Product Description

In this instant-communication world, buzz means business! And one of the greatest ways to get customers and potential customers buzzing about your business is with a Web log, commonly called a blog. Blogs can help you:

• Introduce the people behind your business
• Discuss relevant issues
• Provide a clearinghouse for information and expertise
• Show your business as a good corporate citizen
• Support an exchange of ideas
• Get honest feedback from your customers
• Affect public opinion

If you’re new to blogging, or if you know the mechanics of a blog but want some help refining and targeting yours, Buzz Marketing With Blogs For Dummies will get you going right away. An expert blogger shows you the ins and outs of putting together a professional-looking blog, walks you through the jargon, helps you decide what your blog should do, and even explains various software solutions. You’ll find out how to:

• Set up and maintain a blog, write in blogging style, and observe blogging etiquette
• Define your audience and target your blog to reach them
• Involve your customers, earn their trust, educate the public, and build community
• Avoid possible legal pitfalls while keeping your blog interesting
• Encourage contributions and links to your blog
• Use images and design an eye-catching format
• Optimize your blog for top search engine ratings, track your results, and measure your success

Written by Susannah Gardner, who has taught online journalism, directed multimedia efforts, and provided custom Web solutions to clients, Buzz Marketing With Blogs For Dummies even shares tips from the experts who establish and maintain some of the top-rated business blogs. You’ll discover the secrets of success, how to spot and solve problems, what software can enhance your blogging life, and a whole lot more. It like having a staff of experts on call!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #602493 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 360 pages

Review
“…explains what blogging is, and how businesses can profit by improving corporate communications and customer relations to generating marketing and advertising.” (VNU, 26^th May 2005)

From the Back Cover
It's easy to get customers buzzing about your business

Here's how to launch your blog, develop a style, and make your business stand out

Whether or not you've blogged before, start here! Blogs can be great business boosters, and this book helps you choose software, get your blog up and running, open communication with customers, and focus content and structure on whatever will provide the best bang for your business. You'll even get tips from some of the best business bloggers around!

Discover how to

• Set up and maintain a blog
• Involve your customers
• Earn trust, educate, and build community
• Follow blogging etiquette and culture
• Find the right voice
• Encourage links to your blog

About the Author
Susannah Gardner has been an instructor in online journalism, a multimedia director, and a provider of custom Web solutions. Check out her blog at www.buzzmarketingwithblogs.com.

Customer Reviews

Perfect readable text for the blogging newbie...
Since I've been blogging (http://www.twduff.com) for quite awhile, this is almost like reading a book to see if you're doing anything wrong. Still, Susannah Gardner does a good job with Buzz Marketing with Blogs For Dummies (Wiley).

Chapter List:
Part 1 - Getting Started with Business Blogs: Checking Out Business Blogs; Discovering the Buzz about Buzz Marketing; Building a Business Blog
Part 2 - Setting Up a Business Blog: Picking a Blog Solution; Setting Up a Hosted Blog; Taking Control with Independent Blog Software
Part 3 - Minding Blog Etiquette and Culture: Understanding Your Audience; Joining the Blogosphere; Avoiding Business No-Nos
Part 4 - Positioning Your Blog: Finding a Voice; Promoting Your Blog; Staying on the Right Side of the Law
Part 5 - Making the Most of Your Blog: Adding Value to a Blog; Making Money with a Blog; Going Beyond Blogs
Part 6 - The Part of Tens: Ten Dry-Spell-Breaking Ideas; Ten Traits of a Good Blogger; Ten Blogs You Should Know
Part 7 - Appendixes: Glossary; Using the Book Blog; Hosted and Independent Blog Solutions; How URLs Work; Case Studies; Index

Based on the title of this book, you'd probably assume that this is geared more for the business use of blogs. And in a significant sense, it is. But that's not to say that the serious personal blogger won't learn a number of things here. Gardner does a good job of taking the reader from "what is a blog" through the reasons they can be very important, and finally ends with the things you need to know to keep your blog fresh and inviting. You'd probably figure out many of these rules on your own, but the blogging world can be unforgiving. Make a mistake involving deception, and you may never get your audience back. Have your blog be nothing more than press releases, and no one will show up.

She also does a good job of bridging the theory and the practical. In addition to all the knowledge you need to understand blogging, she also takes you through some potential blogging software choices and shows how you'd use them to set up a blog. Granted, it's not a comprehensive instruction manual on how to install and configure any one blogging package, but the reader will get an idea of what it takes.

I also mentioned it's a good book for the serious personal blogger. I use my blog to share information with various audiences, but it's also a personal marketing tool. Therefore, many of the same "rules of the road" that she covers apply to me. I'm concerned about finding my voice and style, how to attract readers, and knowing whether or not my audience is getting value from my writings. While I've learned much of what she writes about on my own, I'd have come much further much faster if I had this book a couple years ago.

Good stuff, and highly practical. A very good selection to give to your boss if s/he wants to investigate the subject. Just make sure you explain that "For Dummies" isn't personal...

Great for Blogging Novices and Small Business Owners
*****
I have quite a few of the "For Dummies" books, several of which I have not read that I use for reference, and several that I have read to gain a deeper understanding of a subject. This book is one of the latter (so I read it cover to cover), as I am a life coach who knew very little about blogs (just having read some teen Xangas). I had seen a very powerful blog-based web site on the Internet, and knew I wanted one for my coaching practice, but had no idea where to begin or what or where the "blogosphere" was. This book solved my dilemma in a fun, readable, and non-technical way (with many, many references for those who want to go deeper). It is definitely a five-star Dummies book, well worth more than the purchase price.

This book helped me to decide what type of blog to develop. I have rudimentary HTML skills, including lite CSS; however, no matter what your skill level (or lack thereof), using the book you can ascertain what type of blog is right for you.

It really covers everything you'd want to know about blogs, including those things you'd never know to ask (e.g., RSS feeds!---who knew?). Not just the technical aspects, but blog writing, marketing, etiquette, etc. I agree with a previous reviewer who wrote that the book is also beneficial for those who want simply personal blogs rather than business blogs, although its greatest utility is for people like me who want to use a blog as a basis for or as an adjunct to their business.

The book was fascinating. Although I spend a lot of time on the Internet, I was oblivious to blogs, and discovered a whole new and very exciting world here. The book helps you to get fired up and excited about something technical---which for me isn't easy, since I don't normally get emotional over new computer software. I think the reason I'm so motivated is that the book helped me to see that so very, very much that is not technical (building community, reaching people in a personal way, supporting clients, offering services, and much more) can be done with blogs.

Best of all is that this book showed me how I can market using blogs and still be myself, something I've been trying to do for years. In fact, the more I am myself on a blog, the better the blog will be---imagine that! A blog is a great tool for self-expression, which can be done concurrently with marketing, I found out, and in an authentic way.

The book gives references for further learning, which is mostly informal (an therefore hard to know about without experience, which the author shared to my great benefit). If you are an early adopter, buy the book now---you won't be sorry. In a few years, everyone will blog---now, you can be on the cutting edge...I wish I could give this book 6 stars!


*****

Great book for the basics
My client wanted to have a blog and I needed to learn the basics about blogs in short order. This book is a quick read and I was standing in front of their executive board in 1 week with a customized sample blog in place for their review and questions. I received a signed contract that day. Thank you for this book. On the down side, the specific blog software I used was not included in the book for review. Marketing was an important topic in my meeting and the book provided a nice, simple layout on the differences with other media and provided great ideas. The corporate blogging topic was helpful.