Triune Designs Blog: Web Design, Development, & Marketing

A couple of weeks ago the Charlotte Observer reported that a South Carolina

advertising agency… won $1.8 million in damages after suing an author of a blog – known for its harsh and sometimes crass criticism of elected officials, business leaders and local media – for defamation.

Man wins $1.8 million in suit against blogger

According to the Observer, court documents state that the blogger called the head of the ad agency a

“failed lawyer” and “criticized one of the firm’s advertising campaigns.”

Man wins $1.8 million in suit against blogger

I know that you will never encounter a problem like this because you are providing information that is helpful and informational for your readers, but a little reminder never hurts.

Always be mindful about how your blog posts impact others. A negative-slanted post might

• damage your company’s or your own reputation
• detract from your blog’s overall message
• take a little extra cash out of your wallet

Here’s to happy and helpful business blogging!

The new social web is great! Individuals can communicate with masses of people in an unprecedented manner. You can easily broadcast your thoughts, conversations, and opinions on sites such as Twitter, Facebook or on your own blog. There is a problem, though, with not having many checks and balances before publishing your voice: your mistakes will be re-told by hundreds of people along with the accompanying evidence.

A Classic Example
I came across this blog article discussing a “conversation” on Twitter between a reporter and a marketing expert. I am not going to provide my opinion on who is right and who is wrong. The important lesson to take away from this conversation is that your words and actions can haunt you.

Be careful that you do not get into a tirade on Twitter. Beware of bashing someone on your blog. Watch out for saying something offensive on Facebook. You should always be strategic with your words, but on the Internet this is even more important. Choose your words carefully because you never know who is watching.

Quick Tips
Here are a few tips on how to lessen the chances of writing those words you will regret:
1. Count to 10… or 100… or 1,000. Regardless of the duration of time, take a break and step away from the computer. This is a classic rule to follow, but it does work.
2. Check your ego at the keyboard. Remember that the social web is all about relationships. As a result, you run the risk of getting your feelings hurt once in a while. That is a reality; accept it, deal with it, and be prepared.
3. If you need, take the conversation offline. If it is something that is really important to discuss, talk with the other person on the phone or in person.

Your Thoughts
What other techniques do you use to reduce the chances of having a major blowout online? Have you ever done this?

The photo is courtesy of Arturo J. Paniagua 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.

We are in our second installment of providing helpful hints on how you can write a successful blog. Last time I wrote about selling yourself through not selling yourself. If you are curious about that statement or just plain confused then read the last article; you will be glad you did. Let’s continue in this article by talking about how you can write a blog and help your web marketing efforts by being the impassioned expert.

I would say that everyone at one point or another is looking for some type of expert. If I need a dentist then I am going to be looking for a dentist who has an expert level of knowledge and care. If I need a new roof, I am going to look for someone who knows what he is doing. Likewise, Triune Designs’ clients want an expert graphic designer, web programmer, and/or web-marketing consultant when they hire us. So the question ends up being how do you convey to potential customers that you are an expert in your given field? Writing a blog is one of your answers. Blogs are a great avenue for allowing you to convey your knowledge to potential clients.

How Does This Help
As I said before, people are looking for experts to solve their problems. Since you are writing as an expert in your field, your blog will draw people into your website. Your blog articles do two things for you at one time. First, they draw new potential clients in. Your articles will have keyword-rich information related to your business and your website. Additionally, writing often will keep your website content fresh. Search engines love fresh content so over the long-term, you increase your chances of being found higher when people search for your type of business. Another benefit is that if a reader finds an article particularly interesting they will pass it along to their friends or coworkers, thus spreading the word about services you offer.

You also benefit by writing as an expert in your field by having your current customer base coming back to see what else you have written. Writing as an expert who is providing articles to help your customers will continue to draw back in your customers. People will return to see what advice, information or updates you provide them in your latest installment. The more your potential and existing customers come back the better chance you have for increasing sales, donations, membership, etc.

Putting the Fingers to the Keyboard
So you are the expert and we need your potential clients to know that you are an expert. Start first by deciding what general subject matter you are going to talk about. This will give your blog and your writing focus. For the Triune Designs blog, we decided that it was most appropriate to write about subjects related to web marketing, web design and web programming. Furthermore, we made it our goal to focus in on helping our clients better utilize their own websites in the marketing process. The subject matter you choose will depend on your area of expertise and it should also depend upon what you are passionate about in your job.

Now that you have your subject matter begin writing. You do not need to get into extreme length for your blog articles. In fact, at first I would suggest keeping them a bit shorter as you get comfortable writing on a consistent basis. While you are writing, remember that you are an authority in the field you are writing on: make sure your writing conveys the same.

So, be the expert and show that you are passionate about what you do. Your potential and existing clients will be happy that you did.

A blog is a vital piece of your web marketing strategy. If you want to harness the power of the Web 2.0 movement then your first plan of action should be to use a blog. And, if you are going to write a blog then obviously you want someone to read it. But, how do you get people (or potential clients) to come and read what you write? This article offers some thoughts towards that question.

Side note for those new to blogs:
If this is your first introduction into the world of blogging then I suggest that you do not consider writing any blogs for a while. First, begin by reading a couple of different blogs that interest you. For example, about six months before I ever decided to even write a blog for Triune Designs I read three or four other blogs that were related to my field. Reading them helped me get a grasp of how blogs work and assisted me in getting a bearing on what topics I should write about. So, my advice to you is to first get out there and see what people are talking about and then later you can add to the conversation.

Your most important priority when preparing to write your blog is to ensure that you write articles that people will want to read. This means that you will have to avoid a major pitfall that is very tempting and very common: writing a blog just to sell your items. It is very easy to just post articles that tell people to check out this service or a specific product of yours, but if that is the only subject matter you write about then you are not going to pull readers in. As a result, your blog is not going to be as effective as it could be.

Instead, what you need to focus on is making your articles desirable to your audience. Make them entertaining, make them informative, or just tell a good story. Regardless of what you write about, make sure your content is about something interesting in one form or another. For the Triune Designs blog, we try to provide useful articles to our clients that help them improve their web marketing techniques or sometimes we provide important industry-related news that our clients might need to know. We believe this is what is important to our clients, and as a result, that will entice them to want to read more consistently.

So, ask yourself: what is important to your clients? Once you find that out then go out and write! Happy blogging!