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User Guide
Blogging
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Included in this guide, you will find the following sections:
�� Intro
• AudienceFocus
• WhyBlog?
• WhatItTakestoSucceed
�� Writing for Your Blog
• ContentInspiration
• WritingwithPersonality
• BeingReader-Friendly
• StepsforaProperCitation
• BlogEtiquette
• KeywordsandSearchEngines
• Sound,VideoandMultimedia
�� Expanding Your Readership
• Comments
• PromotingYourNewBlog
The User Guide for Blog Authors was developed by Michelle Golden of Golden Practices, Inc.
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Intro
This guide is particularly detailed with very specific steps, tips and visuals to aid the individual/firm developing a blog to get an intermediate usage level.
Blogsaredistinctlystructuredwebsitesthatcontainshort,conversational-stylearticlescalled“posts.”EachpostishousedonaseparateURLthatisdateandtimestampedandcanbecommentedonbyreaders.
Blogs are a holy grail of marketing for CPAs in their ability to underscore their author’s expertise, convey the author’s personality to begin building a relationship and simultaneously draw relevant website traffic to the expert.
Enthusiasm is requisite—boring blogs often are the result of authors lacking passion about their subject matter. Boring blogs don’t get read. This is why the task of blogging cannot simply be “assigned” to your best subject-matter expert—it must be written by someone driven from within to do so. As an author, you won’t always be inspired to write. It will come and go. Do it when you feel inspired, but also look for ways to feel inspiration (see related tips) more often.
Successful blogs have differing tones, styles and posting frequencies, but one thing the most successful blogs have in common is that they’re written for specific audiences. Defined audiences are better for the author because you discuss any topic that your audience will care about without being limited to just tax or accounting issues. This not only makes for a more interesting blog for the subscribers, but the niche-specific aspect of these blogs helps the author stand out as an expert in his or her field.
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Industry focus is ideal, but targeting other sorts of common interest groups also can be effective. Generally, the more focused your audience, the better.
Audience FocusIndustry focus is ideal, but targeting other sorts of common interest groups also can be effective. Generally, the more focused your audience, the better. For example, consider audiences that are geographic or with specific interests or lifestyles.
If you’re pursuing a service-focused blog, ask yourself: “Who’d subscribe to a continuous feed of information about cost segregation studies, or general tax issues?” A business owner or another CPA? Probably the latter. To hold a business owner’s interest (and your own), you’re better off not writing about tax or cost segregations studies 100% of the time.
By targeting the right common interest group, you can find a built-in cheering section. You can be cross-referenced by existing and future organizations catering to the same group. You can tap into their readership through comments and trackbacks that you initiate. Plus there’s endless “fodder” for your postings with just a little bit of reading. Finally, the clearer you are about your audience and their needs, the easier it is to assure your content remains relevant to readers.
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Why Blog?�� Journalists use bloggers as sources because they’re easy to find and follow. Blogs make journalists’ jobs easier, so professionals with blogs get more mentions and quotes than non-bloggers.
�� Searching your own content—blogs are a great way to archive your intellectual capital for future reference such as forwarding to a prospect after a meeting.
�� Delivered posts keep you in front of the minds of people. RSS feeds (identified with the orange symbol) “push” your content to subscribers.
�� Blogs are a durable asset. Living on the web, they remain searchable, in-bound marketing
tools whereas print or e-publications “dead-end” in paper piles or electronic folders.
�� People would rather buy from those they know, trust and like. Similar to the way you “get to know” a newspaper columnist you read regularly—your blog also is a relationship accelerant.
�� Busy people receive your content one article or post at a time, so it’s more likely to be read than a longer, multiarticle publication.
�� Being highly visible, blogs can quickly establish a CPA as an expert in a particular field.
�� Blogs humanize the CPA and make him or her more approachable.
To learn more about RSS and how to subscribe to and read RSS feeds, click here.
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Budget 1-4 hours per week for researching, writing, reading comments, reading other’s blogs and replying to comments.
Paul Neiffer, a Washington state CPA who launched FarmCPAToday, was invited to be a regular columnist for Top Producers magazine, a leading national publication in the agriculture industry, and made an Ag-related TV appearance within his first year of blogging. He’s gained new business from farmers in Hawaii and Louisiana, among others—all as a direct result of blogging.
What It Takes to Succeed�� Authors who are passionate about their topics.
�� Writing interesting posts on a regular basis.
�� Being part of the community—reading and interacting with others online.
�� Building readership and a blog following (aka “subscriber base”).
�� Knowing your audience and remaining true to them and their interests.
�� Feature a good blogroll—list of related blogs—your audience will appreciate.
�� Readers tend to make great bloggers; bloggers tend to become better readers.
Budget 1-4 hours per week for researching, writing, reading comments, reading other’s blogs and replying to comments. This is for a frequency of two posts per week—an adequate pace to build blog traffic.
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Reading is the best source of inspiration, whether it’s books, news, trade publications or Twitter. Set up a feed reader (such as Google Reader) and subscribe to blogs to watch client industry trends, technical updates and other business news.
WritingforYourBlog
Blogpostsarebite-sizedsnippetsofinformation—thinkofthemasasingleemailansweringasinglequestion.Justasyou’dwritetoaclient,youremailwouldaddressacertainissueandwill bespecifictotheiruniquecircumstances.Blogpostscanbe veryspecific.
Content InspirationImagining what to write about week after week is the greatest concern of most blog authors.
1. Scan your sent-items in your email because you’ve probably answered questions for people. Sanitize the email by stripping out real names and identifiers and add a sentence or two at the beginning for context.
2. Find a consistent place to record random ideas that arise as you go about your daily routine.
3. Reading is the best source of inspiration, whether it’s books, news, trade publications or Twitter. Set up a feed reader (such as Google Reader) and subscribe to blogs to watch client industry trends, technical updates and other business news. For other things to follow, consider your audience(s):
�� What does your audience read (online and offline)?
�� Where are they online (other blogs, websites or forums; trade or other associations; networking groups and LinkedIn groups; etc.)?
�� What information already is readily available to them (to help you determine what information gaps you could fill)?
4. Need something to inspire you when you’re stuck?
�� What are you currently working on? How might it be relevant to your audience?
�� What do you worry about on behalf of your audience?
�� If you were a fly on the wall within the organization of your reader, what would you be observing that they should know about?
�� What inspired you to go into your practice? Or what do you love most about what you do?
Periodically brainstorm article ideas, but also remain flexible and able to post quickly on emerging issues because doing so can attract some highly desirable media attention.
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Keep blog posts short (400-600 words is average). Consider breaking a longer article into two shorter articles. Use short sentences. Break up your text. A lot.
Writing with Personality Blogging affords CPAs a new way to connect with people that is enormously time leveraging. Readers tell Scott Heintzelman (ExuberantAccountant.com) they feel like they know him when they first meet. To achieve this, let your unique “voice” and personality shine through.
�� Be as conversational as possible. Write like you talk, avoiding words you’d feel silly saying aloud.
�� Picture a specific person each time you draft a post and write just for them. Don’t think you’re “writing to the world” because you’re not. You are writing for an individual reader every time.
�� Demonstrate your knowledge to build trust as someone who cares enough to help others.
�� Position yourself as a resource for information readers can’t get elsewhere so they’ll continue to read.
�� Be a storyteller. Use sanitized real-life examples.
�� Avoid the word “client” because it’s impersonal; whereas saying “you” helps the reader project him or herself into the situation.
�� Don’t allow your blog to appear to have gone through a PR-department edit process or it will lose credibility.
Authenticity is the key. The more human and helpful you are, the more credibility you have.
Being Reader-FriendlyOn-screen reading is different than print. To be read more often, make your writing extra easy to skim.
�� Keep blog posts short (400-600 words is average). Consider breaking a longer article into two shorter articles. Use short sentences. Break up your text. A lot.
�� Keep paragraphs to five or fewer lines to avoid “walls” of text.
�� Use headings and subheadings throughout posts.
�� For clarity, stick to one idea per post. It’s okay to relate two things together (making one point).
�� Use bullets and numbered lists.
�� Include relevant graphics or photos as often as you can. Think USA Today.
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Don’t just ask for comments or feedback at the end of every post unless you like the sound of crickets. It takes a while to earn participatory readership and one way to encourage comments is to prompt people with something simple to react to.
Steps for a Proper CitationIt’s appropriate to use excerpts of other blog posts or articles and add your thoughts. This is “continuing the conversation”—a big part of the experience of blogging, a part that attracts significant readership.
�� Name the original author and link the text of their name to their “about,” “author,” or “bio” page.
�� Name the site or publication, and link the company name to their company’s home page.
�� Name the specific post or article and point the title of their article directly to the item you are referencing.
�� To create visual interest, break quotes out using the quote styling or indent specification within your blog.
�� Don’t include someone’s entire post within yours without the author’s specific permission.
�� Post a link back to the original post.
Blog EtiquetteThere aren’t a lot of hard and fast “rules” for blogs, but here are a few don’ts:
�� Don’t end your posts with cheesy pitches like: “Call us for more information.” They won’t. That’s not how blogs work.
�� Don’t just ask for comments or feedback at the end of every post unless you like the sound of crickets. It takes a while to earn participatory readership and one way to encourage comments is to prompt people with something simple to react to.
�� Don’t shamelessly self promote. Talking about yourself should be the exception, not the rule—just the way you wouldn’t want to be “that boor” at a party. A dozen posts without it might excuse the rare self-promo but be up-front about it: “Forgive me for promoting myself today, but you might be interested in …”
�� Avoid re-saving a post (hitting “submit” or “post” again) even if you are tempted to correct minor errors because it re-sends the blog post to RSS subscribers. Proof before posting and only correct major errors once live. Courtesy to readers overrides perfection so it’s understood that credible blogs will have the occasional error.
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Keywords and Search EnginesBlogpostsprovideorganicsearch-enginestrengthforCPAs.Keywords(wordsandphrasesyouraudiencecaresabout)candramaticallyimprovethefirm’ssearch-enginerankingsfortermsfoundinasfewastwoorthreepostsonagivensubject.Whileyoudon’tneedtocatertosearchengines,knowingalittleabouthowtheyworkcanhelpyoumakeadvantageouswordchoices.
Use important keywords in the highest-level locations you can. Search engines give credence to (in descending order):
�� Blog name and URL
�� Post titles
�� Categories or tags
�� Subheadings, bolded words and words that comprise links (aka “anchor text”)
�� Image file names
�� General text within the post
Knowing what keywords to use is a continual learning process.
�� Think of your audiences and ask yourself “what would they call ‘x’?”
�� Use readers’ industry “buzzwords” (e.g., Tinsley discusses “National Provider Identifier (NPI),” the “CMS-1500 claim form,” and “Medicare Claims Processing Manual.”)
�� Focus on three- or four-word phrases (versus one or two words) because phrases tend to attract more qualified traffic than single words (note Tinsley example above versus just the term “Medicare”).
�� Use variants and words within words (e.g., sit is within sitting, but sat is not within seated).
�� Mention geographic locations if applicable (e.g., Arlington, Highway 40, etc.).
�� Mention competitors, referral source and other experts (in a favorable light) to be found by people looking for them.
�� Learn from visitor trends and adjust your writing based on what you see (on your blog’s traffic reports, hover over the Google, Yahoo!, Bing and other referring links to view the exact term searched).
Best Practices TipUse online tools such as these to test your thinking on search volume for phrases you suspect might be good: Wordtracker Keyword Tool, Google Tools and Google Adwords
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Keep podcasts and videocasts to less than four minutes because it’s hard to keep the attention of people if they’re any longer.
Sound, Video and MultimediaCreating audio files (podcasts) or videocasts can be easy and inexpensive ways to spice up a blog and show your style. Sharing photos, presentations and other documents comes in handy, too, and file-sharing tools that store your files, yet let you embed them in your blog, get you a lot of extra exposure.
Herearesometips:�� SlideShare.net is great for presentations and documents. Flickr is excellent for photos, iTunes can syndicate your audio files, and YouTube is excellent for video files.
�� Keep podcasts and videocasts to less than four minutes because it’s hard to keep the attention of people if they’re any longer.
�� When you give presentation, load the slide deck and handouts to SlideShare or a similar site and provide the links before, during and after the program.
�� When you add a video, sound, photos, or presentation files to YouTube, iTunes, Flickr or SlideShare, post them to your blog by embedding the files in a graphic form wherever possible.
�� When you use these channels, add relevant keywords and phrases where prompted at the time you upload your files.
�� Watch that sound quality is free of fades, “brushing” P’s and B’s, nose-breathing, paper shuffling and other annoying background noises.
�� Practice sounding natural while introducing inflection in your voice so you’re not monotone.
�� Use good, medium lighting. Shady (dark) or interrogation (bright) are not good looks for financial professionals.
�� Prepare a script and practice it, but when you deliver, go from memory. Your message should be natural sounding, not “read aloud.”
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Pick quality, high-traffic blogs and build relationships with these influential authors. Find good blogs by searching blogsearch.google.com. Once you find some, check the sidebars of the blogs to see whom they list in their blogrolls. Note or subscribe to all the ones that catch your interest. You can unsubscribe later.
ExpandingYourReadership
It’scriticalthatyoureadotherblogs.Blogsaren’tone-wayplatforms;theyweren’teveninventedformarketing.Theyaretwo-waycommunicationvehicles.Whenyoublog,youjoinacommunity,andifyoudon’tparticipate,youmaybeviewedasrude,aloofor“notwithit.”
Here’showtoparticipate:�� Regularly read other blogs.
�� Post comments that add value to the discussion (don’t “pitch”).
�� Thank people who comment on your blog. Reciprocate by reading their blogs to find something good you could refer to in a post—use trackbacks to the original posts.
�� Link liberally in your posts to other resources and writings. Sites you link to will see traffic referred by your blog and are likely to check you out. These people are potential new followers and promoters.
�� View your visitor stats to see what sites refer to yours. Thank referrers (via a comment) and subscribe to their blogs.
�� Always “hat tip” someone who referred you to interesting information with a mention and a link.
CommentsDon’t worry about getting negative comments on the blog. Comments, if any, will be sparse at first—most will be spam. Set up your blog so that comments must be approved and activate spam filters.
�� Approve and respond to every legitimate comment you receive.
�� You can thank them privately, by email, but it’s best to post it on your blog, so people can see you’re accessible and responsive. More people will contribute when they perceive you’ll notice and care.
�� If someone disagrees with you outright, be gracious, approve the comment and demonstrate maturity in your reply. At a minimum, thank them and let them know you appreciate their readership.
�� If someone is especially rude or unbalanced, you needn’t post the comment; you can reply privately or simply ignore it.
Comments are a validation of your work that reassures you that you’re striking a chord with readers. They inspire you to continue, lead to healthy debates and launch new friendships.
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Drop a media release announcing the new blog, spinning it from the industry angle positioning it as an industry-specific resource.
Promoting Your New BlogWait until you have at least 10 posts before you promote your blog. A solid base of posts better illustrates your long-term intent and shows people why they’d benefit from subscribing. Here are some steps you can take to spread the word about your blog:
�� Postcard mailing to all prospects, referral sources, trade groups and other contacts related to the blog and the firm, if appropriate.
�� E-mail promotion: use your prior means of communication at least two times to all of the above, with periodic future mentions in firm’s e-mail newsletters.
�� Print reference everywhere relevant (articles, newsletters, announcements, bios, proposals, sponsorships and speaker “blurbs” etc.).
�� Add links in the email signature blocks of all related parties.
�� Website links everywhere relevant (every author’s bio, every related service page, every article, etc.) and links from all authors’ social media profiles (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
�� Drop a media release announcing the new blog, spinning it from the industry angle positioning it as an industry-specific resource (send to all industry associations, publications, websites and blogs; also send to all accounting publications).
