In the previous two posts we took a detailed look at 14 ideas on how to use business blogs to market your business. Today we’ll finish up the series by taking a look at 7 practical ways to use blogs inside your business to boost your bottom line.

OR… if you prefer to download or print a special expanded report in PDF format (complete with images and full introduction,) you can do that by clicking here >> Business Blogging Basics Revisited.

It’s formatted based on our old coaching course “Marketing With Business Blogs”, but it’s still just as valuable in prepping you for reading our new book Secrets Of Online Persuasion (hardcover) or joining in on the Secrets Of Marketing With New Media coaching program.

Here are the links for the final third of the “21 Ways to Boost Your Bottom Line Using Business Blogs” series online. They’re all ideas specifically for using business blogs inside your business

Pt 15: Keeping Ahead Of Your Competitors
Pt 16: Product Development With Your Business Blog
Pt 17: Systemizing Made Simple With Blogs
Pt 18: Small Business Advisory Board Blog
Pt 19: Your Business Blog As A Instant Client Feedback Engine
Pt 20: Making Management Easy With Internal Blogs
Pt 21: Business Blogging Idea #20
Pt 22: Business Blogs That Make The Most Of Company Meetings

Copyright © RPM Success Group Inc. 2002-2006. Full copyright reserved by RPM Success Group inc. Bloggers and journalists are welcome to link to posts or excerpt so long as full credit/attribution is given to AdvancedBusinessBlogging.com and RPM Success Group Inc.

John-Paul Micek is the premier Click-and-Mortar Business Coach. He’s been described as the “Communication Commando” and “Profit Matrix Master” by peers and coaching club members. With four multi-million dollar businesses under his belt and over 8,500 hours of experience coaching business owners and marketers to success from the inside out, J.P. is ready to help you get the profits, performance, and lifestyle you want from your business online and off-line. His latest book Secrets Of Online Persuasion is the definitive guide on marketing with New Media. J.P. is a weekly columnist for the Honolulu Star Bulletin, and professional speaker. You can reach J.P. directly via [communicationcommando@gmail.com].

Previous in series

As I mentioned in the last post I thought it would be a good idea to revisit a special series we did here at Advanced Business Blogging to help out the 1,000 or so new subscribers we have from our Speaking tour in Australia. The series was called “21 Ways to Boost Your Bottom Line Using Business Blogs.” Today I’ll share the second third of the direct links to each part of the series.

OR… if you prefer to download or print a special expanded report in PDF format (complete with images and full introduction,) you can do that by clicking here >> Business Blogging Basics Revisited.

It’s formatted based on our old coaching course “Marketing With Business Blogs”, but it’s still just as valuable in prepping you for reading our new book Secrets Of Online Persuasion (hardcover) or joining in on the Secrets Of Marketing With New Media coaching program.

Here are the links for the second third of the “21 Ways to Boost Your Bottom Line Using Business Blogs” series online:

Pt 8: Blogging For Your Business With Images & Photos
Pt 9: Business Blogging Idea #8
Pt 10: Sharing Your Customer’s Wins
Pt 11: Expert Positioning With Business Blogs
Pt 12: Persuasion & Edu-Marketing With Business Blogs
Pt 13: Branding With Business Blogs
Pt 14: Business Blogging Idea #13

Copyright © RPM Success Group Inc. 2002-2006. Full copyright reserved by RPM Success Group inc. Bloggers and journalists are welcome to link to posts or excerpt so long as full credit/attribution is given to AdvancedBusinessBlogging.com and RPM Success Group Inc.

John-Paul Micek is the premier Click-and-Mortar Business Coach. He’s been described as the “Communication Commando” and “Profit Matrix Master” by peers and coaching club members. With four multi-million dollar businesses under his belt and over 8,500 hours of experience coaching business owners and marketers to success from the inside out, J.P. is ready to help you get the profits, performance, and lifestyle you want from your business online and off-line. His latest book Secrets Of Online Persuasion is the definitive guide on marketing with New Media. J.P. is a weekly columnist for the Honolulu Star Bulletin, and professional speaker. You can reach J.P. directly via [communicationcommando@gmail.com].

Previous in series Next in series

Over the last three weeks in Australia as Deborah and I spoke on blogging for business and New Media Marketing in Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth we’ve gotten a lot of questions regarding the basics of business blogging. Just this morning in Perth as we were speaking with several attendees about our presentation last night. I was again amazed at how hungry entrepreneurs and business owners are for a firm grounding on effectively blogging for business.

To help out the 1,000 or so new subscribers we have from down under I thought it would be a good idea to revisit a special series we did here at Advanced Business Blogging just over a year ago. The series was called “21 Ways to Boost Your Bottom Line Using Business Blogs.” It’s a very valuable series that I’ve regretfully forgotten about, but now have “seen the light” and am bringing back to the forefront for your benefit right now.

Today I’ll share the first 1/3 of the direct links to each part of the series, and in the next two posts I’ll share the remaining two-thirds of the series.

OR… if you prefer to download or print a special expanded report in PDF format (complete with images and full introduction,) you can do that by clicking here >> Business Blogging Basics Revisited.

It’s formatted based on our old coaching course “Marketing With Business Blogs”, but it’s still just as valuable in prepping you for reading our new book Secrets Of Online Persuasion (hardcover) or joining in on the Secrets Of Marketing With New Media coaching program.

Here are the links for the first third of the “21 Ways to Boost Your Bottom Line Using Business Blogs” series online:

Pt 1: Business Blogging for High Profit Growth
Pt 2: Business Blogging Idea #1
Pt 3: Marketing With Blogs Using Contests & Give-Aways
Pt 4: Business Blogging Idea #3
Pt 5: Getting The Most Out Of Your Press Releases
Pt 6: Get Your Clients Blogging For Business
Pt 7: Blogging For A Face-to-Face Feel

Copyright © RPM Success Group Inc. 2002-2006. Full copyright reserved by RPM Success Group inc. Bloggers and journalists are welcome to link to posts or excerpt so long as full credit/attribution is given to AdvancedBusinessBlogging.com and RPM Success Group Inc.

John-Paul Micek is the premier Click-and-Mortar Business Coach. He’s been described as the “Communication Commando” and “Profit Matrix Master” by peers and coaching club members. With four multi-million dollar businesses under his belt and over 8,500 hours of experience coaching business owners and marketers to success from the inside out, J.P. is ready to help you get the profits, performance, and lifestyle you want from your business online and off-line. His latest book Secrets Of Online Persuasion is the definitive guide on marketing with New Media. J.P. is a weekly columnist for the Honolulu Star Bulletin, and professional speaker. You can reach J.P. directly via [communicationcommando@gmail.com].

Next in series

UPDATE on Blogging!

Hey - I don’t know about you - but it’s Saturday, and we can’t just always talk about the business of blogging, now can we? There has to be some chatter on the sheer entertainment value of blogging - right?

Ok - well - let’s first get down to how people are marketing with business blogs - and then I’ll give you a very cool entertainment break to reward your learning efforts.

But we warned! When you read more in this post… you’ll read about some seriously hypnotic shows out there. But heck - it’s Saturday - you deserve to go down the rabbit trail and get a few laughs in the process!

Blogging goes bigtime at Sundance - and gains the attention of Yahoo and AOL while taking on the big boys: Los Angeles Times and the New York Times.

Blogging has now permeated every part of American culture. From the news (political bloggers) to the arts (movie goers) it’s undeniable that blogging is serious business.

“As blogs become more successful, they are challenging traditional media, and this year’s Sundance marks a fascinating juncture as newly powerful blogs like Cinematical.com take on the likes of the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times.”

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Hollywood has just discovered how to put word-of-mouth marketing for movies - on steroids - with blogging! They know their buzz will be louder than ever as they have top bloggers in their industry giving movie goers all over the world the scoop - real time - and faster than traditional main stream media can even try and compete with.

The originial genius behind the idea of bringing blogs into the cinematic world was Jason Calacanis, founder of Weblogs Inc. who persuaded the festival to let him blog about the festival, and the movies he viewed, giving his readers LIVE coverage - from inside the movie theatre.

Now THAT’S instant buzz!
And for those of you business bloggers wondering what the arts have to do with the business of blogging, and marketing with business blogs - check out these cool facts for yourself:

(more…)

Business blogging reaps a host of rewards for those business owners astute enough to reach out and master the new technology. Thanks to RSS — business blogging, business Podcasting, and v-blogging provide a unique multi-media channel to reach your target market. It’s an advantage that throughout the 20th Century was held only by the largest of corporations. But now it’s possible for savvy small business owners to wield similar power in their chosen niche.

Word of marketing, search engine optimization, and relationship-building — they’re all benefits that come with the right business blogging strategy. But what about practical applications of business blogs that step outside the confines of the conventional thinking so prevalent in the blogosphere? What about a clearer vision of what business blogs can be used for?

Business blogs are not magic wands

You can’t just create a blog, start posting content, and expect that you’ll start reaping rewards in a few weeks or months. Thousands of business bloggers have already learned that the hard way.

Successfully reaping the rewards that you can achieve with business blogs takes a carefully crafted business blogging strategy.

It takes the knowledge and application of proven blogging tactics.

And it takes the careful tracking of your results, questioning of your target market, and adaptation to what they really want.

And while all that is true — that can be a little overwhelming without having a clear picture of the true power and potential of business blogging. That’s why we’ve created this special 44-page eBook!

Announcing the Free eBook: 21 Ways to Boost Your Bottom Line Using Business Blogs

You can download your copy for free on the home page for www.AdvancedBusinessBlogging.com. You’ll see a little registration box at the top of the left navigation column. Just enter your first name and email and we’ll send you download instructions for this $47 eBook — for FREE!

It’s packed with innovative ideas and case study examples that will give you a taste of what’s possible once you’ve mastered the ins and outs of business blogging. This is not an eBook that blathers on and on about business bloggers who blog about blogs. (There are enough of those out there in on the web. :))

This eBook gives you a true view of real-world business applications. It’s meant for business owners who are serious about leveraging the full potential of business blogs and RSS.

When you’re done reading this special eBook,

• You’ll have a clear vision of what you can do with business blogs
• You’ll have practical examples of what’s possible for online and off-line businesses alike
• And you’ll discover how to take your business blogging to the next level

Enjoy — and be sure to let us know what you think with a comment after downloading and reviewing the eBook. We’d love your input and feedback.

Mahalo (that means “thank you” in Hawaiian) and make it an awesome day!

John-Paul Micek is a contributing partner in the only multi-media course that truly coaches business owners how to integrate business blogging for more traffic, more clients, and more profits — How to Master Business Blogging.

He’s a weekly columnist for the business section of the Honoulu Star Bulletin. He’s known as the “Click-and-Mortar Business Coach” by by business owners around the world thanks to members of the Business Owners Coaching Club.


The © Copyright to all audio, video, images, and text are held by RPM Success Group Inc. and licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Corporate board members are usually very busy people. They have a lot on their plate, they’re often running their own business, and to top it all off — they’re not usually compensated for the time they dedicate to board activities.

Now while that’s all true for both profit and non-profit companies, non-profits stand to gain the most by fully engaging their corporate board members. With non-profits, the guidance and direction of corporate board members can be even more valuable since funding for other outside sources of guidance (from consultants or business coaches) is likely to be limited.

The bottom line is the more steps you can take to make it easier for board members to contribute and fully participate, the more actively they’ll be fully engaged and give their all.

Part of the answer lies in a private “Board Members Business Blog”

When you put together a private password protected business blog for these corporate board members (similar to what we discussed earlier with the small business advisory board) you’ll create a win-win-win scenario.

Win #1: For the corporate board members

The corporate board members win because they can advise, guide, and provide input “virtually.” That means interacting more and meeting in-person less. And since many members on the boards of non-profit companies are fulfilling some of their personal desires to contribute, they’ll appreciate the fact that they’re able to contribute even more thanks to a high efficiency business blog.

Win #2: For your company

Since board members have time to digest topics, comments, and conversations the company wins because you’re getting more well-thought out direction from the people on the board. The company also wins because applying a business blog in this way creates more of a mastermind environment where board members can build on and expand on each others ideas in a more creative, un-rushed manner.

Win #3: For your clients

Your clients win because you draw out more effective solutions and ideas from the board. At the same time your business blog allows equips your team to put those ideas into action in between lengthy in-person board meetings.

On top of all these wins though, my favorite benefit has to be the archiving of all contributions and guidance from board members organized and categorized for easy reference. One of the biggest losses in efficiency and impact that I’ve witnessed with corporate boards is when the board membership turns over. Now with your board member business blog — you can make all the invaluable historical data generated by your advisory board is available for new members to draw on for years to come.

With proper planning, the right structure, and a few simple strategies you can fully harness the power of business blogging for your company. Remember — business blogging is not just about marketing! The strategies and principles you need to fully harness the power of business blogging are easier to obtain than you think.

You can check out the How to Master Business Blogging course, or you can choose to unearth all the proven approaches on your — that’s up to you. But what I can’t recommend strongly enough is that you get started today.

The 21st Century marketplace is not a place to hesitate. It’s no longer the big that eat the small. It’s the fast that eat the slow. And my passion is to help business owners move as fast possible. Business blogging is just one of the ways to do that!

John-Paul Micek
Click-and-Mortar Coach
Business Owners Coaching Club
http:/www.AdvancedBusinessBlogging.com

© Copyright 1999-2005 by RPM Success Group ®, All rights reserved. You may use this article/post in part with an active trackback, or in it’s entirety as an RSS feed without previous permission, so long as it is published with the full authors tag and copyright notices. Call RPM Success Group toll free at 888-334-8151 for offline reprint permissions, or by email editor@rpmsuccess.com.

Do you have employees in multiple remote locations? As part of your business, do you have to supply updates to clients? What about delivering “premium” content to subscribers or clients?

With the organized interactive format of your business blog, paired with the power of the RSS feed (already incorporated into your blog,) you can bypass email, Spam filters, and unreliable delivery to make sure your message gets through instantly – every time.

Update every remote employee or every premium content client instantly, reliably, and all at once. Then drive them back to the blog for posting, interaction, and commentary.

Once again, a major part of the power in this application of your business blog is the categorized historical data that is right here on the blog adding content and relational value to all the users.

Learn how you can apply this powerful profit releasing tool in your small business. It’s just one of the many benefits waiting for you at with the How To Master Business Blogging course.

Thanks to outsourcing, today’s small business owner has access to a pool of talent that once was reserved only for large corporations. Flexibility, highly specialized skills, and performance-based pay are just a few of the enticing benefits that come with outsourcing. But for many small business owners the communication, coordination, and tracking challenges of outsourcing often appear bigger than the benefits.

That annoys the heck out me, and let me tell you why.

My partner Deborah and I are passionate about helping business owners achieve their full potential — both in terms of profits, and lifestyle! That’s the main reason we launched the Business Owner’s Coaching Club. And to be quite frank with you, it’s why I’m really upset that so many small business owners are missing out on the leverage of outsourcing.

These hard working men and women are having to keep more on their plates and live a life of lower quality because they have less free time than they could with outsourcing. They’re suffering with higher costs, and often a lower quality of work because they feel it’s easier to use less specialized in-house employees to do work. Work that could be done better (and more efficiently) with an outsource agent.

That’s a shame because we’ve seen incredible transformations take place for small business owners who begin to apply proven outsourcing strategies.

Radical changes like:

• More free time for themselves and their families.
• More time and energy to work “ON” their business.
• More industry leading innovation and greater creativity.
• Better quality customer service and continuity sales.

I could go on and on, but I think you see now why we want to help small business owners remove as many barriers to outsourcing as possible.

The bottom line is that outsourcing enables you to quickly find and employ highly talented specialists to perform activities that would otherwise be impractical or cost-prohibitive to do with an in-house employee

So here’s where an internal business blog can help

In our experience coaching small business owners around the world, what they struggle with the most with is keeping a handle on their outsource agents. They want a way to manage, coordinate, and oversee both their in-house employee team and their outsource agents. And this is where an internal business blog comes to the rescue.

Online services like Kayako do make the management of outsourcing projects easier. But they often lack the collaborative aspect that is so valuable in this type of situation. Plus with most of these services, gaining access to categorized historical data is a real hassle, if it’s available at all.

But with your own password protected internal business blog you’ll gain a practical tool for collaboration and organization.

When properly structured it’s a system that will allow you to harness the full power of outsourcing and avoid many of the common management and communication challenges associated with outsourcing.

When you apply business blogging software in this way you’ll make management, coordination, and historical tracking a relative breeze. And at the same time you’ll provide a collaborative online environment that keeps communication and creativity flowing in an organized manner.

Set a 30-day goal to learn more about outsourcing and get coached on how you can use it to increase your both your profits and your free time. Then start harnessing the full power of outsourcing by creating a well structured internal business blog.

When you put this team to work for you, you’ll put yourself on the fast track to business growth and open up more free time at the same time!

John-Paul Micek
Click-and-Mortar Coach
Business Owners Coaching Club
http:/www.AdvancedBusinessBlogging.com

© Copyright 1999-2005 by RPM Success Group ®, All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form without the express written consent of RPM Success Group ® is prohibited. You may use this article/post in part with an active trackback, or in it’s entirety as an RSS feed without previous permission, so long as it is published with the full authors tag and copyright notices. Call RPM Success Group toll free at 888-334-8151 for offline reprint permissions, or by email editor@rpmsuccess.com.

Have you ever wondered how you could make it easy to get a continuous and on ongoing stream of specific input, feedback, and direction from your clients? Input and opinion that can position you as a top leader in your industry, profession, or niche?

Well … with a specially designed business blog and a little internal marketing to your clients you can the same secret weapon top international corporations (like Proctor and Gamble, General Foods, Chrysler) use to dominate the market, and unleash it in your small business.

Having a client-centered approach for business development can shave years of trial-and-error off your product and service improvements. And when you stack the powerful strategies of Socratic Business Innovation (a proven innovation system that members of the Business Owner’s Coaching Club learn to apply with deft precision) — you’ll find yourself so far out in front of your competitors, they’ll be gasping for air trying to catch up.

External Input — Internal Application

This is a business blog application that does have a public side to its functionality, but its main purpose is to gather client feedback for your business innovation.

Let’s face it. Your clients are going to have comments and feedback on any and all of your products or services. Why not make it simple for both them to give input, and your team and to get it?

Direct them to a special business blog where they can voice suggestions, complaints, and kudos in a way that benefits your company.

Setting up and structuring a business blog for this purpose works very well because it’s non-threatening for clients. It helps open an immediate dialog with your clients as soon as they purchase. And it lets them know you value their contributions to the development of your products or services on an ongoing basis.

One word of warning though.

If you’re going to ask for comments and feedback – you’d better be prepared to act on that input. You must respond and actively incorporate it into your product/service upgrades. Nothing will tick a client off faster than you asking for feedback, them giving it, and then you not responding or applying anyone’s input.

To learn more about Socratic Business Innovation and how you can become a top leader in your industry or niche, visit the Business Owner’s Coaching Club to learn about membership.

Many of our business coaching clients have taken our advice and put together a small business advisory board for their company. This informal advisory board usually consists of (at a minimum):

• A corporate attorney
• An employment law attorney
• CPA (or an enrolled agent)
• Banker or money broker
• Spiritual advisor
• Business coach
• Personal mentor

A small business advisory board like this can give owners and entrepreneurs a tremendous competitive advantage, but it’s not without it’s challenges.

For one thing — getting six or seven professionals together in one room at one time in an advisory capacity is like herding cats. To be honest with you, it’s been one of the biggest stumbling blocks small business owners face in keeping their advisory board functional.

Often times people who are asked to be members of the advisory board sign on fully prepared to interact and share their advice. But when several meetings go by with only a couple of other board members showing up, the momentum gets lost and the board just kind of fades away.

But now … enter the business blog!

Three simple steps and you’ve created some incredible leverage for yourself, and convenience for your advisors.

1. First you create a business blog with special (private) access for all the members of your small business advisory board.

2. Next, provide each of your advisory board members with the FeedDemon news aggregator. ($29 bucks is the least you can do for what they’re contributing to your business, and a cheap or “free” news aggregator will only frustrate them.)

3. And then make sure they’re all subscribed to your RSS feed for this private small business advisory board blog.

Now they can all interact and provide professional advice at a time that’s most convenient for them. That means you’ll get more interaction, more advice, and more efficient board operation for all concerned – including you as the owner.

I’m these basic steps sure have spurred some innovative ideas for you. If you’re ready to take your business blogging to a whole new level, you can learn more about these and other easy to apply advanced business blogging strategies, applications, and techniques in the How To Master Business Blogging course.