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5 Steps to a More Professional Business Blog

I think any business that has a regularly updated blog these days is to be commended (with plus points if they use Twitter, as well), but all businesses who run a blog should try to make their blog as professional as possible. Here are some quick steps to reach that goal:

Simplify search.

Your blog should be easy to search, with an accessible search box and button on every page. Make sure you tweak your Search Results pages, as well- with links to your Site Map and other important pages, just in case your visitors can’t find what they’re looking for.

Install a Unique Favicon.

A Favicon is a graphical icon that is attached to your website when viewing on a browser. It’s a good idea to use a unique image for this, such as your logo. Here’s a quick video tutorial on creating and adding a Favicon to your blog. [Read more…] about 5 Steps to a More Professional Business Blog

How to Schedule Your Blog Posts in Blogger, WordPress and Typepad

I’ve written before about pre-writing your posts on weekends, which works well for many professional bloggers. But the fact is that whether you blog for business or personal reasons, pre-writing and scheduling your blog posts is always a good idea.

Scheduling your blog posts is different from simply writing post drafts. The latter requires you to login and publish the posts on a certain date- which is fine if you want to make last-minute changes to your posts- but scheduling means your blog software will publish your post automatically, on whatever date you set it to. If you’d like to get started doing this, here are some quick ways to schedule your blog posts: [Read more…] about How to Schedule Your Blog Posts in Blogger, WordPress and Typepad

Alternatives to Multiply for Your Online Store

While ordering a birthday present for my sister last week, I realized that around 90% of the online shops I buy from are on Multiply. Now, I’ve always thought of Multiply as a personal social-networking site, more like Friendster and MySpace than Etsy. So why are so many people setting up shop on Multiply? Because it’s easy to use? I have nothing against Multiply, but the truth is that a default Multiply site is simply not meant for online stores. Which is why many of these Multiply shops post product listings under “Photos”, announcements under either “Blog” or “Notes”, and so forth. And then I thought maybe- just maybe- many people don’t know where else to set up an online shop?

Hence this post. If you’re looking to set up an online store, here are some alternative services to check out:

Etsy

I mentioned Etsy earlier, and am listing it first with good reason. Etsy is a community of online shops that sell handmade items- and that includes everything from t-shirts to soaps to toys. Setting up a shop is quick and easy, and there is a listing fee of 20 cents per listed item, and a 3.5% sales fee. But from everything I’ve seen, shops on Etsy do very well because they’ve built a good, active community of buyers and sellers.

Shopify or BigCartel

If something like Etsy isn’t for you, you might want to consider one of these “all-in” hosted solutions. These services take care of everything from hosting your shop to handling payment transactions for you. Set up is usually very simple, and both of these services offer great-looking shop templates, so you won’t have to worry about having an ugly shop. BigCartel has a free plan, limited to 5 products, and Shopify offers a 30-day free trial on any of their plans. BigCartel does not take any percentages of your sales, while Shopify takes anywhere from zero (for their highest priced plan) to 2% per transaction.

WordPress with a Plug-In

That’s right, you can set up an online shop using our favorite blog software. It’s as simple as installing a shopping cart plug-in such as WP e-Commerce (free), Shopp ($55 for a single shop), or Quick Shop (free and very lightweight).

eBay

Of course I couldn’t ignore eBay. Because it’s so well-known, your customers might be more comfortable buying from you- and a lot of people do have success selling on eBay. Their Basic plan is $15.95 a month, with a variety of fees depending on what items you’re selling and how.

How do you power your online store?

5 Useful WordPress Admin Plug-ins for Business Blogs

If you’re in charge of running your WordPress-powered business blog, you’ll love these five plug-ins. I like them because they make life easier for WordPress administrators, especially if you’re managing a blog with multiple users.

Dashboard Custom Menu

This plug-in makes it easy to add a custom menu to your blog dashboard. As you can see from the screenshot above, you can add your own links (for example, other company sites or frequently accessed resources). You can also select who sees what, according to different user roles.

Dashboard Post-it

dashboard-postit
A must if you’re managing a multiple-user blog, this one gives you the ability to write short notes to other editors and authors. For something a little more powerful, there’s…

WP Task Manager

wp-taskmanager
WP Task Manager takes the post-it note idea a step further, allowing you to create tasks for all authors of your blog, including yourself. The plug-in comes with a special page that lists all tasks, and includes support for comments and discussions on each task.

Theme Test Drive

theme-testdrive
It’s always a good idea to test new WP themes- or changes to your current WP themes- before going live with them, especially on a business blog. This plug-in makes it easy to test drive themes from within your dashboard, so only you see the changes.

Easy Admin Color Themes

easy-admin-colorschemes
Finally, this one’s more for aesthetic reasons, letting you create and change the color schemes of your WP dashboard. Its settings include options for setting site-wide schemes, forcing schemes for certain users, and the ability to import pre-made admin color schemes. It’s a nice way to personalize your company blog dashboard in a small way.

What are your favorite WordPress Admin Plug-ins?

Weekend Blogging Tips

Most bloggers notice a drop in traffic on the weekends, and that’s natural: less people are online, less people are seeking information, on weekends. For that reason, many bloggers don’t post at all on weekends. But a lot of us- myself included- do blog on weekends. I do it mostly to prepare posts for the coming week, because it usually means the latter will be a lot less hectic for me. Feel like being a weekend blogger? Here are some tips:

Use the weekend for planning and drafting posts.

A useful tip especially for professional bloggers, who must turn out a certain number of posts during the week. With less distractions, and generally less going on online, weekends are perfect for researching material for your posts. It’s also a good time to discover interesting posts you might have missed in the past week- I’ve discovered many new posts- as well as blogs I never knew existed- on lazy weekends, simply by browsing through blogs I already subscribe to.

The weekend is great for scheduled posts.

If you’ve completed planning and drafting, and are ready to post but afraid no one will be around to read what you wrote, why not schedule the post for the upcoming week instead? Most, if not all, blogging platforms offer scheduled posts, and it’s easy to do once you know how.

Despite less traffic, people are still online.

Yes, the Internet is quieter on weekends, but there are definitely still people online- and if these people are in your niche, then you just might see a nice jump in traffic on weekends. For example, food blogs usually get visited on weekends by people searching for recipes to try out on weekends, or for dinner parties they might be throwing. Another thing to consider would be a “Weekend Roundup” of your favorite posts or links from the previous week.

Do you blog on weekends?

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