Janet Lee Johnson | The Art of Marketing

Sometimes it’s just hard to be creative. It really is. I consult with many technology and start-up organizations, and I work with dreamers who love to drain the right side of my brain. By the end of a work week, my creativity is often tapped out.

And as a part of my business, and as a way of giving back, I blog. And (I often liken it to caring for a dog) just because you’re tired doesn’t mean you can neglect your blog.

This past week I’ve been talking a lot about blogging as I’ve been networking around town. And one of my basic tenets of blogging for business is this:

Never tie a corporate blog to just one person.

It’s precisely because we get tired (or go on vacation… or get sick… or are out walking the dog…) that we sometimes just need a break from blogging.

If you don’t have the luxury of relying on others to keep the blog dynamic and scintillating, you can still rely on others for good blog fodder when you’re out of ideas yourself. Here’s a brief synopsis of where I get great content ideas for my blog:

1. Newsletters to which I subscribe and are delivered into my email - my personal favorites (on the topics of marketing, technology and social media) are those from the ClickZ network and the IAB Smartbrief.
2. Blog posts from the blogs to whom I subscribe and read via my Attensa RSS reader. RSS readership, by the way, is growing this year - 34% percent of global respondents to a March social media survey from Universal McCann said they had “ever” subscribed to an RSS feed, up from 15% in 2007 (via ClickZ).
3. Research in the marketplace. Just this week I got a link from my friend Bryce to a fantastic piece of research from the California Health Care Association called “The Wisdom of Patients: Health Care Meets Online Media.” A woman named Jean Sarason-Kahn of THINK-Health (who blogs at Health Populi) wrote it, and it’s a must read for anyone looking into health care or social media.
4. Invite guest bloggers to post for you. I got such an invitation a few weeks ago from my friend Meryl over at Meryl.net. Her blog turns 8 years old tomorrow - 8 years! - and in celebration, she’s taking some time off. So she invited friends to provide her with some guest posts so she can take time off. I wrote one that will run sometime next week - talk about a little extra pressure, writing for someone else’s blog! But it was great fun, and I look forward to seeing it run.

If you’re going to post using other’s ideas, add some value: sprinkle a little of your own opinion and make sure your examples add to the conversation. That way, even though you’re not being overly taxed to be creative, at least you’re collaborating with- and contributing to- their work in some way.

Even though there are only about 12% of the Fortune 500 businesses who are currently blogging publicly according to Socialtext, I believe we’ve finally hit the Year of the Business Blog. I’ve been waiting for it to hit since 2005, the Year of the Media Blog. Release the doves!

Over on ReadWrite Web, Marshall Kirkpatrick has published a short list of good business blogs to read, and says:

“An interesting company blog can be a great way to draw in new people through relevant content of general interest - and some of them will stay to check out the service you provide.”

I’m happy because one of my clients, Scott Niesen over at Attensa got a nod from Marshall in his list.

A good business blog will do many things for a company, including:

Establish thought leadership - if you have an interesting view of your market, a blog can help you illuminate your genius (or expose your audacity…).

Humanize your organization - sometimes it’s good to get out behind the walls of your brand and let the people of the organization have a voice. Robert Scoble humanized Microsoft to thousands of developers during his tenure as evangelist, and he did it simply by blogging his thoughts and reactions to conversations out in the open.

Building community - community is the buzzword du jour, and there’s no simpler way to build community around your product or service than to enable conversations on your site using blog software.

So what’s holding your organization back? We’ve got seven months to go in the Year of the Business Blog… the time to explore it for your business is now, and it doesn’t take long.

(I’ve got a client who contacted me on May 9 to help them decide how to build community for their organization, and we’re launching their blog - with the company fully trained and prepped with strategy, objectives and tactics defined - on June 2.)

Anyone with an interest in PR and how to more effectively pitch press should read Brian Solis’ extremely descriptive, well-constructed and educational “MicroPR Personalizes Public Relations” post.

There’s a great list of editors and bloggers who prefer to be pitched on Twitter, which is something I saw emerging a month or so ago. There are also very well defined “how to” steps. I hope those practitioners who are just beginning to learn to pitch bloggers and new media influencers will read and utilize.

As a follow-on to my last post - Eight Business Reasons to Twitter - here are ten people I’d recommend you follow once you’ve set up your account, in no particular order:

@jowyang - Jeremiah is a Forrester analyst whom I met years ago at a Web 2.0 conference when he was just beginning to blog. He’s very active on Twitter, has good opinions, and asks a lot of good questions.

@Scobleizer - Robert Scoble was the original blogger who gave Microsoft a human face and heart. He’s probably got more people following his blog and Twitter feeds than any other - because he gives good tips and hints. Watch and learn.

@turoczy - Rick Turoczy writes Portland’s Silicon Florist blog, I can always find interesting information - especially about Portland - reading his tweets.

@marshallk - Marshall Kirkpatrick is a lead blogger on ReadWriteWeb, a Portlander, and I find much breaking technology news from him.

@pkedrosky - Paul Kedrosky is a VC, an academic and a tech watcher with an economic bent. I guess you’d call him a brainiac Renaissance Man. Follow him and see if you can come up with a better description.

@pdxmama - Suzame Tong is a marketer, sustainable living advocate, Portland Farmer’s Market Board member and delicious writer. Learn the ‘art of the tweet’ from her.

@thisKat - Katherine Gray is a web strategist, usability mentor, extreme Twitterer and gives great reports from conferences, her back yard, and life in her basement office.

@charleneli - Charlene Li, the Forrester social media analyst guru, why wouldn’t you follow her feed? (Tip - see who she follows, and check out whether you might want to, too…)

@dtboyd - Dylan Boyd over at eROI always makes me laugh at least once or twice a day from his feed, he also posts useful news for Portlanders.

@gapingvoid - Hugh MacLeod, artist, sage observer of human nature and a guy who actually moved TO Texas from Great Britain; he is a bellweather of breaking industry trends, connected individual and sometimes curmudgeon. I like him.

Once you get a good suite of people to follow (I’d much rather follow than be followed, learning is way fun), find out which of your followers know each other using a tool like TweetWheel. Thanks to @CalEvans, who blogs over at Sixty Second Tech and recently published a great eBook, Twitter for Marketers, if you’d like to take your education a step further.

BTW, I follow more than 200 people on Twitter, and it’s a pretty random list I’ve pulled here. I hope those I haven’t mentioned won’t take my lack of mention seriously. Browse through anyone I follow, and you’ll find some gems who will absolutely delight you.

Confluence In Motion: I’m a pretty big (albeit recent) Twitter advocate. I’m preparing a “Web 2.0 for Entrepreneurs” webcast for the OEN next Wednesday morning. I’m talking to a lot of people who just don’t get Twitter for business.

REAL email exchange today… “[name] said you must have a Twitter tramp stamp… should I believe him?”

Of course, I had to go to Urban Dictionary to find out what a tramp stamp was…

So here are few key reasons to use Twitter for business, and a sneak preview of my presentation…

Compelling Business Reasons to Use Twitter (these examples are just from today):

As a writer, the discipline of making sense in 140 characters is compelling.

I haven’t felt that kind of discipline since 1975 and my honors English class in college. Although my blog posts have not become particularly short as a result - sorry. You want short, follow me on Twitter.

As a reader, I learn, share, ask and reconnect:

1) I get breaking news from Twitter - the Ars Technica purchase by Wired just today - (thanks to @marshallk).

2) I can follow presentations/conferences and events when I’m not able to be there - almost as if you’re in the audience - (with thanks to @thisKat).

3) I can solicit and receive help on technical or business questions, overnight. I asked:

Got four answers when I checked this morning, this is representative, with thanks @dtboyd.

5) I have extended my network quickly and effectively - I was invited to have my blogs posted on the Content Management Connection site via @georgedearing:

6) I have been able to publicize my blog posts and reconnect with colleagues because I’m on Twitter.

Using the # convention to signify a “meme” on Twitter, I alerted those who followed the Collaboration 2.0 conference (#c20) on Twitter that I had posted about it. A former customer from my Marqui days reconnected, and I’m not following him again, after a two-year disconnect.

7) I can follow (in one easy place) and stay in touch with my friends at Attensa, OEN, current and former colleagues as they experience their lives, tackle problems and express joy.

So get your Twitter “tramp stamp” or whatever you want to call it, stick it in your email signature, put it on your blog, and participate in (and benefit from) the global cocktail party. See you out there.