Posted by Tara Donnelly on Thu, Mar 12, 2009 @ 03:43 PM
An old coworker (we'll call him Mr. X) of mine and I share a joke. He once said "I would never work at a company that has a corporate blog." In his defense, this was about 5 years ago when the world of social media was not so huge. But now I say to you Mr. X (you know who you are) and to any and all other non-bloggers out there...
In all seriousness though, here are some tips I put together on ways to blog successfully:
- Change it up - don't always blog about the same boring stuff. Have fun with your blog, throw in cartoons, change around your topics, and above all, make it personable.
- Incorporate more than one blogger - we all have different writing styles, different experiences, and different view on business. Incorporating this into your blog is extremely beneficial as the blog will become more of a company community than a one person show.
- Listen to your audience - Blogging is only successful if you have an audience. This is why you want to be sure that you listen to your audience and blog what they are interested in. When you have a comment, respond to it, and then blog about it (if it is topic worthy). The most you listen, the more your blog will be read.
- Don't get too "business" in your blog" - a blog is about personality. Don't be afraid to express yours. When you are all about business and selling, your blog will loose it's personal appeal. Too many companies are out there trying to promote themselves through sales methods. Take a step back and think about what you want to say, then say it without selling it. A blog should not be used to generate leads (that just comes as a bonus).
Those are just some helpful tops to start you on your path to developing a successful company blog. Good luck!
Posted by Tara Donnelly on Fri, Mar 06, 2009 @ 03:32 PM
A number of software, hardware, and IT service companies have recently been coming to TSL and asking about trends for 2009; and more importantly, if the budgetary cut backs due to the recession will be lifted anytime soon. What we found were some very exciting and refreshing statistics that should take a big weight off anyone's shoulders (that work in IT of course). With all of these stats, we thought the best way to share our new found data was through our first ever newsletter directed to the IT community. Here are some highlights from this newsletter:
- IT purchases are expected to grow to $616 billion in 2010 for a 7.5% increase from 2009 sales.
- Software spending is expected to grow 3.4% in 2009
- Gartner recommends the top 10 ways to save and do more with less
- SaaS is growing at a rate of 40% annually
- Highlights on the top trends for IT spending (where the money is being spent)
This newsletter is NO COST and available to any interested parties.