Spotlight on UK Blogs - 22 September

September 22, 2006 by The Blog Coach | Comments (1)
Filed under UK Business Blogs

Each week, I will be highlighting some of the Business Blogs which exist in the UK. The aim is to show a cross section of what people and businesses are writing about and how they are approaching the task of using blogs in their business activities. As a result, you’ll find that these posts will contain a mix of Blogs displaying a range of topics and styles.

In addition to this weekly selection, I am working with others to build a comprehensive list of Business Blogs in the UK. So if there are UK blogs which you have visited and would recommend (including your own!), then please let me know by leaving a comment or sending me a message. Thanks!

Facewest
It seems that whether you want to climb up a mountain or throw yourself off it on skis, then these guys will make you look good while you do it.

Presentation Skills - Telling People
Talking about looking good (or should that be looking good while talking?), this will help you in that even scarier situation of presenting to people.

Proactive PR
Ellee Seymour’s blog taken from the position of a Press Consultant, Journalist, PR and Political Blogger

Hitwise
Realtime competitive intelligence - that’s just statistics isn’t it?

I’m Simon Dickson
Maybe not a Business Blog in the truest sense, but anyone looking to bring “new media thinking to UK news and government” deserves a mention in my book (figuratively speaking, you understand.)

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The Blog Coach and why hire a Blogging Consultant

September 22, 2006 by The Blog Coach | Comments (1)
Filed under Setting up your Blog, Marketing your Blog, Blogging News

My eye was drawn earlier this week by a post over at Blog Business Summit called Why hire a Blogging Consultant. Professional interest or in search of justification for what I do?

Definitely professional interest.

While it is an interesting overview, I think that it skims over the business side of what a blogging consultant should be able to offer and focuses too much on simply their knowledge of the Blogosphere. Certainly that’s important, as is the passion - you have to know how things work and why they work before you can start to apply them to a business situation.

But you also need to understand the business requirements of the companies you work with, their customers and their other marketing activities if you want to truely integrate a blog and really add value. You should feel comfortable working with both the marketing and technical teams (as well as the general management) with larger clients, and potentially be able to provide both of these roles yourself with smaller clients.

What I did like was the split that was made, between why set up a blog and how to do it so that it really works for your business. In the conferences they are running, they are focusing on the “how” rather than the “why”. I have no doubt that in the US, this is the right way to go.

However, in the UK, we are very clearly in a situation where we need both - the majority of companies are still at a stage where they are learning what blogs can offer them and why they should be considering them. However, there are also a growing number who have identified where they can be applied and now require help and direction in achieving that.

It is for this reason that I now run two blogs aimed at helping companies with their Business Blogging and the split between “Why” and “How” seems like a good one.

• Why set up a blog? - Better Business Blogging will be looking primarily at these aspects by focusing in on the range of business uses/applications of a blog and the issues in business and corporate blogging;
• How to do it? - The Blog Coach will aim to address the need for specific advice on the implementation, development and marketing of blogs as well as offering services and workshops to help businesses achieve this.

As you might imagine, there will be overlap between the two areas as one flows into the other but the differentiation is a good starting point.

So, why work with a Blog Consultant or, dare I say, a Blog Coach? Well, certainly for the understanding of how the blogosphere works and what works best, but also for the ability to apply that knowledge by getting to the heart of your business and ensuring it will produce the best results for you and your customers.

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Using Technorati to research your future Blog or your Market

September 21, 2006 by The Blog Coach | Comments (2)
Filed under Setting up your Blog, Blogging Basics, Blog Search Engines

As I pointed out in the Green Cross Code of Blogging, the first step before embarking on a Blog yourself is to look at the blogs that are already out there - ideally ones dealing with your market or subject area - to see what is being said, how they are being used and how they are approaching blogging as a business tool.

So the question is where the best place to find out what blogs exist in a certain industry or cover certain topics. For me, I always turn to the first of my two main blog site recommendations for anyone intending to use blogs - Technorati. If you want to find out what blogs exist and what is being said in them, then this is the place to start your search.

As you hit Technorati’s homepage, there seems to be a lot going on but for now, let’s just focus on the main search function - we’ll look at the other things you can do in some later posts.

So the main area that you want to concentrate on is the Search Bar:

You can see that you can search through 3 different sets of information: Blog posts, Tags and the Blog Directory.

• Blog posts: this is the widest search and it looks through all of the information contained in the posts of the blogs on Technorati.
• Tags: these are like categories that an author can assign to an individual post (or indeed to pictures or links) and gives the best idea of how the author would describe the content.
• Blog Directory: the directory looks at the individual Blogs as a whole and assigns them to subsections of the directory. When a blogger “claims” a blog on Technorati (we’ll come to that in a later post), then they can add the categories they wish to appear in as well.

I always advise starting with the “Blog Posts” search as it gives you a wide search but the “Tags” are an excellent second bet and are becoming ever more widely used and hence useful.

Once you have your first set of results, Technorati then allows you to refine them. I have used the example of a search on “RSS Marketing” below.

You have 3 options to help you refine the results, each with its own pull down menu - you can use just one or all three of them.

• The first allows you to choose the “additional search terms” that Technorati has suggested which also appear in blue just below and gives you posts which contain both “RSS marketing” and, for example, “Business Blogging”. This helps to narrow your search.
• The second allows you to set a level of authority which Technorati determines by the number of blogs which link to the blog you are looking at - “any authority” will give you all blogs which fit your search terms.
• And the third, allows you to select blogs only in a certain language.

So now we have a set of results which hopefully reflects the posts that contain the information that we are looking for. An example from the excellent Problogger is given below as an example.

However, this gives us more than just this post to use in our research. For example:

• By clicking on the Post Title, we go through to the blog where we can see if there are additional posts which interest us. There is also likely to be a “blogroll” or “recommended sites” section on the blog which will often link to other sites which will be of interest. Blogs often become the hub of a network in their own right so start with one that interests you and follow their recommendations
• By clicking on the Blog Name, you will get additional information about the blog and other posts that as well as an overview of the main areas that it covers
• By clicking on the Blogger’s name, you can see if they write other Blogs which might be of interest to you
• By clicking on the Linked Sites, you can see which blogs have linked to the one you are interested in and also which sites it has linked to in turn. By following these links, you can quickly get a list of blogs to read and return to.

So using Technorati, we can quickly gain an list of blogs which will be of interest to us and also of use in developing our own Business Blog. To save time, make sure you add them to your RSS Reader (you can always delete them later) so that you can follow them easily and keep up to date.

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Spotlight on UK Business Blogs

September 19, 2006 by The Blog Coach | Comments (17)
Filed under UK Business Blogs

Over at Better Business Blogging, each week I have been highlighting some of the Business Blogs which exist in the UK. The aim has been to show a cross section of the current blogs to give a feel for what people are writing about and how they are approaching the task of using blogs in their business activities.

With the launch of The Blog Coach, I have taken the decision that this series sits more comfortably on this blog and so will be continuing the series here in future. As a start point, I am giving a quick recap of those I have already highlighted by publishing a list of them here before continuing the Spotlight on UK Business Blogs series.

In addition to this weekly selection, I am working with others to build a comprehensive list of Business Blogs in the UK. So if there are UK blogs which you have visited and would recommend (including your own!), then please let me know by leaving a comment or sending me a message. Thanks!

Adam Smith Institute
Interesting mix of opinion on free marketing policies but nicely put together.

Andy Hayler
Andy Hayler is the founder of Kalido and uses this blog to comment on developments in the Enterprise Software marketplace.

The ArtFinder Blog
The ArtFinder in question is Lydia Bates.

Bad Language
Matthew Stibbe writing about Business, Technology and Marketing.

Being Kintished
Will Kintish shows people how to attract more business and clients.

The Big Blog Company
Does what it says on the tin and a lot more besides.

Breath Coach
Never come across a Breath Coach before, so here you are.

BT Business Blog
BT’s new Business Blog covers a range of topics to do with online businesses.
Charkin Blog
Richard Charkin from Macmillan does his own bit of personal publishing.

The Dental Business School
More Profit in Less Time is what Business Coach, Chris Barrow, provides.

Eie Flud
Eie Flud blogs about the countryside and the natural ingredients which make up their products.

The Engaging Brand
Podcasts and an engaging blog from Anna Farmery over at The Engaging Brand!

English Cut
English Cut from Thomas Mahon, a Savile Row tailor and blogging veteran.

Financial Planning for Dentists
Dentists and Financial Advisors together by Ray Prince and Graeme Urwin.

For Immediate Release
A twice weekly podcast by Neville Hobson together with Shel Holtz on PR and Technology.

Gaping Void
The unique blog by Hugh MacLeod.

Guinness Blog
Nice to see another major brand in the UK blogging arena.

Human Law
Written by Justin Patten, with a focus on Law, Technology and People.

Innocent Drinks
Keeping up the smooothie and fun image.

Intelligent Measurement
Richard Gaunt and Glenn O’Neil on evaluation and measurement in communications, training, management and other fields.

Jamie Oliver
The Naked Chef himself provides a suitably pukka blog.

The Just Giving Blog
The Just Giving Blog for people who use Justgiving to build their personal fundraising pages.

Luxury Travel Blog
Paul Johnson at the Luxury Travel blog gives us some ideas on locations, hotels and expensive cocktails!

Modern Marketing
A blog from Collaborate Marketing, led and edited by James Cherkoff.

Murmurs and Musings on Success at Work
Dr Rob Yeung does his musing on creating success at work.

Nubricks
A blog which talks about property, property and more property.

Open Gardens
Ajit Jaokar’s much acclaimed blog which deals with issues around mobile web 2.0 and Wireless Mobility.

Podcasts from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Blog, podcasts and the Fringe all mixed into one entertaining blend.

Positive Impact
Niall Cook writing on Hill and Knowlton’s Collective Conversation.

PR Blogger
Stephen Davies writes on PR, marketing, media, technology and the world around him.

A PR Guru’s Musings
Written by Stuart Bruce, founder and partner of Bruce Marshall Associates.

PR Voice
PR Voice is written by Tony Bradley, the President of the CIPR.

SmallBizPod
Produced by Alex Bellinger, the SmallBizPod is the UK’s first (and foremost!) small business podcast.

Spittoon
A wine and food blog written by Andrew Barrow, a freelance wine writer and expert.

Stuart Oliver
Stuart Oliver talks about social software, Networks & Communities, Innovation, Globalisation & more.

Teblog
David Tebbutt on the 3C’s of cooperation, collaboration and communication.

Thomson Holidays
One of the few larger UK companies which have realised where the potential of blogging lies.

Tinbasher Sheet Metal Blog
Fronted by Paul Woodhouse, the TinBasher blog is another UK classic.

Travel the Home Exchange Way
Lois Sealey gives an engaging and compelling insight into the area of holiday home exchange.

Vanessa & Baukjen
Designs for pregnant women who love clothes.

Tom Watson, MP
Finally, a first political blog - no doubt the first of many.

Wishful Thinking
Mark Mc Guinness focusing on coaching creative professionals.

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A Blogging Break …

September 10, 2006 by The Blog Coach | Leave a Comment
Filed under Blogging News

No sooner started than having a short break! What is the world coming to?

Just to let you know that there will be a short hiatus in updating The Blog Coach as I am having a few days break and the PC has been banned … just for a week, though.

Normal service will be resumed as soon as we are sure just what normal is (sic: Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy) - or alternatively on Tuesday 19th September.

There is, however, going to be a lot of information coming your way over the next couple of months on:

• specific ways in which you can use a Blog from a business and marketing perspective;
• how to use your Blog most effectively and get the best out of it;
• using RSS to encourage visitors and generate sales;
• integrating your blog with your other marketing activities;
• marketing and promoting your blog and therefore your business;
• … and a whole lot more.

So, do add The Blog Coach to your RSS reader and, just as importantly, drop me a line and let me know what areas you would like to see covered. My email address is mark(a t)theblogcoach.co.uk or you can leave a comment on this post.

See you soon!

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