No, I’m not taking about adding bass drums to the background of your blog. I’m referring to the pattern of your blog posts, and how they should be congruent with your audience’s lifestyle.

How Often Should You Update Your Blog?

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In a rare instance of the Associated Press Stylebook directly responding to a publication, the AP sent the above tweet a few hours after a story broke (via The Awl) that the New York Times would no longer allow its journalists to use the word “tweet.”

Word came yesterday via The Awl that the New York Times Standards Editor, Phil Corbett, banned writers at the Gray Lady from using the word “tweet” in articles for the paper, except when for “special effect.” (more…)

How long does it take to make a blog?

Not long. If you’ve got an email address and an untapped well of misanthropic angst, you can set up a blog using a free template in a matter of minutes.

How long does it take to make a good blog? The kind of custom, robust content provider that’s going to get your ideas to the world and the world to your site?

That’s a different story.

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Social Media has opened the door to a host of new marketing opportunities. Where major advertisers like Unilever were once limited to print, radio, television, direct mail and billboard advertising, the internet has opened up a host of new promotional opportunities for brands large and small.

Unilever, you may know, is the company behind such iconic ice cream brands as Breyer’s, Good Humor and Klondike Bars. They have long been ahead of the curve when it comes to advertising and marketing (“What would you do for a Klondike Bar?”).

It shouldn’t be surprising that Unilever understands new media as well as they do old media. They are now reaching out to influential bloggers, offering them free tastes of some of their classic products. Today, a virtual cornucopia of ice cream products arrived at the offices of Blue Fountain Media. When the feeding frenzy was done, the ice cream was gone, but the good will remains.

Does this kind of marketing work? The fact that you are reading this should provide the answer.

As marketing specialists, we at Blue Fountain Media appreciate creative work done by others. Our hats are off to Unilever for their blogger outreach!

We regularly counsel clients on how to leverage social media to enhance their marketing efforts. We help our clients with blogger outreach, Twitter and Facebook promotions and dozens of other social media platforms. If you are looking for help with social media outreach, online marketing or any web-related project, please give us a call at 212.260.1978.

Again Unilever, well done!

The Dangers of Not Having A Website

Not having a website is like voluntarily wearing a muzzle.

Clients regularly come to Blue Fountain Media looking for help with their online reputation. These clients fall into two categories: a) Those who want to build their online presence in general; and b) Those who want to build an online presence in response to specific events.

Problems inevitably occur in business, and it’s important to be prepared. Having a web presence means you have a forum to communicate with the outside world. If When something happens, people will turn to your website and blog for information.

Here’s an example of a big company neglecting their online presence and (probably) regretting it:

An Example: AT&T Has Trouble Communicating

iPhone sales have been halted in New York City and AT&T has given no explanation.

Over 500 news articles about the New York iPhone debacle

Last night The Consumerist & CNET reported that AT&T had stopped selling the iPhone in the greater New York area. News immediately spread though the internet and the story was almost quickly picked up by the main stream media (e.g. New York Times, CNN). With no direct channel for finding out information about AT&T, the media ended up quoting numerous conflicting sources.

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Last week one of my colleagues posted an article to BFM’s Business Learning Center entitled “How To Write a Blog That Drives Traffic to Your Website and Revenue to Your Business“. The article is a fantastic guide to creating a great blog for you business. If you still aren’t convinced that your company needs a blog, here are some numbers that should help you make up your mind.

An analysis of 1,531 web-marketing clients showed a huge difference between those who blog and those who do not. Here is the key info:

• 55% More Visitors for Companies That Blog (a measurement of the number of people that visit any page of a company’s site)
• 97% More Inbound Links (other sites linking to any page of a company’s site)
• 434% More Indexed Pages (how many of a company’s pages can be found on Google/Yahoo!/Bing)

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