Blogging

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If you haven’t figured it out, you’ve hit Outspoken Media’s Blogging category page. This section is positively overflowing with information, resources and guides on everything you need to know about SEO and blogging, branding and blogging, community building and blogging, and blogging and blogging. It’s all blog, all the time. And you’re going to need a nap after we’re done with you. But you’ll wake up feeling so much smarter!

Because knowledge is power, we also invite you to check out some of personal favorite blogging resources.

We love talking to people about the power of blogs, so when you're ready to start a blog or take your existing one to the next level, give us a call about our blog consulting services.  Or, if you have something you want to see in our blog, let us know that, too.

Why Bloggers Should Put Up, Shut Up & Pay Their Tax

August 24, 2010

You’ve probably heard about it already. Last week the Philadelphia City Paper posted an article discussing the city’s Business Privilege Tax that taxes residents who engage in any sort of “activity for profit” – even if the activity has never profited them as much as a latte. Ever. The trouble started when bloggers discovered this [...]

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4 Words Of Non-Wisdom Bloggers Give

August 23, 2010

There’s a lot of bad advice on the Web. We know this and we’re all getting pretty good at ignoring it. However, sometimes when I land on bad advice, I can actually feel parts of my brain exploding. And that’s usually when I say something that gets me in trouble. While in the midst of [...]

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What Do You Love About Your Favorite Bloggers?

July 26, 2010

As I’ve alluded to in the past, I get a lot of email. With my email address located directly on my Twitter page, people use it to say hello, drop a comment, or sometimes throw a question my way. One question I get a lot is what does it take for someone to be A [...]

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7+ Outspoken Links To Read Today

July 19, 2010

I don’t participate much in blog challenges. Mostly, because they’re the types of post that make you cringe when you look back a year later to see what you’ve produced. However, last week Darren Rowse created one that I think may benefit new and old readers to Outspoken. So I’m going to bite. Over at [...]

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Only You Can Prevent Blog Trolls & Comment Jerks

May 28, 2010

I’m sure this will come off as a huge (read: HUGE!) surprise to you, but I’m a pretty big believer that small business owners should be blogging. As a SMB owner, I think it provides you with an unparalleled opportunity to create thought leadership and to use storytelling to create an interesting point of difference. [...]

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Popular Bloggers: Hypocrites Or World Connectors?

May 20, 2010

As I was heading home from Search Exchange earlier this week, I stumbled across an interesting post on BlogHer where Janna asks if bloggers become hypocrites once the comments start pouring in. The basic premise is that most new bloggers do everything they can to nurture their comment section when they’re just starting out. They [...]

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How To Write A Blog Post (or how I do it)

April 29, 2010

As you can imagine, I spend a lot of my time writing blog posts. I write them for us, for outside industry sites and for clients. Luckily, blogging is something that I really enjoy and, because I do it so much, I’ve been able to create a pretty effective process for getting the words out [...]

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The 5 Old Blogging Rules Killing Your Readership

April 23, 2010

No matter what you want to do, someone will force a rule book on you. It doesn’t matter that there are no rules, the experts will beat you with what they say you must do, you can’t do and what you can only do with permission. Trouble is, sometimes “expert” just means “old” and the [...]

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How To Leave Your Blog (with content) For A Week

March 30, 2010

I travel a lot. It’s not unusual for me to skip town for a week to cover a conference, to chat with potential clients, or, sometimes when the rainbows and unicorns come out, even for a little rest and relaxation. And while it’s fun to pick up and hit a new city for a few [...]

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How To Land The Perfect Guest Blogging Spot

March 12, 2010

Heh. So I’ve been doing a bit of guest blogging lately and I think some people may have started to notice. ;) I’m a really big fan of using guest blogging as a marketing tactic for your business and I think it’s one that is entirely underutilized by bloggers. A good post on the right [...]

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The 7 Blog Posts You Write But Shouldn’t Publish

February 18, 2010

Just because you wrote it doesn’t mean you should publish it. Not everything that flows through your fingertips is going to be gold-plated genius. I mean, sometimes it is. Sometimes you will finish a post and consider it a piece of art. It will be worthy of being framed next to the Mona Lisa and…whatever [...]

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You Can’t Take The Personal Out Of Blogging

February 8, 2010

While many of us were watching Michael Arrington throw a 17-year-old under the bus this weekend, another story spread through the blogosphere worthy of some attention and discussion.  The SageCircle Blog reported that Forrester management had put a ban on personally-branded research blogs, stating that anyone with a personally-branded blog ( think Web Strategy with [...]

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Terror In the Blogosphere: I Haz No Blog Topic!

January 5, 2010

While we all promise that we’re going to adopt editorial calendars to keep us on a healthy schedule of blogging, sometimes we fail. I mean, if coming up with blog topics to schedule were so easy, we wouldn’t really need the editorial calendar in the first place, right? We’d always just naturally have THE perfect [...]

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Social Web Moment: Twitter As My Kevin Bacon

December 27, 2009

Hey. This post dips a bit more into the personal side of things, so if that offends you perhaps revisit our How To Learn SEO post from last week or go have some spiked egg nog and come back tomorrow. I promise we’ll be back to nitty gritty SEO/marketing stuff by then. Hugs! My friend [...]

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How to Woo a Blogger (and get coverage)

December 15, 2009

Not unlike many others in my line of work, I get a lot of pitches. Lots of emails from people who think it would be AWESOME if I covered their new product release, their new tool, the birth of their first child, or maybe even mention their stagnant blog. Trouble is that most of the [...]

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20 Searches I’m Thankful For

November 25, 2009

It’s almost Thanksgiving, the one day all year where we make a strong effort to stop the bitching and reflect on the blessings that were bestowed upon up this year. Though it hasn’t quite wrapped, 2009 has been one hell of a year for me personally. It’s the year Outspoken was born, the year I [...]

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Don’t Watch Your Language. Use it.

November 6, 2009

I had a different post all written and scheduled for today. But then my girl Virginia Nussey had to go getting all “controversial” over at the Bruce Clay blog. So plans changed. Blame her. Also blame the brownies I had for breakfast. And the ones I had for dinner. I’m so ashamed. Over at Bruce [...]

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You Haz No Blog Comments? Here’s the Fix!

October 23, 2009

Blog comments are one of life’s greatest simple pleasures. Nothing beats the rush I get watching my inbox fill up after I published a new post. I’m sure nonbloggers find satisfaction from other things like “human contact” and “socializing” and “beer”, but we don’t need any of that! Just engaged readers. Blog comments aren’t all [...]

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Why Blog Titles Are Like Your In-laws

October 1, 2009

Blog titles are like in-laws – you have to act like you give a shit. Even if you don’t. There’s a skill to writing blog titles and headline because Titles Change Everything. Your headline determines whether people make it to the first line of content. It determines how many links you’ll get. It determines whether [...]

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Quick & Painless Content Ideas For Your Site

September 29, 2009

Writing content sucks. There, I said it. And as someone who spends her entire day writing content, I feel your pain. Content creation isn’t always fun. In fact, it’s hard even if you are the type of person who enjoys showing off via words and sentences (holla!). But its important. It’s what breeds rankings, links, [...]

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Why Outspoken Blogs & You Maybe Should

September 18, 2009

Blogging has become a favorite marketing strategy for many over the past few years. It’s given companies a voice, it breeds authority and before Twitter came, it even delivered a whole lot of links. No one can deny that the social media boom and birth of Twitter have changed the way people blog. But has [...]

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Call Me A Geek, I Want RSSCloud

September 8, 2009

So I’m going to go ahead and say it. I don’t care how bad Michael and Andy want me to feel for being excited about RSSCloud, I like it. I’m stoked about real-time blog updates and the effect it may have on bloggers, their communities and the overall conversation. And they’re not going to shame [...]

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You Are Not Seth Godin. Your Corporate Blog Needs Comments

July 21, 2009

I thought this issue had been settled years ago, but apparently debating it is back in fashion (old skool Twitter poll). So, let’s have at it. You are not Seth Godin. Your corporate blog needs to allow comments for you to get the most out of it. Sit down and grab a sandwich. I’ll explain [...]

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How to Steal Readers and Traffic Through Guest Blogging

July 15, 2009

Guest blogging is awesome. It’s the perfect karmic act that combines helping someone out and giving yourself props all at the same time. As a guest blogger, you get to add great content to a fellow blogger’s blog, establish yourself as an expert, and spend time building long lasting relationships with new readers. And then, [...]

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Blogging Truth: No One Likes Your CEO

July 8, 2009

Hey there. I want to talk about your company blog. Okay, more accurately, I want to talk about your company blog and why you’re letting your CEO ruin it. Make sure the boss is out of the room and then grab a pencil. Hide their keyboard while you’re at it. Corporate blogging has been all [...]

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Would I Recognize Your Blog In A Dark Alley?

July 1, 2009

[Caution: This post comes with a slight aftertaste of unicorns and rainbows. And babies.] Matt McGee had a post that really hit home with me earlier this week. The post was on his HyperlocalBlogger blog which deals with blogging and real town communities. He asked his audience if their blogs accurately represented the towns that [...]

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How to Write Killer Blog Titles & Why Mine Suck

June 16, 2009
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I hate blog titles. I hate blog titles more than I hate blog images. And I really hate blog images. I’m just not good at coming up with pithy headlines. In fact, I suck at it. Horribly. So I’m calling on you to help me become better. Yes, this post really is more for my [...]

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Why I Hate Bloggers

June 8, 2009
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Here’s something you may not know about me: I hate bloggers and I hate blogging. And if you want to know why, the New York Times did a pretty good job illustrating the point yesterday. The medium is thankless and the people who do it…oh my goodness are they some of the most whiny, annoying [...]

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4 Reasons Your Blog is Broken (and How To Fix It)

May 11, 2009
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We need to talk. You have a problem. No one is commenting on your blog. Page views have flat lined. You’re not seeing any links. People are tweeting that your blog sucks. Or even worse, they’re looking at you funny when you mention you even have a blog. Because they forgot. When they unsubscribed 6 [...]

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Why You Need An Editorial Calendar For Your Blog

April 23, 2009
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I have a confession to make. My name is Lisa and I used to be a really bad blogger. I used to wake up every morning in a panic about what I was going to write about. I had nightmares of going three days without a fresh post. There were anxiety tears, writers block headaches, [...]

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Defining the Role of a Blogger

April 20, 2009
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Okay, let’s all take a breath. It’s a new week and I have something I want you to read. It’s a tweet I Favorited last month from Michael Gray. Michael’s really good at tweeting sound bytes that stop you in your tracks. And that was one of them for me. Because that’s how I view [...]

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Writing Tips for the Reluctant Writer

March 9, 2009
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It’s Monday morning. Okay, it’s actually more like Monday afternoon now. And that simple fact means that I spent a big chunk of today reading and commenting on different blogs (and re-breaking my foot…). It’s part of my Monday morning Getting Caught Up process, the one that prepares me for the week ahead. Impressive considering [...]

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Protect Your Blog From Jerks, Asshats & Yourself

February 20, 2009
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So, funny thing. I was in the middle of an interesting post yesterday.  I had just been to WebmasterWorld and stumbled across a thread about an article from Portfolio.com called Slimed Online. The article dealt with two Yale law students who had their reputations dragged through the mud thanks to some unsavory message board conversations.  [...]

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