Toolulu.com

Using Blogs to Leverage Your Brand

Presented by:Deb Averett & Christy Nelson

Co-owners of Toolulu, Inc.

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State of the Blogosphere

• Over 15 million Wordpress publishers.

•200 million people visit one or more Wordpress.com blogs a month.

• Anywhere from 10k-15k new Wordpress blogs are created daily.

Source: http://en.wordpress.com/stats/

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Who Do Consumers Trust?

• 90% trust “completely” or “somewhat” a recommendation from people they know.

• 70% trust consumer opinions posted online.

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How Do I Begin?

• Start your own– Blogger,

Wordpress, Typepad

– Update website to include a blog feature

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Get a Game Plan

• What is your purpose?

• What kind of audience do you want to reach?

• What are you trying to promote?

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How to Find Bloggers

• Finding a group of core bloggers is key.– Google Blogsearch– Twitter search– Word of mouth– Technorati

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Build Relationships

• Follow on Twitter• Become Facebook fan• Link to them• Promote• Attend events

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Pitches: What Not to Do

• Email Blasts• Generic “Dear Blogger” pitches• Requirements

– Deadlines– Embargoes– Asking for positive reviews

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Pitches: What to Do

• Know what they write about• Be genuine• Make sure your pitch is relevant to

their blog• Use a conversational style

– Avoid sending typical press releases when possible

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• Follow our blog at toolulu.com for more tips and tricks on how to build your online presence.

• Classes coming up: Social Media 201 & Social Media Gets You Leads- see toolulu.com for more details.