Social Media: Repetition, Repetition, Repetition.
At BlogIndiana I heard an interesting statistic : Approximately 75% of the visitors to your blog or website are first time visitors. This didn’t sound right, surely people were coming back again and again. But I checked my own statistics and sure enough, 72% of my guests were first timers.
All that new content I was generating, was it going to waste? If I just wrote the same post over and over again, who would know? Well I believe it isn’t going to waste, because every post builds SEO bait. At the same time, the practice is improving my writing skills.
The fact that 3/4 of my audience is new every day presents an interesting challenge. If his is the first time you have arrived here, I want you to know a bit about us. – At Roundpeg, we are focused on small business. We write about marketing, social media, pr, web design, and business planning. Occasionally we show off samples of our work, and link to projects we do for our small business clients. Look around, we hope you will enjoy your stay, and maybe come back and become part of the other 25%
However, if you are part of my regular audience. I am glad you are back.. On this visit, I hope you will take the time to share some of your thoughts. What keeps you coming back?
Seven Link Challenge Day Six – Video
There is more to Business Notes from Roundpeg then just great writing, there is video, and podcasts. In today’s installment of the Seven Link Challenge, I am going to share links to some of my favorite videos. While some are my presentations, others are just great snippets I pulled from YouTube and Ted.com
- Shop Local – From my Rainmaker presentation last fall, in which I challenged our members to vote with their dollars.
- Bring the Love Back – A funny look at how consumers view old style advertising.
- Networking and Toast – Ron Sukenic talking about his toaster – very funny
- Who Should Be an Entrepreneur – From my interview with IBJ writer, Mason King
- Economic Lessons from the Donkey – The written version of this story is also one of my favorites, but Nathan Karamanski of Another Cool Design, really brought it home in his editing of the video version.
- The High Dive - One of my favorite “Rainmaker Closes” this story about my son is proof that past failure is often an indicator of future success.
- Animoto Cool Image Display - Showing off my husband’s art in this cool video
Seven Link Challenge Day Five – Ramblings
Most of the time I write about marketing, social media, web design and pr for small business. But sometimes I go off topic a bit and talk about things that interest, inspire or annoy me. These posts are usually classified as Ramblings.
In today’s addition to my Seven Link Challenge (inspired by a post by Darren Rowse) I have sharing links to my favorite Rambling posts
- What I Learned in 13 Miles
- Not Strictly Business – Seven Facts About Me ( How could I skip a post with seven in the title? )
- What Small Business Owners Can Learn From My Father-in-Law
- Create Your Day
- Last Days of the Presidency ( Hint I am not talking about Clinton, Bush or Obama)
- It Is All About the Crazy
- Sometimes It Is Brawn Over Brains
As I was looking at my recent posts, I realized I haven’t done as much of this lately, but I like the posts, so it looks like I should make time to write a few more in the future.
Seven Link Challenge Day Four: Guest Posts
Darren Rowse presented the Seven Link Challenge as a way to build content around a theme, In the post you share seven links which drives visitors back to older posts they may have missed. I have used this to highlight some of my favorite bloggers as well as some of my favorite posts here on Roundpeg. And since I am also talking about folks who aren’t members of the Roundpeg team, there are a bonus seven external links.
In today’s post list I feature some of my favorites guest posts.
- Rhoda Israelov, author of Say It For You: Enough Already with the Lists (Ok, so it seems funny to incorporate this in a list)
- Robby Slaughter, Slaughter Development: How to Blog in Only Ten Minutes
- Josh Brammer, Spin Web: What Dora Can Teach Business People
- Barbara Weaver Smith, The Whale Hunter: Whale Hunting
- Micheal Reynolds, Spin Web: Referrals with No Strings Attached
- Scott Howard, Collective Wisdom Three Keys to Marketing
- Dale Collie, Who’s Your Travel Agent and Other Leadership Problems
Looking at the list, I realize it is time to start inviting more people to drop by and write something! So if you write on topics relevant to small business owners, drop me a line, would love to have you as a guest.
Seven Link Challenge Day Three – Posts About Animals
This is the third in a series of posts inspired by Darren Rowes Seven Link Challenge .The idea behind the challenge is to present content around a theme, which drives visitors back to older posts they may have missed. Today’s post list includes some of my favorites. The topic: Animals
- Shake it Off and Step Up – This simple story of a donkey in a well is actually my most popular post. I am not sure if it is the story, or the picture which keeps people coming back.
- It was so popular in fact, I created a video version of the story too. Economic Lessons from the Donkey
- Along the same lines is this post about a deer: Economic Roadkill
- Avery recent addition to my animal collection talks about the danger of decisions by committee and my advice: Don’t Build a Camel
- An integral part of the team at Roundpeg – Clyde has been featured in more than a few blog posts – but this is my favorite: Roundpeg Employee of the Year
- How did animals become so much a part of Roundpeg? It all started here: Work and Pets
- And finally, this one is a bit of a stretch, but we created a new website for WellPets Clinic, and found some great animal images in the process.
BlogIndiana – Be There
One of the coolest events of the year, (atleast for local bloggers) is BlogIndiana. This two day event brings together experts and rookies sharing advice, ideas and strategies.
It is a great way to connect off line, with people you have met online ( And in many cases the conversations continue back on line, long after the event is over.)
I will be attending the first day of BlogIndiana again this year. There is a terrific line up of speakers, and it was tough to decide on who I would check out and who I would unfortunately have to skip.
Will you be there? It promises to be a great event.
All Things Marketing: Give People a Reason to Come Back
In real life, the first time you meet someone, you do not need to tell them everything they need to know about you. More then likely, they will discover those things over time.
The same is true for email and blog strategies. With an ideal length of 250 – 400 words keep your focus on one or two topics. If you have caught the attention of the reader, they will come back for more!
This topic is explored in more detail in this excerpt from the All Things Marketing Seminar this spring.
Seven Link Challenge – Day Two – Posts by My Team
This is the second in a series of posts inspired by Darren Rowes Seven Link Challenge .. Today’s posts features links to posts by members of my team.
One of the coolest things that has happened over the last few months, is how many really great posts the members of the Roundpeg team have written. They each have their own style, and bring something unique to the blog, giving it a wonderful mix of flavors. Here are just a few of my favorites:
- From Jay: What Websites Have in Common with a Trailer Park
- From Taylor: So many good choices, but I had to go with: I Don’t Love Heats and Flowers
- Allison hasn’t been here very long, but she is a writer, so I had so many great posts from which to choose. I finally decided on this one: Bad Customer Service is Worse PR
- We’ve had a number of talented interns over the last few yeas, and I went back into the archives for this one by Neil Chaggra who was at Roundpeg last fall: Tie Your Shoes
- And this one by Melinda Cooper: Retweeting is What Makes Twitter Work
- From one of our team of current intern’s Kelly Rogers: Music, Food and a Bit of Research. The Life of a Roundpeg Intern
- And finally a sentimental favorite. Although my daughter Michelle no longer works here at Roundpeg, I had to include my favorite post by her: First Post by First Daughter
These are my favorites. Did I miss one of yours?
Seven Link Challenge Day One: Great Blogs
One of the blogs I read regularly is ProBlogger. Author Darren Rowse always has such great tips on how to make your blog more interesting, engage your readers and improve search performance. In a recent post he presented the idea of incorporating seven links into your post. He suggested a series of topics, and I thought it was such a good idea, I am actually going to write seven posts, each containing seven links.
I hate routine, so I don’t want to publish these posts seven days in a row. Instead, I am going to scatter them over the next few weeks. Today’s Links: Blogs I read on a regular basis.
- ProBlogger – But you already knew that! Author Darren Rowse makes a living as a professional blogger and is a great resource when I have writers block
- Laughing Stalk Blog – Erick Deckers has a sharp tongue, quirky sense of humor and wide range of interests
- Successful-Blog - Liz Strauss an influential non-celebrity blogger. People visit her blog to learn, swap strategies, and meet each other.
- Ted.Com TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. The content will range from music and art, to science and politics. There is always something interesting on Ted
- CopyBlogger – This is extremely well written ( would you expect anything less?) Author Brian Clark is a writer/producer, entrepreneur, and recovering attorney.
- Marketing Technology Blog – While Doug Karr is the primary author, he invites many other marketing and technology experts (including me) to share their content, making this an varied experience every time I check it out.
- Social Media Explorer – Jason Falls ( who will be here in Indy for Blog Indiana) defines himself as a social media educator, a social media strategist and a public relations professional.
So these are my seven.. what would you add to the list.
How blogging can drive business to your site
by Allison Carter, Roundpeg Intern
Does your site have a blog? If not, you’re not as visible on the Web as you should be. We’re continuing our exploration of Effect Web Agency’s great white paper.
One study found that Web sites with blogs get 55% more traffic than sites without blogs. Blogs help you show your expertise in your field, and help you get indexed by search engine crawlers. When the Public Relations Society of America added a blog to its site, it saw a 450% increase in search engine referrals, according to a case study.
Blogs are also a great way to create dialogue with potential customers and peers. Use it to ask questions, to suggest new ideas, and to get feedback on existing programs. You’ll be amazed what you’ll get back!
PROMOTION: Curious about how well your website stacks up? Discover how visible your site is to search engines and how attractive it is to people.
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