E David Callender Consulting » Blog vs. Website http://edcallender.com The Small Business Advantage of leveraging the Internet Wed, 26 Oct 2011 18:21:48 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Bike Shops – Use a blog to show your passion http://edcallender.com/2009/09/13/bike-shops-use-a-blog-to-show-your-passion/ http://edcallender.com/2009/09/13/bike-shops-use-a-blog-to-show-your-passion/#comments Sun, 13 Sep 2009 11:14:57 +0000 Dave Callender http://edcallender.com/?p=196 [...]]]> OK – You have taken the time and you have a great website for your bike shop.  It has great information about your products, services, technical information and events.  But how do you show your passion or expertise for cycling.  The answer is your blog.  A bike shop blog can be fun, build your reputation both locally & afar, and most importantly bring more customers to your website and shop.

Here is an example.  At El Camino Bike Shop their blog both highlights the shops interest in 29er mountain bikes and the expertise of one of its owners, Will Schillenger (Otherwise know as 29er guy).  The blog gets about approximately 40 to 60% of the traffic of the shops main website, and by linking product information from the blog to the store website drives traffic to the store. El Camino Bike Shop has seen customers out of their normal geographic region call and make the trip to El Camino Bike Shop to purchase products because of their blog.

El Camino Bike Shop website
El Camino Bike Shop Blog

]]> http://edcallender.com/2009/09/13/bike-shops-use-a-blog-to-show-your-passion/feed/ 0 Transitioning from Google Blogger to WordPress http://edcallender.com/2009/07/31/transitioning-from-google-blogger-to-wordpress/ http://edcallender.com/2009/07/31/transitioning-from-google-blogger-to-wordpress/#comments Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:32:29 +0000 Dave Callender http://edcallender.com/?p=101 I have been recommending for some time using Google Blogger as a small business web site.  For many small businesses this is a no cost, quick solution.  It also allows the business to slowly build content and though day to day activity find out what what website is needed long term.

If you get motivated, start posting adding content, learn how to use Google Blogger you may be ready to take the next step, transitioning to WordPress.

Why WordPress?

WordPress is a the largest self-hosted blogging tool in the world,used on millions of sites and seen by tens of millions of people every day. For my clients WordPress:

  • Provides a way to reuse their past effort on Google Blogger by exporting old post to WordPress
  • Is similar in ease of use as Google Blogger
  • Leverage the development activity of tens of thousand developers
  • Is Search Engine Optimized for Search Ranking
  • Combines the best of standard websites and blogs
]]> http://edcallender.com/2009/07/31/transitioning-from-google-blogger-to-wordpress/feed/ 0 How to Add an Image to a Post on Blogger http://edcallender.com/2009/06/07/how-to-add-an-image-to-a-post-on-blogger/ http://edcallender.com/2009/06/07/how-to-add-an-image-to-a-post-on-blogger/#comments Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:02:00 +0000 Dave Callender http://edcallender.com/?p=39 Two minute video about adding pictures to a post on your blog. When the video starts you will see an Ad on the bottom getting in your way to see the whole thing. Click on the “X” near the words “Ads by Google”

]]> http://edcallender.com/2009/06/07/how-to-add-an-image-to-a-post-on-blogger/feed/ 0 How to Login in and Post – The Video http://edcallender.com/2009/06/07/how-to-login-in-and-post-the-video/ http://edcallender.com/2009/06/07/how-to-login-in-and-post-the-video/#comments Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:55:00 +0000 Dave Callender http://edcallender.com/?p=38 I found this video about logging into Blogger and doing a basic post. Best yet it comes with snappy music.

]]> http://edcallender.com/2009/06/07/how-to-login-in-and-post-the-video/feed/ 0 1st Help info for New Blogger http://edcallender.com/2009/06/07/1st-help-info-for-new-blogger/ http://edcallender.com/2009/06/07/1st-help-info-for-new-blogger/#comments Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:52:00 +0000 Dave Callender http://edcallender.com/?p=37 [...]]]>

Dave’s cheat sheet for blogging

OK, I have set up your blog, quickly gone over the work I have done and your head is spinning.

I have put together this email so that you can have the key documentation that you will need to Post on your blog site. I have linked the info in the Google Blogger Help that I think that you will need.

I have listed it in the priority that you should use. Start with just making text posts, then progress to putting in links and pictures. If you create posts I can access them and edit/ put in links and posts.

Please give me feedback if this is helpful in your efforts to be self sufficient in posting.

Step 1 – Posting Help – You should do this first and get good at it.

What is a URL?

What is a post?

How do I post to my blog?

How do I edit what I’ve written?

How do I delete a post?

How do I label my posts?

How do I make a link to another webpage?

How do I post pictures?

How do I delete a photo I have uploaded to my blog?

How do I edit my profile?

This is a nice overview. But has more info that what I selected above

Getting Started Guide

Step 2 – Video from YouTube or your own – This is more advanced, but you are capable

How do I post a video to my blog from YouTube?

How do I post audio/music to my blog?

Step 3 – Changing the look of the Blog – This is advanced. Do it with caution.

Layout Guide

Troubleshooting…

Troubleshooting picture upload problems

]]> http://edcallender.com/2009/06/07/1st-help-info-for-new-blogger/feed/ 0 Blogs vs Websites – Where to start? http://edcallender.com/2009/04/21/blogs-vs-websites-where-to-start/ http://edcallender.com/2009/04/21/blogs-vs-websites-where-to-start/#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:44:00 +0000 Dave Callender http://edcallender.com/?p=25 [...]]]> Blogs are the way to go! It is a great way to start building a strong online presence without spending a lot of money and hassling with web designers. You can easily add new content. Search engines (like Google & Yahoo) love them. And if done right, customers love to read them.

For those of you who may not know what a blog is, it’s short for web log, and is a frequently updated website consisting of blog posts, or entries (more often than not, dated entries) that are arranged in reverse chronological order. So when a reader comes to your blog, they see your most recent article or post first.

The advantage of a blog is that blogs allows you to post written text, audio and video and have it online within minutes, unlike traditional static websites which can take hours to update and cost you each time – unless you’re familiar with building or editing web sites.

As you can see, I like blogs as the center of a new marketing effort instead of websites, but it is not just an apples/oranges decision, and it’s not just about which is easier to manage. It’s about which web you want to invest in:

  • the current brochureware web, which gives you a static place to refer people to for information about business; or
  • the social web, the thing the web is becoming, which has built in feedback loops and a referral system that can dramatically build awareness for your products & services.

Right now, I am a big fan of using blogger.com from Google. Along with it being a Free blog, using the business tools that Google has in conjunction with your blog can quickly provide you with a strong professional marketing effort on the web for little money.

]]> http://edcallender.com/2009/04/21/blogs-vs-websites-where-to-start/feed/ 0