Here are some resources and links discussed at the Enterprise Center of Johnson County Blogging for Your Business Workshop on April 21, 2011.
Blogging Platforms
WordPress (initially free)
Typepad (paid, various levels)
Blogger (free)
Spam Filter
Community Guidelines
Here’s are the Barnes & Noble Community Guidelines on Facebook. It’s a good example that can easily be modified to apply to blog commenting instead.
Blog Readership Stats
BlogHer/Ketchum Social Media Matters Study 2011 (PDF file)
Pew Internet & American Life Project Generations 2010 (PDF file)
Some Posts About Business Blogging
10 Reasons Your Small Business Should Have A Blog
6.5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Blog
Top 5 Business Blogging Mistakes and How To Avoid Them
15 Excellent Corporate Blogs to Learn From
Notice that the last two posts are both from Mashable. They’re a great resource for news, advice and information about social media.
Optimal Posting Times
When’s the Best Time to Publish Blog Posts? from Problogger
Image Resources and Attribution
Per the question about removing tracking data from photographs, here’s an article discussing how to do that.
Flickr – Photo sharing site with with a lot of Creative Commons-licensed content.
Search for a word or phrase. Once you get initial results, click the “Advanced search” link and narrow the search down to “Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content” and “Find content to use commercially.” Be sure to credit the photographer (by name or Flickr handle) and link back to the original photo post on Flickr within the post.
SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Basics
A Few Business Blog Examples
Nuts About Southwest – Southwest Airlines
A great example of a blog that has a large number of contributors yet maintains a casual tone and does a good job of varying subject matter.
Marriott on the Move – Marriott Hotels
One of the earliest CEO blogs – still a great example.
Off the Shelf – Barkley
Industry-focused blog with content very specific to consumer packaged goods manufacturers and marketers.
stuff – Blog! – A local small business blog that features a combination of personal musings from the store owners along with new product and sale mentions.
Top Corporate Blogs – Listing of the most recent posts from a large number of corporate blogs via aggregator Alltop
Social Media Clubs
If you’d like the opportunity to meet other professionals working in social media and learn from them in a variety of settings, check out our area social media clubs.
Social Media Club of Kansas City (I’m currently VP of this club)
Social Media Club of Johnson County
Social Media Club of Lawrence, KS
Any questions? Feel free to contact me.