach out and connect directly with customers, peers, and journalists. When you target a journalist, you’ll be a more attractive source if she can check your blog and see that you have an established following and an engaging style.

Your clients, too, need blogs—unless they want to be left behind as their competitors are discovered through search engines and social media. Nearly anything a client is promoting can be promoted through a blog. Keep the following three tips in mind, whether you’re blogging about your own work in PR or helping a client create a blog:

1. The best blogs are tightly focused. Just like you would when writing a press release, start by finding an interesting angle. Look for a niche that isn’t too crowded. You don’t want to spend weeks on a blog only to find that you’ve got no hope of making it into the first page of Google search results for your topic, thanks to hundreds of competing blogs that are older than yours and already have an active, engaged audience.
2. Err on the side of more honesty, not less. Don’t worry about turning readers off by admitting that the author of the organic cat care blog you’re promoting is your client, who sells organic cat litter. Blog readers want to hear from experts and they’re smart enough to differentiate between content and a sales pitch. Furthermore, if you want your blog to get noticed by the media, showcasing your client’s experience in the blog’s niche can only help you.
3. Be discoverable. So you wrote a brilliant post featuring 25 case studies of companies who are succeeding in social media. What good is it to you if a journalist researching a story on that subject can’t find your blog? Learn about basic SEO, participate in the blogging community by leaving substantive comments on similar blogs, maintain a responsive Twitter account, and use resources like HARO (Help a Reporter Out) to reach reporters directly.

This article is written by Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases, the online leader in affordable press release distribution. Download your free copy of 7 Cheap PR Tactics for Success in Any Economy.

• How much time are you investing in social media?
• Do you have a social media strategy – and if so, is it aligned with your business plan?
• Are you reaping the benefits of corporate blogging?

I was delighted to read that almost 70 per cent of businesses plan to increase their social media marketing drive and 74 per cent will give their e-mail marketing campaigns more ‘wellie’ this year.  With 89 per cent of journalists using blogs for research and more businesses attracting new customers from social media, the term ‘Return on Investment’ has been replaced with ‘Return on Engagement’ – because it’s critical that we engage with our target audiences.

Over the coming weeks we’ll be posting a series of hints and tips to give your social media journey a kickstart.

In the meantime, we suggest you ‘listen before you launch’.

• Listen to what your customers and prospects and stakeholders are saying about you online
• Use Google’s blog search tool and type in your business name, products and competitors http://blogsearch.google.com
• Search who is linking to your website and discussing it http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com
• Once you know who is talking about you and where your traffic is coming from, you can develop a plan on where to focus your online campaign.

How storming that an increasing number of our long-standing and new clients are harnessing the social media toolkit to define the best tools to drive their business goals and vision.

Before dipping your big toe into the more popular sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, or blogging, begin with the end in mind and establish their relevance in enabling you to engage with those who will boost your bottom line.

Remember, in this brave new business world it’s all about return on engagement as opposed to return on investment – and the more niche, customer-focused, and ethical you are , the more successful you are likely to be in weathering the economic storm.   

The ability to monitor your online reputation and find out who is saying what about your brand, can be accelerated by a number of listening tools as highlighted below. The trick is to listen and follow conversations about issues, news, people and organisations in your sector before making your social media debut. Enjoy he journey and the Quest team looks forward to blogging and tweeting with you!   

• whostalkin.com – A tool allowing you to search for conversations in social media on any topic or brand.
• socialmention.com – Searches user-generated content such as blogs, comments, bookmarks, events, news and video etc.
• google.com/alerts – Allows you to get email updates of the latest relevant google results on a name or topic.
• blogsearch.google.com – Follow what is being said about a specific person or topic in blogs.
• howsociable.com – Monitor mentions of your brand online.
• moreover.com – Keep up to date with all your industry news.
• digg.com – Track news about your business and the most popular news relating to your business.
• reddit.com – Like dig, allows you to track news about your business and the most popular news.
• technorati.com – Track what is being said about you on social media sites.
• blogpulse.com/conversation – Allows you to track who’s linking to a blog post about your company.   
• blogpulse.com/trends – Allows you to track the buzz on particular keywords. Useful for example, to monitor a competitor’s new product launch.
• delicious.com – Makes it easy to track whenever someone bookmarks a web page that includes mention of your company.
• video.google.com – Keep track of videos about you or your company.
• keotag.com – Track if someone tags a page using your company or product name.
• boardtracker.com – Keeps track if you are mentioned on popular forums and message boards.
• google.com/trends – Gives you an idea of which keywords are most searched.
• searchanalytics.compete.com – Allows you to enter a keyword and see which web sites are getting traffic for that keyword. Alternatively enter any domain name and see which keywords are driving traffic to that site.
• backtype.com – Monitor blog comments.
• 123people.com – Search for information on people.
• addictomatic.com – Provides a search interface that runs keyword queries against a load of important social, search and blog services.