Corporate Blogger - Latest Comments

Re: How would you position a search engine against Google?

Ted — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 08:03:53 -0000

That Al Ries book "Positioning" is among my ten favorite books of all time. It totally opened my eyes when I first read it. Every marketer/business person needs to have that in their library.

As far as offering an alternative to Google, a company would essentially have to create a new category or new buzz word for what their product is even if it is a search engine. I like the idea of a family friendly search engine or maybe one that is dedicated to highly religious people.

One idea - somebody could create a new kind of search engine that is clean and clutter free like Google's homepage, then add something like a daily scripture quote to that page. Come up with a clever name and make sure the search engine is filtered from adult content and swear words.

Re: Why do middle-aged English women make the best murder mystery writers?

Julio Vazquez — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 09:48:17 -0000

I'm sure you just forgot the greatest dame in mystery fiction: Agatha Christie.

Re: Why do middle-aged English women make the best murder mystery writers?

Guesting — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:00:20 -0000

Try some Scandanavian writers like Jo Nesbo. I really loved "3 Seconds" by Roslund and Hellstrom. I could not put it down.

Re: Why Do Bad Things Always Happen To Me?

Anastasia La Fata — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 15:17:29 -0000

Yes. Grateful. That's the word! Grateful and happy with what you do...

Re: Why Do Bad Things Always Happen To Me?

Ivan Walsh — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 14:18:24 -0000

Thanks Anastasia. Oddly enough, I was working very late last night but tried to keep perspective on why I was there and, most importantly, not wish away the day or been stuck in the office. I try to be grateful. It's not always easy but being grateful melts many small complaints away. Ivan

Re: Why Do Bad Things Always Happen To Me?

Anastasia La Fata — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 08:24:06 -0000

Thank you, Ivan! Great thoughts.
When I feel too bitter about, say, working late hours, I tell myself that it's my choice, and I can change it any time. Usually I find out that I am just being grumpy, but I am actually happy that way. If that's not the case, I ask myself: Am I serious about a change? What change? Am I doing something about it? That helps a lot, too.

Re: Why negative online reviews get more traffic than positive ones?

GP Joa — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 19:09:22 -0000

Your post makes sense. People do tend to prefer negative reviews. I can see how such reviews would generate more traffic to a website.

Re: How can I improve my grammar… without hardly trying?

Ivan Walsh — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 03:59:30 -0000

that's purfect :)

Re: How can I improve my grammar… without hardly trying?

Bob — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 16:42:24 -0000

I can haz cheeseburger

Re: Why do middle-aged English women make the best murder mystery writers?

PQ — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 23:28:39 -0000

Hi Ivan. Have you tried anything by Ian Rankin?
And I am certain that you meant to write "women" and not "girls", unless your office hires child labour.

Re: if you want your blog to be read, write scanable content

Ivan Walsh — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 09:36:10 -0000

That's right.

I also try to make this first sentence as interesting as possible to encourage them to get into the story :)

Re: if you want your blog to be read, write scanable content

Innes — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:36:06 -0000

This is what we have been working on with our website as a means to make sure the correct information is placed on the page in the correct place. This is where navigation and layout are both so important!

Re: Want to improve your web writing?

Ivan Walsh — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 08:58:02 -0000

Thanks Ryan,

It was Seth Godin who showed me that you don't HAVE TO write long posts. What matters is that it's of use to the person reading it.

fwiw Chris Brogan once said that the 400~ words articles got the most responses. Maybe that's the sweet spot!

Ivan

Re: Want to improve your web writing?

Ryan Biddulph — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 08:44:37 -0000

#1 is spot on, as is the entire post Ivan. Keep it short and sweet. Make your point quickly and exit stage left. Many are entirely attached to their writing, and it shows as indirect, rambling content. Thanks for sharing!

Re: Case Study: How Copyblogger Shifted From Blog Publishing To Product Development

Ivan Walsh — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 04:50:11 -0000

Thanks Tyler,

Great analogy about the gold rush. I see more bloggers moving from blogging per se to developing tools, such as skins, plugins and apps to generate revenue.

The blog is becoming more a lead generation tool, which makes sense of course.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Ivan

Re: Case Study: How Copyblogger Shifted From Blog Publishing To Product Development

Tyler Herman — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:36:30 -0000

Great Read. I totally agree with you about using your blog as a platform. Have to funnel that traffic into something more lucrative than ad clicks..

Just like the people who made the most money in the gold rush were the inns, general stores selling supplies to the miners. Copyblogger is selling tools (WP Themes) to all the starry eyed bloggers out there (ourselves included) trying to make it rich.

Re: Case Study: How Copyblogger Shifted From Blog Publishing To Product Development

Brian Clark — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:40:17 -0000

>>>I guess there is - or was - an argument for creating a dedicated site for CB Media and leaving the blog as it is.

Yes, a bad one. ;-)

Take a look at 37signals. Look how they evolved, from a design firm with a blog, to a popular blog, to a software company. There is precedent for what we've done, and it's working well.

In one of our future podcasts, I'll lay out the reasoning behind what we did, and what the results have been so far.

Re: Case Study: How Copyblogger Shifted From Blog Publishing To Product Development

Brian Clark — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:37:37 -0000

The home page opt-in box for IMfSP is outperforming the end of post version by a steady 85%. For the first week opt-ins increased by over 100%.

Re: Case Study: How Copyblogger Shifted From Blog Publishing To Product Development

Ivan Walsh — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 04:09:37 -0000

I was surprised too that the blog link wasn't a different color or used some device to make it stand out. I really didn't see it until I looked very carefully and most people won't do that.

Re: Case Study: How Copyblogger Shifted From Blog Publishing To Product Development

Ivan Walsh — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 04:07:32 -0000

I've heard that if someone makes the effort to read to the end of an article, then you have a higher chance of converting AND retaining them.

I assume this is because they are that little bit more interested.

Re: Case Study: How Copyblogger Shifted From Blog Publishing To Product Development

Antoine Bonicalzi — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:50:22 -0000

I would be curious to know if the opt in form on the home page gets a good conversion rate compared to the call to action they have below their blog post...just curious!

Re: Case Study: How Copyblogger Shifted From Blog Publishing To Product Development

Antoine Bonicalzi — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:43:40 -0000

I found Copy Blogger only two months ago. Actually I bought the premise plugin (via appsumo) and then fell in love with the wonderful content! I have been a huge fan since then. I formed a habit of going to the homepage once in a while...for inspiration or because I felt like reading a good article. So yes, I was surprised to see the new homepage. I have to say, the link to the blog could be more visible, or it could even be a link for free marketing advice or something like that.

As a business example, I like what they did though. The new home page gives a better idea of all the things the business can do for their customers. You know what this is all about within 30 seconds. It does a great job of positioning the whole copy blogger business.

I know I said it earlier, but I would only suggest an obvious link to the marketing advice above the fold!

P.S. Ivan, great job of creating a discussion!

Re: Case Study: How Copyblogger Shifted From Blog Publishing To Product Development

Ivan Walsh — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 12:45:19 -0000

Thanks Paul,

I use blogging primarily for lead generation and, like you said, sell products and services that cascade out of that.

I’m a big fan of CopyBlogger and was curious to see how it’s business model has evolved. Some parts I do undersand, whereas others I’m less enthusiastic about.

Will keep an eye on your site. Big bass guitar fan here! Love some of the line work from Adam in U2.

Re: Case Study: How Copyblogger Shifted From Blog Publishing To Product Development

Ivan Walsh — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 12:39:00 -0000

Thanks Eddie,

I guess for me, as a long time reader, Copyblogger is synonymous with the blog.

Copyblogger Media is, as I understand it, the umbrella company under which all the product offering will be developed and served.

http://www.copyblogger.com/...

I guess there is - or was - an argument for creating a dedicated site for CB Media and leaving the blog as it is.

There’s pros and cons to both options. It will interesting to see how the current site continues to evolve as more products come onstream :)

Re: Case Study: How Copyblogger Shifted From Blog Publishing To Product Development

Ivan Walsh — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 12:29:00 -0000

Thanks Martyn,

Websysthesis is another product from the CB Media stable. http://websynthesis.com/

Like you said, moving into product development makes sense as it allows the company to expand into new revenue streams and provide tools that serve its current community.