Award Winning Website Designs and JumpStart Websites From $119. Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing & Blogging Services

Blogging on your website is a great way to add fresh content while keeping viewers engaged in your business.  Web-JIVE customers are provided with several choices they can use as their blogging tool.  Give us a call today to discuss your options and ability to start blogging on your site!

Here are a few good tips to consider when blogging on your site.

Make your blog posts interesting and thought provoking.  Be unique.  What makes your blog stand out? Why should people read your blog rather than the others in your niche? People can read more than one blog, but being original is the best way to stand out in someone's memory. This means writing original content, having an original focus (possibly a well-known niche, but with a twist?), and giving your readers something to be interested in every time you post.

One of the biggest secrets to success on Twitter is sharing.  As many Twitter experts say: You are what you share.   People use Twitter (www.twitter.com) for many different reasons.  But for the purposes of this blog, we will focus on engaging with the business community. Please note that 'engaging with' should not be mistaken for 'selling to'!!  Just because it is 'business focused', it doesn't mean that you still can't have some fun - like occasionally tweeting about a sports event, or recent big news event.  After all, Twitter is about the people, right?  Many people who use Twitter for business, make the mistake of starting off with efforts to boost sales or launch some new product or service.  They do this without any engagement with anybody.  Take note here...Twitter is a communication channel with an OFF button - the unfollow link - and people aren't afraid to use it.  If people don't like what you are saying, or the tone you use - then your follower list will start to shrink…and quick!

So how do you tweet  and manage to maintain your business integrity?

Try to mix up your tweets.  Don't just focus on you - get interested (and get involved) in others and SHOW IT!  People are happy to look and listen to what you have to say, but only in moderation, and then, only if they trust you and have some sort of relationship with you.  So mix up the types of tweets you make, and engage with the community - business will come later.  Here are just a few suggestions for the types of tweets you can be using to get involved:

Informative:  What have you seen? What websites have you seen that are interesting? What have you read?  Which articles were in your daily news gathering process that got your attention? Get the message?  Tweet something that your followers will (hopefully) find interesting.

Re-Tweets:  Did you receive a tweet you want to share? It's easy to "retweet" it to your followers. Maybe some of your followers will do the same with some of your tweets!

Blog-Post Tweet:  Post your latest blog posts via Twitter, it is a great way to reach a larger audience with the same information and effort.

Help tweet:  Need some help or advice?  Want to know where to stay when you take a trip? Looking to make an important purchase, but need feedback on your options?  Just tweet about it.  People will give you their opinions quickly and honestly.

Humor Tweet:  Something makes you laugh? Share it with a tweet - we all like to see those tweets, especially if they make you LOL! (that's "laugh out loud" by the way!

Your business-related tweet: This is where you can tell what you do, how you do it, and promote your business.  But be careful how you pitch it!  If you just talk about you and your business, people get bored and will turn off, but show variety by mixing it up and you will be able to engage with a much wider audience. And if they like they way you do it, then people will naturally gravitate to your website, and they may well become customers or new clients in time.

Company Directory is a tool that allows site users and visitors information for departments and/or individuals at your company.  Directory tools often allow the user to organize and update information from the site.  Many tools allow creation of dedicated lists of employees, members, teams or groups.  Some sites may wish to control the amount of information available through custom field selection.  Other sites allow access to directory information only to registered users.

A calendar is a tool that, if used properly, can communicate a great amount of information to site visitors.  Calendars are effective when a company keeps them current and posts all items of interest to potential and current customers.  This could include upcoming seminars, trade shows, sales or specials at your company, meetings of interest, or maybe reminders of deadlines like forms and fees due.

As a Web-JIVE customer, you have many tools and applications at your disposal that can help you keep your site dynamic and current.  These tools allow you to advertise upcoming events, discuss issues and news specific to your business, announce specials, and post examples of products and/or work performed so potential customers can see what you offer.  This is just a small sampling of the tools available to you!  We will cover some of these tools, in depth, in upcoming blogs.

Lets start with blogging.  Blogs are becoming one of the most popular tools that companies are utilizing to promote their name and products/services.  As a customer of Web-JIVE, you have a basic blogging tool included with your site. 

As a business owner, you want to ensure that the message your company promotes is current and relevant.  This is an easy task for many of the tools you use every day, like business cards and magazine ads. 

But what about your website?  Websites tend to be "overlooked" in so many companies when it comes to advertising updates.  For the vast majority of companies, an overall site check up including every page/article, product, etc. should be performed every 30 to 60 days. 

As business owners, one of the first things we often do, is forget to promote our website like we do other areas of our business.   In order to attract potential customers and ultimately sell your products or services, your website URL ("www.web-jive.com", for example) needs to be on every promotional tool you use. 

Business cards, flyers, letterhead, envelopes, invoices, and all other forms of print media should include your URL.  Yellow page listings, billboards, and newspaper and magazine ads should too.  Be sure to include your URL on promotional items like pens, coffee mugs, and mouse pads.  The more a consumer sees your web address, the more likely they are to remember it and check it out when they are shopping for your product or service.  Another thing this exposure helps with is, word-of-mouth business, the best kind.

NEW!  Starting March 1st, Web-JIVE will be sending weekly newsletters aimed at helping you grow your business and utilize your website to it's fullest potential.  This weekly newsletter will tell you what's happening on board at Web-JIVE, announce upcoming events and training sessions,  and provide useful information about your site - your business - and your success!  We will discuss ways to market a website, Search Engine Optimization, how to use our system, and much more!

Web-JIVE.com announces new products and services!   

Coming in April 2010, Online  Training Videos and Classroom Training! 

Stay tuned for more information on these new services... Now Offering - Content Updating and Blogging services!

Content Updating - At Web-JIVE, we realize that most of our customers are busy managing their business and simply do not have time to stay on top of their web content.  With our new Content Updating service you can focus on what you do best...running your business, while we handle all your content update needs.

Another new site, designed and developed by Web-JIVE, is martinpenny.com.  

Penny Martin is a freelance writer, who works with businesses who wish to create and/or update brochures and sales literature.  Her copy editing services help her clients present the best possible products for their businesses.  Penny also does project research,  ghost-writing and resume package creation.  With more than 20 years of writing experience, she brings her customers a level of expertise and professionalism that really shows in her work!