Social Fresh

The Crowdsourced Blogging For Business Book

This is a crowdsourced book on blogging for your business curated by Social Fresh.

If you need an introduction or a refresher on blogging for your business without scouring the web for hours for the best stuff, we have you covered.

This is part of our free social media training series of resources. Dive into the best resources on blogging for your business below.

1. Why Blog For Your Business?

“Whether your goal is professional or personal, blogging well builds credibility and creates a readership of devotees.” – Rand Fishkin

1. Why You Should Blog - Rand Fishkin
2. Top 10 Reasons to Start a Blog – About.com
3. 19 Reasons You Should Blog – The Future Buzz
4. 7 Reasons Businesses Should Blog Now – Marketing Profs

2. Writing Tips

“It is very challenging to write completely original content. Quite often, the best we can do is present known content in a new way or combine it with another idea.” – Stephen Guise

1. How to Write in a More Personal and Engaging Tone – Darren Rowse
2. Everything’s Already Been Said. Now What? – Pro Blogger
3. 11 Easy Ways to Get Hundreds of Great Blog Post Ideas – Successful Blogging

3. Platform Tips

“Depending on the goals of your blog will depend on which platform you should use.  The great thing about blogging is that your success is not reliant upon the tool you use, it’s about how you use it!” – Blog Design Journal

1. Choosing a Blogging Platform – Melanie Nelson
2. How to: Chose the best blog tool – Arik Hanson
3. 5 Tips for Selecting the Right Blogging Platform – Blog Design Journal
4. 4 First Steps to Socialize Your WordPress Blog – David Wells

4. Headline Tips

“No matter how great your content is, if the headline sucks, it stands little chance of getting the attention it deserves.” – Eric Brantner

1. How To: Write A Strong Title For Your Blog Article – Ink Rebels
2. 10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work – Brian Clark
3. 22 Linkbait Headlines Almost Every Blogger Can Use – Eric Brantner
4. How To Write Headlines For Your Blog Topics – Submit Link

5. Content Tips

“The variety of the content and the strength of its quality is what bring back readers time and time again.” – Techie Mania

1. Keeping your blog content fresh – Beth Hewitt
2. 5 Unconventional Methods for Finding Fresh Blog Content – Jason mKey
3. Five Great Kinds of Content for Your Blog – Techie Mania
4. Stop Putting off Your Content Plan – CC Chapman
5. 7 Steps for Getting More Mileage Out of Your Blog Content - Pamela Seiple

6. Promotion

“It is easy to get blog traffic and to gain loyal readers if you are willing to keep blogging.” – Blog Traffic Exchange

1. 7 Ways to Build a Blog Community from the Ground Up – Arik Hanson
2. How to Get Blog Traffic in Five Steps – Blog Traffic Exchange
3. How to get traffic for your blog – Seth Godin
4. 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic –  Rand Fishkin
5. 5 Simple Tips for Making Shareable Content – Erin Everhart

7. SEO

“The quality of the posts you write is the single most important factor when it comes to Search Optimization on a blog.” – Darren Rowse

1. Blog Marketing Strategy: 7 Steps to Social SEO Success – Lee Odden
2. Search Engine Optimization for blogs – Darren Rowse
3. 5 Great SEO Tips for Bloggers – Bloggingtips.com
4. 6 Tools & Tips to Improve your Blog SEO – Michael Gray
5. 5 First Steps to Boost Your Blog SEO – Adam Covati

8. Get More Comments

“1% of your blog’s users are actively engaging with your blog and the rest are at best occasional contributers.” – Darren Rowse

1. 10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog – Darren Rowse
2. 40 Simple Ways to Get More Comments on Your Blog – Mack Collier
3. One Simple Way to Generate More Comments on Your Blog – James Chartrand
4. 10 Best Plugins To Get More Comments – Michael Martin

9. Get Subscribers

“The successful conversion of visitors to subscribers is in no small part related to simple usability and motivation adjustments.” – Brian Clark

1. 7 Proven Ways To Get More Subscribers To A New Blog – Emmanuel Olonade
2. Four Steps to More Blog Subscribers – Brian Clark
3. 11 Ways to Find New RSS Subscribers for Your Blog – Darren Rowse
4. 21 Ways to Get More Subscribers for Your Blog – Onibalusi Bamidele

10. Calls to Action

“Use discrete measurements of time in your call to action. Phrases like “click now” or “try our software today.” – Dan Zarrella

1. Top 11 Blogging Call To Action Tips – eMentor Marketing
2. Call To Action Buttons: Examples and Best Practices – Jacob Gube
3. 7 Tips For Effective Calls To Action - Dan Zarrella
4. 5 Effective Calls To Action To Get Visitors Clicking - Adrian Mott

11. Landing Pages

1. 30 Key Terms For Landing Pages, A Glossary – Magdalena Georgieva

12. Blogger Outreach

“If there’s one thing that is consistent in any successful blogger outreach campaign, it’s this: You have to create a mutually beneficial situation.” – David Spinks

1. 3 Levels of Professionalism in Blogger Outreach – David Spinks [Social Fresh]
2. 5 Steps to Successful Blogger Outreach – Neil Glassman [Social Times]
3. Free E-book Guide To Blogger Outreach – Blogdash
4. 10 Steps to Undertaking a Successful Blogger Outreach Programme – Edelman
5. 3 Levels of Professionalism in Blogger Outreach – David Spinks
6. The Secrets Behind Real Blogger Outreach – Social Fresh

13. Guest Posts

“Most bloggers spin their wheels trying to increase traffic on their own blogs, while overlooking the essential discipline of writing guest posts for other blogs. Guest posting is the single most effective way to increase the reach of your blog.” – Jeff Goins

1. Seven Steps to Writing a Successful Guest Post – Jeff Goins [Michael Hyatt]
2. How to Ask Someone to Write for Your Blog – Tristan Higbee
3. Seven Tips for Getting Your Guest Posts Published - Jeff Goins

14. Common Mistakes

“It is even more important to take notice about the small issues, and fix them before you publish them.” -Brandon Connell

1. 7 Reasons Your Blog is Failing – Renee Warren [Social Fresh]
2. Most Common Blogging Mistakes You Need to Avoid – Luie De Von
3. 5 Common Blogging Mistakes – WhiteSpace
4. 10 of the Most Common Blogging Mistakes – Brandon Connell

15. Great Examples

1. Top 10 Corporate Blogs 2011 – Social Fresh
2. 45 Creative, Clever And Effective Blog Taglines –  Adam Singer