Business Blog Wire

We've just added a Social Media column to the chart on the front page at the Fortune 500 Business Blogging Wiki at Socialtext.

Will you please help us add to the chart?

I have a dream that dozens of us business bloggers will come together to make light work of researching all Fortune 500 companies and compiling an accurate, up-to-date picture of what they are doing with blogs and other "social media" (wikis, file/video/link sharing sites, etc.). By the end of this year.

John, we've got our work cut out for us, haven't we?

I would almost send you chocolate if you helped. That's how much I would appreciate you.

Tags: No Comments.

Let me ask you three questions.

1. How interesting is your business blog?

2. What's the noise level of your blog?

3. How do you unlame a business blog?

Metaphorically speaking, how do you get a two-legged lame old dog to get up and bound out the door, barking up a storm through the whole neighborhood?

Hang on, let me fetch my soapbox and megaphone.

Ahem.

Here are 10 new tricks for old dogs - er, blogs - to finally grow a pair of legs and become totally unlame.

1. Sit. Pay attention to what your customers are saying. Get some ego feeds. Listen.

2. Bow. Treat everyone as a customer and every customer as a dignitary.

3. Beg. Ask for things. Don't be afraid. Ask your customers questions. Ask them to subscribe. Ask them to buy stuff.

4. Dig. Research things and publish the results. Find the bone in the backyard and bring it home, head held high. Make people want to learn from you.

5. Growl. Get guttural. Put some chomp in your bite. Defend your stance on volatile issues. Don't back down.

6. Roll over. So you screwed up before. So own it and learn from it. Start over. Roll over.

7. Shake hands. Be friendly. A dog is a person's best … exactly. Welcome visitors (but no sniffing, please). Linger. Let people enter your blog as guests and leave as friends.

8. Wag your tail. Talk about stuff that excites you. Let your audience share your joys.

9. Fetch slippers. Pamper your blog visitor. Offer a free product or service. Thank and praise and encourage commenters and backlinkers and Diggers and Stumblers and Deliciousers.

10. Dance. Do something unique, fun, memorable. Make people laugh. Get stuck in their head so tight their kids hear all about you at the dinner table.

… and one more:

11.  Learn names. A great dog knows its masters by name and treats them as - gasp - inidividuals, even though they all form one pack. Find your pack. Find out who else is blogging in your niche and get to know them personally. Spend time in each other's doghouse.

All right - what have you learned? (These are so simple - but you know what they say about old dogs …)

Please, please unlame your business dog blog. The world needs your bark. It needs your bite. It needs your loyalty, fleas and all.

As you sit, bow, beg, dig, growl, roll over, shake hands, wag your tail, fetch slippers, dance and learn names, you will unlame your blog and someday become a top dog.

So, how do you plan to unlame your business or professional blog?

Photo: BBC

Tags: 3 Comments

Because at least a two-legged dog makes noise as it drags its butt across the carpet.

You think I'm joking?

I'm dead serious.

Noise is the difference.

Most business blogs simply don't generate much noise, either by themselves or with the aid of their readers.

How many corporate blogs - official company blogs - do you read regularly?

If your answer is greater than 5, congratulations. You're a rare (ahem) breed.

Long gone are the days when you could make heads turn just by saying, "We've got a business blog." That's so far past jumping the shark it's not funny. It's like pouring a gallon of meh all over yourself.

Why are most company blogs stuck in the land of the lame?

1. They don't know how to get up and make noise. OR …

2. They don't want to. OR …

3. They just don't care.

How to cure corporate blog lameness:

1. Start caring about making your blog a noisemaker instead of a sleeping pill.

2. Learn how to make noise in the right places.

Next week I'll tell you how to get any business blog off its lame butt, grow two more legs and lumber out the door, barking up a storm throughout the whole neighborhood.

Woof.

Tags: No Comments.

If you could plan your final blog post … your last one ever …

What would you say in it?

What photos or videos would you include?

What would the post be about?

Who would you write it to?

Would it be serious or funny?

What would make the perfect "parting post?"

And no, this ain't mine.

Tags: No Comments.

Des Walsh has the skinny. I'll be there. Will you?

Tags: No Comments.

We're feedtipping this time around.

Tags: No Comments.

Stay tuned for a post later this week all about the text that appears on your blog - fonts, sizes, colors, links, readability, etc.

Tags: No Comments.

We will now discuss Questions #36-39 of 200 blog review questions to help you improve your blog. The Ultimate Blog Review Guide covers all 200 questions in detail.

Previous - Blog Review Question #35: How many links are missing mouseover text?

Next - Blog Review Questions #40-47 all have to do with the text that appears on the blog (fonts, sizes, colors, etc.).

—

Questions #36-39 deal with your blog's color scheme.

Blog Review Question #36: How appropriate is the color scheme for the blog's target audience?

Blog Review Question #37: How relevant is the color scheme to the blog's topic?

Blog Review Question #38: How eye-pleasing is the color scheme?

Blog Review Question #39: How unique is the color scheme?

Let's dive in, shall we?

First, what is a color scheme and how does it impact your blog?

A blog color scheme is the choice of colors that you use in your blog design. Dark or black text on a light or white background ("dark-on-light" or "blazing white") is the most commonly used color scheme, but quite a few blogs use a light-on-dark scheme.

Your color scheme will affect the way visitors interact with and respond to what they see on your blog. It may even change the way they feel about your blog, your business and you personally.

A basic color scheme uses 2 or 3 main colors that look aesthetically pleasing together. An advanced color scheme may use several variations or shades of one color (monochromatic) or multiple colors.

There is no single "perfect" color scheme, and your blog does not have to stick to a certain color scheme in order to succeed. However, a carefully considered color scheme is likely to enhance your blogging success.

That's why it's important to learn about color schemes and what different colors may mean when used on blogs.

What happens if your color scheme stinks?

Well, your blog visitors are more likely to leave and never return. They're also less likely to stay at yor blog for more than a few seconds. The worst you can do is actually hurt their eyes and give them a headache - good luck getting on their good side at that point!

Why does color matter so much anyway?

We could fill a book on this topic alone, but the most important thing to remember is that color evokes emotion. The colors you use on your blog are afecting the way your blog visitors feel, right now.

How do you pick a good color scheme for your blog?

First, focus on your vision, your core topic and your core audience. What do you want to accomplishwith your blog? What does your blog mainly talk about? Who is your core audience and what colors will seem appropriate to them?

Here's a quick mental exercise.

Read the following words and think of the colors that come instantly to your mind.

1. Money
2. Love
3. Fun
4. Peace
5. Technology
6. Music
7. News
8. Controversy
9. Politics
10. Weather

What colors did you think of and why?

Here's what pops into my head first:

1. Money - green
2. Love - red, pink
3. Fun - yellow
4. Peace - white
5. Technology - silver
6. Music - blue
7. News - black, white
8. Controversy - red
9. Politics - red, white and blue
10. Weather - gray, dark blue

Your answers will depend mostly on your cultural background and personal experiences.

Imagine that you associate the idea of love with the color red. Then suppose that you visit a blog whose title is "The Lover's Daily Buzz - Hot News and Advice for Hopeless Romantic." And imagine that its color scheme comprises several shades of dark blue and dark gray, with no red at all. Wouldn't that strike you as odd? Of course it would. How inclined would you be to trust that blog's content?

So how do you find out what your target audience would judge to be an appropriate color scheme or your blog?

1. Ask them. Email, call and personally talk to the people you know who fit your description of your target audience. Visit forums, blogs and other websites that relate closely to your blog's main topic. Pay attention to the color schemes they use and ask webmasters and other users what they think a good color scheme for your blog would include.

2. Do your homework. Check out color-related resources like the ones listed at the end of this article and study all you can about the way people associate colors with ideas.

3. Experiment. Try switching color schemes for a short time (say, 1-2 weeks) or showing some of your blog visitors a different color scheme. See if your key metrics show any signs of change.

Okay, I've got a basic color in mind. Now what?

Once you've chosen the color that you think your target audience would associate most closely with your blog topic, choose a lighter shade of it and a darker shade (or, if black or white is your base color, pick two similar colors or shades). This is just a suggestion to make the process simple and easy for you. (Hat tip to HomeDecorResource.com.)

Now you have a foundation for your blog color scheme.

Here's a simple technique for using these foundational colors in your blog:

- Lightest = Less Emphasis.

- Medium = Main Content.

- Darkest = Draw Attention.

L, M, D.

Another general rule: Related colors relax; contrasting colors excite. Just think of pink-on-red versus green-on-orange. The effect you want to achieve will influence the colors you ought to put on your blog.

Some blogs with excellent color schemes:

A List Apart - Can you identify the light/medium/dark tones?

Autoblog - Chrome, metallic gray, sporty red …

Copyblogger - Black-on-white, off-white, vanilla …

For more "colorful" information, please read:

- The Dimensions of Colour by David Briggs (website explaining principles of color theory)

- Kate Smith's Sensational Color (website) - By Kate Smith and Julie Hoylen. Offers lots of free resources on color, including basic color facts, in-depth color breakdowns, a Color in Business section, and blogs such as Live In Full Color

- ColorSchemer Forums - good forum about color use

- Web Colors - Wikipedia article explaining color use on websites

- Color Balance - Wikipedia article on balancing colors

- ColourLovers.com - A wonderful resource that includes several community aspects, a website color trendspotting area and an informative blog

- EyeForum.info - A forum about vision and eyesight

- ColorJack color generator

- PagePainter - free web page color scheme editor

- WebsiteTips.com HTML Color Charts and color tutorials

- LightOnDark.com - all about light-on-dark backgrounds and websites that use them

- Worqx Color Theory Tutorial

- more links coming soon (as I work on revising this for my book)

What Do You Think?

What's the best use of color you've seen in a blog? The worst? Why?

How useful and accurate did you find this article to be?

What other tips or suggestions would you like to add?

Tags: No Comments.

I loved SOBCon 07. It was incredible. What a blogging conference.

You need to be there in Chicago May 2-4.

Please blog about SOBCon 08 by next Wednesday, January 16.

Let's get the world excited!

Are you an SOB?

Tags: No Comments.

We will now discuss Question #35 of 200 blog review questions to help you improve your blog and review blogs. The Ultimate Blog Review Guide e-book covers all 200 questions in detail.

Blog Review Question #35: How many links are missing mouseover text?

Again, as with several o the questions leading up to this one, the important thing is to make sure details like this are taken care of in their time, but not to over-stress about them.

For SEO and accessibility reasons, it's nice - or important - to make sure that links have that "flyover" text that appears when you mouse over them, and that that text describes accurately and usefully what the links do. More to come. 

Previous - Blog Review Question #34: How many images and videos are missing alt text?

Next - Blog Review Question #36: How appropriate is the color scheme for the blog's target audience?

Have something to say? Please leave a comment below or email me at:

Tags: No Comments.