Learn One Thing from Mary Gillen

Learn One Thing from Mary Gillen: Blogging for Business - Part 2

Mary Gillen shares more real-world experience on the type of blog content the search engines love.

On April 19 we chatted about keyword research basics.

Using specific keywords in your blog content and RSS feeds can help drive traffic to your Web site because it contributes to better rankings in the search engines.

Take it a step further:

Include keywords when you name the images you post to your blog. Also include keywords in the ALT attribute that appears in the IMG tag that calls the image into the blog page.

Example: Move your cursor over the image of the jumbled letters at the top of this post. The "tool tip" that pops up reads: Learn One Thing from Mary Gillen: Blogging for Business - Part 2. This ALT tag includes keyword phrases: Learn One Thing...Mary Gillen...Blogging for Business.

If you are on a PC, right-mouse click on the image and select Properties. See the image name: bloggingforbusiness.jpg. Keyword phrase once again.

Next week we'll talk more about blogging for business in Part 3. Have a good weekend.

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NEXT WEEK: More tech, sales and marketing ideas from Mary Gillen, Bob Brown, Jo Soard and Quinn McDonald.

Learn One Thing from Mary Gillen: Pass for Press at Trade Conferences

On this Thursday, April 27, Mary Gillen shares a marketing idea.

Have you had at least three print articles published in local, trade or regional newspapers/magazines lately? If so, chances are good that you can qualify for a press pass to the next major trade conference in your field. It's a great way to network and collect material for additional articles you can write. Plus you'll save on conference fees. It's also likely that you'll be able to attend all the conference seminars, which usually cost a bit. Contact the conference management service at least 6 weeks before the show and request a press kit. Most contain information on how to "pass for press."

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FRIDAY, APRIL 28: Blogging for Business Part 2 from Mary Gillen.

Learn One Thing from Mary Gillen: Windows XP: System Restore

Mary Gillen shares some info about the System Restore capability in Windows XP.

"I can't open or save Word documents on my computer," a client lamented to me during a recent phone call. "And I can't open any of my Excel files." It could be her computer picked up a virus, or perhaps some Microsoft application file ran amok on her computer. XP is her operating system, and System Restore came to the rescue.

According to Microsoft, you can use System Restore to "undo harmful changes to your computer and restore its settings and performance. System Restore returns your computer to an earlier time (called a restore point) without causing you to lose recent work, such as saved documents, email, or history and favorite lists."

To access the System Restore capability, select Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore. Follow the instructions on the screen.

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TUESDAY, APRIL 25: More sales ideas from Bob Brown.

Learn One Thing from Mary Gillen: Listen for Better Copy

Mary Gillen encourages us to listen for better ad copy.

Want to improve your ads, Web copy, blog business postings? Some of the most successful copy sounds like conversation between two people...you and your customer. Dust off your tape recorder and schedule some time with a trusted client for a frank discussion about the pros and cons of your products or services. Record your conversation. When you play it back, pay special attention to the phrases and descriptions used by your customer during your talk. Use these phrases in your business copy for better results.

Have a good weekend. See you Monday.

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NEXT WEEK: Sales ideas from Bob Brown, more on XML databinding, keyword research and blogging for business from Mary Gillen, customer service tips from Jo Soard, and more.

Learn One Thing from Mary Gillen: Blogging for Business - Part 1

Mary Gillen shares a bit of real-world experience on the type of blog content the search engines love.

One of my clients, Craft Stop, a supplier of craft supplies, needlework, paint by number kits, and craft leaflets worldwide, boosted business 50% in 90 days when we added a blog/rss feed application to the company's marketing mix.

Take a look at this sample blog post:

Craft Stop has an newsletter that is emailed every Sunday at 9 a.m. called the Craft Tip (see sample).

We re-purpose the Craft Tip content in the Craft Stop blog as well.

Notice the structure of the post. It includes the tip, along with an ad that includes keyword-rich links (red type in Ad section) back to Craft Stop's web site.

RESULT: We started this program in October 2005. Business was up 50% in 90 days.

Next week I'll explain why the search engines love this kind of post.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 21: Listen for better copy from Mary Gillen.

Learn One Thing from Mary Gillen: Keyword Research Part 1

Today, April 19, Mary Gillen lets us know about a helpful tool for keyword research.

Keyword phrases are the word combinations a prospect types into a search engine's search box to find relevant Web sites. Using specific keywords in your blog content and RSS feeds can help drive traffic to your Web site because it contributes to better rankings in the search engines.

There are Web tools out there you can use to perform keyword research. These tools are usually used by advertisers conducting pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns, but these little gems can help the Web copywriter or marketing manager find the keyword phrases people are using. This can help you optimize blog, rss feed, web site and press release content with specific keyword phrases that represent info that is important to your prospects.

New to keyword research? Start with Overture's Keyword Selection Tool at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion

Most interesting: keyword research can also help you identify possible niche markets for your products and services.

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THURSDAY 4/20/06: Blogging for Business - Part 1 from Mary Gillen.

Learn One Thing from Quinn McDonald: Boost Your Creativity--Again

Today artist and life coach Quinn McDonald advises how standard office supplies can help boost our creativity.

Write down your ideas on index cards and throw them in a box. From time to time, pull out 10 at random, and expand them in some way. Make a change to each idea that makes it different in some way. Add to it, reduce it, change the person who would use it, change how it could be used. These brainteasers help you create more uses for one product as well.

Read the rest of the article and more of Quinn's ideas

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TUESDAY 4/18/06: Sales ideas from Bob Brown.

Learn One Thing from Mary Gillen: Exporting Microsoft Access Information to XML

Today, Friday April 14, Mary Gillen discusses how to export Microsoft Access information as XML for use in a databinding application. NOTE: You must use the Internet Explorer browser to test and use this application.

Last week we chatted about how to create a searchable employee contact information app on your Web site using HTML, Javascript, XML file and Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser.

What if you have information already saved in a Microsoft Access database? How do you export it as XML? Here are the steps you can take to export information from any Access database to an XML file so it can be used in a databinding application.

1) Let's say you have a Microsoft Access database named company_staff. Inside the database is a table called employees. Click here to download a copy of this sample database. NOTE: This is a Microsoft Access 2003 file.

2) If we look at the employees table in Design View, this is how the information is structured:

3) To export this information as an XML file, click once on the employees table name to select it, then choose File > Export from the Access word menu.

4) In the Export Table As dialog box, select XML as the Save As Type

5) Enter the file name company_staff.xml in the File name box, and click the Export button.

6) In the Export XML dialog box, select only the option for XML data (we will talk about XSD and XSL in future posts) and click the OK button.

7) Open the company_staff.xml file in Notepad or SimpleText. HINT: Microsoft Access will export the XML to the same location where your Access database is stored on your computer. If you are using Notepad, be sure the "Files of type" dropdown menu at the bottom of the Open dialog box is set to "All Files" so Notepad will show the company_staff.xml file for you to select.

8) On line 1 of the code, edit the XML prolog element that looks like this:

to this

9) On line 2, edit the root element that looks like this:

to this

10) On line 51, edit the </dataroot> element from this

to this

11) Save the file

Congratulations. You have just generated an XML file from information in your existing Access database. You can now use it with the application discussed on April 7.

Next week I will show you, step-by-step, how to use databinding for the output of recordsets of information.

Have a good weekend. See you Monday.

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NEXT WEEK: Sales ideas from Bob Brown, blogging for business, keyword research, and more databinding app info from Mary Gillen, and creative ideas from Quinn McDonald.

Learn One Thing from Mary Gillen: Tips for Maintaining Your Google Sitemap

Today, Thursday, April 13, 2006 Mary Gillen posts some tips about maintaining your Google sitemap file.

Last week we chatted about why your Web site needs a Google sitemap and how to configure a sitemap on your own.

Here are some tips about maintaining your sitemap once Google knows about it.

1) Update the date stamps in the sitemap at least once a week.

Many companies use sophisticated content management systems to automatically generate updated sitemaps daily or weekly. Here in the office in northern Virginia, life is not so fancy, and Sunday is Sitemap Update Day. I use Filezilla, the free FTP application, to download my clients' sitemap files to my computer. I use an HTML editor (HomeSite 5.5 - download a 30-day free trial here from Adobe/Macromedia if you want to take it for a test drive) to open each sitemap file, then take advantage of the search/replace function to change the date value between the <lastmod> and </lastmod> elements.

2) Add any new URLs to the sitemap.

If new content categories or sections have been added to your Web site, include these new URLs in your sitemap. Create a new <url> and </url> element for each, and don't forget to add the <loc> and <changefreq> "child elements" within as you edit the file.

3) Save the sitemap file, and upload it again via FTP to replace the older sitemap file on your server.

4) Ping Google to capture your revised sitemap information.

a. Log in to your Google account.
https://www.google.com/webmasters/ sitemaps/login?hl=en

b. On the next screen, the Site Overview page, click the linked number to the sitemap file that you changed.

c. On the next screen, select the checkbox to the left of the sitemap file name and click the Resubmit Selected button.

Done.

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FRIDAY APRIL 14: Step-by-step instructions on how to databind info from a Microsoft Access database from Mary Gillen.

Learn One Thing from Ellie Abrams: Editorial Tips

Ellie Abrams , president of ESA Editorial and Training Services, has co-authored The New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage, STET Again, and The Great Grammar Challenge. Here are some of her editorial tips:

• Word people, like those in other professions, need their tools: a dictionary (not more than 10 years old), a grammar book, and a style manual.
• Every time you put pencil to paper or move your cursor, you are making a judgment. Every time you don't put pencil to paper or move your cursor, you are also making a judgment.
  
• It's okay to split an infinitive. If an infinitive has to be split for "smoothness" of the language, do so. "…to boldly go where no man has gone before." To write to go boldly would be awkward.
  
• A sentence can begin with because. The word because functions like any other subordinate conjunction, such as where, until, when. Because she is the contractor, she will have the final word.
  
• A sentence can end with a preposition.
• Principal and principle do not mean the same thing. (As a noun principal means chief or head: He is the principal of the school. It can also mean capital: I paid 10 percent interest on the principal. As an adjective principal means main or chief: My principal hobby is stamp collecting. The word principle is always a noun that means a rule or tenet . I believe in the principles of this organization.)
• Simple words do not equal simple ideas.
• You don't have to be a walking grammar book to be a good writer, editor, or proofreader.
• You can't proofread at the same rate you read a novel.
• Verbs are the power of the language.
• The American convention is for commas and periods to be placed inside quotation marks.
• There are no such words in the English language as our's, her's, or mens'.
• For true quality control, if you write a piece, don't edit it, and if you write or edit a piece, don't proofread it.

Read more at:
http://www.esatraining.com/tips.htm

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WEDNESDAY 4/12/06: Sales ideas from Bob Brown.