Triune Designs Blog: Web Design, Development, & Marketing

Do you have a great post that you want the world to see for a while? Then let me introduce you to sticky post! Sticky post, meet reader. Reader, meet sticky post.

Your Normal Settings
In your default WordPress blog setting, every time you publish a new post the older ones get bumped down one notch. The newest post takes over the top slot and is the first one people see when visiting your blog. This keeps your blog clean and tidy in chronological order.

Being A Little Sticky
There are, however, times when you might want that special blog post to “stick” around for a while in the top slot. WordPress allows you to to do this in the visibility settings on the right side of your post editing page.

Here is what to do:

1. Find the publish area on the edit post page.
2. Find the visibility setting (see image below).
3. Click “edit” to the right of visibility.
4. Check “Stick this post to the front page” (see image below).
5. Click ok to save the change.

That is it. You have just allowed that awesome post to hang around for a while longer to bask in all its greatness.

Thanks to Noupe for highlighting this feature in WordPress 2.7. If you want more great tips and tricks to master WordPress check out their article.

One simple question. Many great answers.

My last post on writing shorter blog posts got me thinking: what else can I do to this blog to make it better for you, the reader.

So, for this week I want your advice on one thing I can do to make this blog better. Please write your answer down in the comments below.

I look forward to reading everyone’s suggestions!

Do you like the photo in this post? It is courtesy of bonimo’s events on Flickr.

I received some advice from my most trusted friend today: “your blog posts are too long”… Yikes!

Well, I have to admit that I have known about this problem for a while; however, it is a tough habit to break.

From this advice comes this week’s lesson on how to write a blog. Avoid verbose blog posts. Essentially, do not use twenty words to make your point when 10 will work. Here are a few reasons why:

• Research shows that reading on a computer is significantly slower than reading print. Be respectful of your readers’ time and keep your article short.
• Attention spans have gotten shorter and people are not wiling to spend a lot of time reading.
• Today, the majority of people scan web pages rather than reading them. Long posts will reduce a reader’s ability to fully scan your post.

So, to heed the advice I received, I leave you with this: take care of your readers by keeping your blog posts short and to the point. Leave all the unnecessary fluff for someone else’s blog.

2¢ – Your two cents
Do you struggle with long posts?
How do you keep your posts short?
What other problems do you encounter when you write your posts?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. I would love to get your two cents on this post.

Do you like the photo in this post? It is courtesy of m00by’s events on Flickr.

I believe 2009 is going to be the year of the blog. Blogging and social media as a whole are continuing to become more popular and are now becoming essential tools in a businesses’ marketing arsenal. So this week’s recommendations provide some predictions for blogging in 2009 and information on how to become a better blogger.

Social Media Predictions
Mary Fisher is a blogger at Spinfield. According to her bio she used to be a newspaper reporter, and you can tell in her posts. She does an excellent job writing and I find her posts to be both enjoyable and informational. In this post, Mary provides six predictions on the state of social media in 2009. Here are a few of her predictions along with some of my thoughts:

Blogging Goes Mainstream – In 2008, many companies still needed to be convinced that blogging is beneficial. In 2009, blogging will be recognized as an economical tool for sharing information about organizations and products.

I completely agree. I think blogging really is going to take off this year. Dare I say that blogging might even become fashionable in 2009?? I guess we will have to wait and see.

The Rise of Blogging as a Profession? – Gone are the days of having an intern or just anybody regularly post articles about your company. Writing quality and legal concerns demand an increase in writing skill and professionalism.

I am not sure about this one. I agree that professionalism and good writing skills are important for business blogs. My concern, though, is the emphasis placed on hiring an outside professional blogger to write for a business blog. I wonder how much transparency is lost by hiring an outside writer to handle a company’s blog posts.

Budgets will be Saved – Reflecting the economy, lower marketing budgets will require creativity on the part of marketing departments. Limited marketing funds will continue to shift away from traditional media to more economical social media.

I agree that social media marketing is great given our current economic situation because of its low-cost nature. Almost no money is needed to start a web marketing campaign.

The problem a lot of people will encounter when they attempt web marketing is the amount of work it takes to maintain a solid campaign. This factor alone will weed out a lot of businesses who are not truly committed to web marketing and are not willing to put in the effort.

Beginners Welcome
The beauty of blogging is that it really does not take much to start – just a blogging platform and a few thoughts. Therefore, the barrier-to-entry is quite low. All are welcome to the world of blogging. Becoming a better blogger, though, does take some work. There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of posts providing advice to people who are just now entering the blogosphere.

Our blog, for example, provides information on how to write better blogs. Another such blog (ProBlogger) does the same. I recently read one of his articles that provides a summary of posts to help the beginning blogger. I included a few links here. If you are new to blogging I highly suggest reading them to help you improve.

Introductory Posts

• What is a Blog?
• 23 Questions for Prospective Bloggers – Is a Blog Right for You?
• How to Choose a Niche Topic for Your Blog
• Choosing a Domain Name for your Blog
• Blog Tools

Tips for Writing Content for Blogs

• Useful and Unique Content
• Post Length
• Granular (One Topic) Posts
• Using Titles Effectively on Blogs
• Scannable Content
• Basic HTML Tags
• More on Writing Content for your Blog

(Note: It should be noted that I first found this great blog post at ChurchCrunch before I had checked my Google Reader. Therefore, I am going to give ChurchCrunch a thumbs-up.)

2¢ – Your two cents
Did these links help you? Are you new to blogging? If you are new to blogging, what is the one thing that you feel you need to learn to get better? If you have been blogging for a while, what is one thing you would tell new bloggers to help them improve? Where else would you suggest looking for advice on how to write a blog? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. I would love to get your two cents.

Do you like the photo in this post? It is courtesy of Nic’s events on Flickr.

This may just be the most important statement you can read with respect to blogging and web marketing – it is alright to make mistakes. Why is this so important? Because one of the biggest fears of entering into blogging is making mistakes.

I'm scared, Sarge. We're all scared son.

Rest assured, you will make mistakes. The nice thing is that in blogging, mistakes are alright and probably even a little commonplace.

• You will occasionally write a typo.
• You will occasionally write using bad grammar.
• You will write a post or two that you may disagree with after a while.
• You may accidentally use an image you are not supposed to use.
• You may write a post that does not make a lot of sense.. except to you.
• You may write a comment that does not make a lot of sense.

As you read other people’s blogs and as you write your own, you will see these mistakes occur from time to time. Know that this does not mean it is alright to be sloppy in your writing. Always strive to be a good blog writer, but also accept the fact that you will make mistakes. Occasional mistakes are part of the transparency factor. And transparency in blogging is crucial to building a solid community.

So do not stress out about hitting the publish button before proofreading your post five times. As you continue to write blogs, it will become easier. It will become easier to simply write your post, proofread it once or twice and then publish it for the world to see.

So, it is like I tell my son: have “no fear”. Relax and enjoy blogging. When you do, your posts will not be perfect, but they will be truer to who you are and they will be more enjoyable to read.

2¢ – Your two cents
Have you made mistakes on your blog? What other fears prevent you from writing a blog? What other reasons prevent you from writing a blog? What is the biggest mistake you have made writing your blog? How many times do you proofread your blog post before publishing. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. I would love to get your two cents.

Photo courtesy of Gary Denness

I recently read an interesting question quoted from Seth Godin: “where does your product end and marketing hype begin?” What a great question. My answer is that a lot of products get lost amongst all of the hype surrounding them. If you really look closely at most television commercials, websites, print ads, etc. you see that numerous marketing campaigns constantly cross the line from valid product information to just pure marketing hype.

Where does your product end and the marketing hype begin?

Blogs, in contrast, are different from the aforementioned traditional advertising methods. Business blogs (that are written right) are built around providing information to end users, not about simply hyping a product or a company. Blogs show that you (as a company) are knowledgeable; blogs provide an invaluable human touch to your company as a whole. Blogs provide information to potential clients that end up driving them to purchase your company’s services. Blogs drive traffic to your website through search engines. Blogs keep (potential and current) clients coming back to your website and company for more. Most importantly, blogs create trust. Readers who continue to read your blog articles develop a sense of trust in your company and also see you as a thought leader in your given industry.

Blogs are real, not hype. This difference is why blogs are better suited for modern marketing efforts. Today’s audience is desensitized to hype. People are well-equipped to ignore hype; people crave authenticity. Chew on that for a minute…people crave authenticity.

When you write your business blog, write from the perspective of providing authentic, useful/interesting information to your target audience. Avoid the temptation to go out and simply sell yourself through your blog. Rather, ask yourself what does your audience want to know about? What would they find interesting? What would they find helpful? When you discover what it is, then go out and write your blog articles around those topics. Most importantly, though, be real. If you do so, you will be a better web marketer.

Photo courtesy of Martin Brandt