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Jeff Cobb – Hedgehog & Fox Newsletter – 09.09 – Essential Tools of the New Web: Blogs, Part II
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Hedgehog & Fox Newsletter
from Jeff Thomas Cobb
Volume 2, Issue 6
http://jtcobb.wpengine.com
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IN THIS ISSUE
1. Quote of the Month
2. A Brief Note from Jeff
3. Learning About the Future with David Houle
4. Feature Article: Blogs, Part II
5. Upcoming Speaking
6. High Value Clicks
7. Contact Me
8. Administrivia
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1. Quote of the Month
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The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot
read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn.
– Alvin Toffler
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2. A Brief Note from Jeff
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I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about the process of moving
from what we once knew into what we now know – how we actually
reach that future that we are so fond of talking and dreaming
about. It’s a learning process. And that process keeps flowing
faster and faster.
It was just a few years ago that “blogs” were a cutting edge
technology. They are not anymore. Not even close, though many
people still think of them that way. I have written about them
again this month because I think they are so fundamental to having
not only an effective Web presence, but increasingly, to being an
effective business. I have watched a number of organizations and
individuals who learned this early jump ahead of competitors or
carve out new paths to success.
One of the first people among my friends and colleagues who began
blogging consistently was David Houle. I remember visiting David at
his home years ago and finding that his dining room table was
covered with piles of books. The books covered a wide range of
topics, but David was devouring them all with one passionate
purpose in mind – to see into the future.
David’s blog, Evolution Shift, was his launch pad into pursing this
passion and shaping it into a career. He went on to publish a book
– The Shift Age – become a high demand Futurist speaker – and now
he is publishing an incredibly valuable, twice-yearly report for
anyone who wants to know where the world is going and stay ahead of
the curve.
You can learn more about David’s Shift Age Trend Report Report
below, and you can learn more about the importance of blogs further
down in this newsletter or in any number of other places that
Google can take. Whatever you do, though, keep learning – the
future is at hand.
As always, I look forward to any comments or questions you may send
to jtc@jeffthomascobb.com
Jeff
http://jtcobb.wpengine.com
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3. Learning About the Future with David Houle
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As noted above, my colleague David Houle has recently begun
publishing The Shift Age Trend Report, a semi-annual report that
delivers a wealth of insight about the future. I wasn’t quite sure
what David had in mind when he first told me about the report, but
I was blown away when I finally saw it.
This is no ordinary “e-newlsetter” or analyst research report. It’s
an interactive PDF with with embedded video, Power Points and other
rich media. Reading it is a real experience, and it definitely
delivers the goods when it comes to insights into future trends. On
top of David’s own thinking, the report features interviews with
experts from organizations like Nokia and NASA along with in-depth
market analysis from the Leo J. Shapiro Company.
Finally, in each each issue a CEO writes about leading his or her
company through a transformation from the way it used to do
business in the 20th century to the way it has to conduct business
in the 21st century. In the current issue Darryl Rosser, CEO of
Sagus International describes the journey of transformation that
now places him at the center of the effort to create the 21st
Century American School.
Here is some sample content to give you a better feel for what the
report is like:
newsletter because I felt a number of readers might be interested.
For readers who are interested, David has provided the following
discount code to give you $50 off on purchase of the report:
FJTCOBBV
Just go to David’s Web site to purchase the report and enter the code
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4. Essential Tools of the New Web: Blogs, Part II
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This is the fifth installment in my “Essential Tools” series, which
has so far covered Web video, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs (Part
I). I indicated in the last issue that I would do two articles on
blogs because I feel they are such an important tool for businesses
today.
In fact, I feel you really shouldn’t run a business without a blog,
given all of the benefits they offer. Here’s what I mean:
Note: I continue to reference the Articulate Rapid E-learning
blog, the example I used in the previous newsletter, in what
follows. For your convenience, I have posted that part of the last
Targeted, Fresh Content is Easy
to easily generate content that is specifically targeted to your
customer or member base. Sure you can do this with a regular Web
site, but most blogging platforms are much easier to publish in
than the typical Web authoring software. And a blog automatically
provides an RSS feed to which readers can subscribe. Use
a service like Feedburner or Feedblitz, and adding e-mail
subscription is also a breeze.
(Still not clear on what RSS is? See RSS in Plain English)
Your Expertise – and Value – is on Display
Perhaps the most powerful thing about the Articulate Rapid
E-learning blog is that it provides clear evidence of the company’s
expertise in the area of rapid e-learning. They provide highly
valuable content – stuff the average e-learning professional can
really use – and that keeps people coming back again and again. As
readers return, their trust in Articulate grows. When it’s time to
buy a rapid e-learning package, chances are high they will turn to
Articulate first.
Customers Can Engage
Unlike the average Web page, blogs provide the opportunity for
customers to comment. And if you provide something of value,
believe me, they will. These days, that doesn’t just mean submitting
a comment on the blog itself – it can also mean “tweeting” about a
blog post or sharing on Facebook, just to name two of the more
popular options. Take a look for example at How to Use this Free
Search Engines Love It
Some commentators would put this one at the head of the list, but I
think it should come last for a couple of reasons. First, you
should blog for your customers and members – not for the search
engines. Second, it is the natural outcome of everything above.
Google and other search engines like content that is fresh and
content that is popular. Posting to a blog two to three times a
week will help bring the search engine “crawlers” to your site more
often, helping ensure that you show up in search results. And if
you generate a lot of high value content that people comment on,
share, and link to – well, there really is nothing better than that
for boosting your search engine rankings.
One important note: to get the search engine benefits, your blog
really needs to be part of your Web site, not a separate site
altogether. You can see that the Articulate blog, for example, is
located at:
Similarly, my entire Web site is actually built on the blogging
software platform WordPress. You would never know it just by
visiting the site, but this approach makes the site very easy to
manage and gives me all the advantages that blogs offer. This is an
approach that I recommend highly to most organizations.
One final, important point about a blog: you own it.
You don’t own Twitter; you don’t own Facebook; you don’t own YouTube.
All of these other social networking tools are highly valuable, but you
are subject to their rules and to the unforeseen changes they may
make down the road. Your account on these platforms can even be
shut down under certain circumstances. So long as you own the
domain for your blog, you should be able to maintain it as you see
fit even if you have to move it from one hosting provider to
another.
you have a blog and don’t know whether you own your domain or what
happens if your hosting situation changes, put it on your list to
find out!)
All in all, you might think of a blog as a very easy-to-use Web
publishing platform that takes advantage of nearly all of the
social possibilities of the new Web. My view is that blogs are no
longer a nice-to-have – they are an essential part of any
organization’s market presence.
JTC
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I recently spoke – with Lindy Dreyer of SocialFish – on the topic
of social media and professional development at the ASAE annual
meeting. Here’s what’s coming up in the near future:
Making Social Media Marketing Work for Your Agency
Lunch and Learn Teleconference
Professional Insurance Agents
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
***
Learning 2.0 for Associations
Association New Media Summit
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Arlington, CA
Visit http://jtcobb.wpengine.com/speaking to find out more or
contact me at jtc@jeffthomascobb.com if your are interested in
having me speak at one of your organization’s events.
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6. High Value Clicks
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Here are some great free or low-cost resources on the Web to help
you with your digital strategy:
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Blog Resources
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(I’ve repeated the links from last time, for your convenience, and
also added a few.)
Blogging for Beginners
Tips from Problogger Darren Rowse
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Why Blog + 25 Tips to Make It Work
A free eBook with good basic advice from Conversation Agent Valeria
Maltoni
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Study Shows That Businesses That Blog Get 55% More Website Visitors
New data from HubSpot. The title says it all.
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Other Stuff
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The Relationship Economy
Jay Deragon’s great blog. Worth adding to your frequent reads.
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Involver Facebook Tools
A great suite of tools to help you get more out of your Facebook
presence.
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Socialnomics – Social Media Revolution
The new book Socialnomics is making something of a splash. The
Socialnomics blog is worth a visit, and the Social Media Revolution
video on YouTube is a must see.
http://socialnomics.net/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8
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20 Free Keyword Research Tools
A great set of tools for anyone working on their search engine
optimization.
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How to Search the Social Web – The Ultimate Toolkit
A very thorough albeit somewhat overwhelming list of tools.
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The Twitter Guidebook
A great new free Twitter resource from Mashable.
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What’s the Lifetime Value of Your Customers
Some useful thoughts from Talkibie on a very important question.
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LinkedIn Gives You a Better Way to Brand Your Business
LinkedIn has now rolled out custom company profiles. Mashable gives
you the lowdown.
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7. Contact Me
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I truly welcome your thoughts on how I can make this into a
newsletter that fits your needs in the best possible way. Always
feel free to e-mail me or call me at 919.201.7460
with any comments you have about the content provided
in the newsletter and suggestions for future editions.
If this newsletter was forwarded to you and you would like a
subscription of your own, go to:
http://jtcobb.wpengine.com/newsletter/
For more information about the services I provide, visit my Web
site at:
http://jtcobb.wpengine.com/blog
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8. Administrivia
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