Mack Collier is a social media consultant, and author of The Viral Garden, a blog focusing on marketing and social media. He also is a frequent contributor to the website Marketing Profs, as well as the marketing blog Daily Fix.
Known for his 'community-first' approach to blogging and social media, Mack focuses on teaching companies how they can use social media to excite and engage their customers, as well as better understand and market to them.
Mack is a requested speaker and has advised companies of all sizes on their social media strategies, from small businesses and startups, to companies as large as Dell and Nettwerk Music. His writings have been referenced in several mainstream publications and websites, including The Washington Post, MSNBC.com, Ad Age, CNET, and The Boston Globe.
One of the benefits to spending time on Twitter is that it's a great way to network. But if you are new to Twitter, it can seem difficult to find people that are in your industry or that share your interests. Here's some tips to help get you started meeting new friends on Twitter!
The problem that many companies face when they delve into the social media waters is that they really don't understand these new-fangled tools. And that means they are probably going to use them in the wrong ways, and for the wrong reasons.
One of the highlights for me, as a blogger, during last week's Small Business Marketing Unleashed conference in Houston, came when Jennifer Laycock instructed the attendees on the proper way to 'pitch' a blogger. As a blogger that has received hundreds if not thousands of horrible pitches over the last 3 years, it was music to my ears!
If you've read my posts here or were able to hear me speak at Small Business Marketing Unleashed in Houston, you know what a believer I am in businesses monitoring the blogosphere. It's a must for businesses to know what bloggers are saying about them, because then they can respond. But how do you know the correct way to respond? It depends on what you find.
"I just don't know what I would say." I must have heard this a dozen times at Small Business Marketing Unleashed from attendees that were trying to explain why they aren't blogging or aren't on Twitter. But almost everyone that I talked to was interested in learning more about blogging and Twitter, yet the fear of not knowing what to say was holding them back.
All week we've talked about the elements that make a great company blog. Now let's conclude the What Makes a Great Company Blog series by looking at some of the best company blogs.
The sidebars of your blog are a great chance for you to not only give readers information they need, but to also shine the spotlight on them! In Part Four of my 'What Makes a Great Company Blog' series, I'll look at how superior blogs utilize their sidebars to attract and grow their audience.
If great content is the #1 trait of a great company blog, properly handling comments is #1-A. Great content pulls in readers and if you can use that content to encourage comments and then reply to the ones left in a proper manner, you'll convert readers into a community.
In Part Two of my Elements of a Great Company Blog series, I'll look at how to create a posting schedule and why it's so important in growing your blog's readership.
As more companies and businesses enter the blogging waters, it's becoming easier to identify the characteristics of an outstanding company blog. Next week at the Small Business Marketing Unleashed conference in Houston, I'll be presenting on the topic of Blogging for Business. Part of my presentation will cover the elements of a great company blog, and I thought it would be a good idea to cover those areas here as well.
Want more traffic to your blog? Of course you do. But how do you get it? It's a question that many bloggers struggle with, but thankfully there are several fairly easy ways you can start today to grow your blog's traffic.
If you aren't, you should be! With close to one million users (according to TwitDir), businesses are beginning to realize that it's just as important to monitor what Twitter users are saying about them, as it is to monitor the blogosphere.
Recently a friend asked me a question that any business that begins blogging will have to answer; What should your first post be about? That first post is terribly important, because it sets the tone for the blog, not just for the readers, but for the writers as well.
Last week I attended South by Southwest, and while the festival itself was the main attraction, the events and parties that sprung up every night were examples of great and cheap marketing that many small businesses could learn from.
As the dynamic CK points out, "Your Company" + SUCKS is the new Google barometer for how well you are satisfying your customers. And sometimes, it's not very pretty.
Have you taken the time to sit down and put your blog's goals on paper? Do you know why you are blogging and what you want to accomplish from your efforts? Excellent. But don't fool yourself into thinking that all you need is a plan, that's just your starting point.
If you aren't, you should be. Here's a great example of how one of the country's biggest companies is using a very personal touch to provide excellent customer service, and create evangelists for their brand.
Believe it or not, you don't have to be a blogger to respond to and engage bloggers. All it takes is a willingness to monitor the blogosphere and respond when appropriate. Doing so can help you convert skeptics and naysayers into fans.blog
Most, if not every blogger, wants to write posts that are popular with their readers, and other bloggers. And while there are no foolproof ways to guarantee that others will be interested in what you write, there are several things you can do to greatly improve your chances that others will talk about, and link to your posts.
When a business starts blogging, there is usually a huge temptation to use this newly-minted blog as a tool to directly promotion the business and its products and services. Unfortunately, this is the quickest way to guarantee that your blog will be totally useless and irrelevant to visitors. So what should your blog focus on? Providing value to your readers, of course!
One of the most common questions I hear from bloggers and businesses that blog, is 'How can I grow my blog's traffic?' This is a valid question, but bloggers shouldn't forget to focus on their blog's subscribers as well. Over the last year, I have seen first-hand what can happen when you focus on growing your blog's subscriber count.
Whether you are a consultant, a small business, or a Fortune 500 company, a blog can be a great tool to promote yourself. But the mistake that many blogs make is placing too much emphasis on promoting what they offer, and not enough focus on the people doing the selling.
Normally the first step a business takes in exploring the blogosphere is to start blogging themselves. But instead of diving in with a new blog, is it better to first understand what bloggers are currently saying about your business?
For a few years now, companies have heard that blogs are great tools to better reach and understand their customers. But at some point, the rubber needs to meet the road, and actual bottom-line results need to be examined. So...
Yesterday I wrote about some of the things you can do on your blog to encourage your readers to comment on your posts. But that's only half the battle, the real key to getting more comments on your blog, is to leave it!
Have you ever read a blog and noticed that every post had several comments? It's almost as if the post was just the beginning of a fascinating discussion that carried over to the comments. But how can you create such a vibrate community on your blog?
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 If your company or small business has a blog that isn't delivering the results you were hoping for, Mack Collier can help! Mack is the author of one of the most popular marketing blogs on the internet, The Viral Garden, and a social media consultant that has advised companies of all sizes on their blogging strategies, from small businesses to companies as large as Dell. Mack can show you how to revitalize your blog and how to create content and experiences that will excite your visitors and grow your blog's readership. Every element of your blog, including content, comments, visuals, feed subscription options, sidebars and posting patterns will be examined. You will be given a detailed report that explains exactly how effective every element is, and what areas can be improved upon in order to harness your blog's full potential. Mack will show you how to turn your blog into a powerful marketing tool that's a hit with your customers, and that positions your company or small business as a leader in your industry. You can click here for more information on Mack's services, as well as prices. |
Sage not only personally invites you to come hear him speak at Search Engine Guide's upcoming Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference, but he also reviews some of the show's best features. He highlights the top of the industry speakers, the wide array of in-depth topics to be covered and the appropriate, yet really fun conference location.
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