4 Reasons to Blog Even if No One Reads Your Blog

Today’s blog post is about blogging, but before I begin I’d like to acknowledge that yesterday was a monumental day for internet users. The stop SOPA and PIPA campaigns were even more prominent than ever with sites such as Wikipedia, Reddit and Cragislist all blacking for 24 hours to make a statement on what the internet may look like if certain laws are passed. As someone who’s an Entrepreneur and Marketer in the digital space, the internet is essential for my business to thrive. I use the internet to connect with people, share information and  provide resources. Today’s post on “4 Reasons to Blog Even if No One Reads Your Blog” might not even be possible if SOPA or PIPA pass. So even if you did want to read my blog (which of course you all do anyway) you may not be able to! Oh and I’m pretty sure my video Shit Social Media Experts Say would definitely not fly under these new laws.

Although blogging is a great marketing tool, it’s not the reason I blog, it just happens to be an amazing benefit. I’ve been blogging for almost 10 years yet I don’t ever think of myself as a blogger. Blogging is really just me writing and since I now do it online, instead of saying “I write”, I say, “I blog”. In college I used to blog daily on Xanga.com. I wrote about my adventures, school, work and things I did and experienced day to day. Before blogging I used to journal. My parents had me journal as a kid to practice writing. I remember keeping a notebook and journaling as far back as kindergarten maybe even pre-school! (Even then I was an early adopter )

Now I write to educate other, share my adventures and inspire both myself and my readers. I started my current website and blog, Marketing Melodie in March of 2008 (I can’t believe it’s been almost 4 years). When I started it, I was working for a large media company doing sales and marketing. I created the site to be a resource for clients and to educate myself. It’s since evolved into the marketing company I run today specializing in digital technology and social media.

Whether it’s for your business (especially if it’s for your business) or personal I highly recommend everyone have a blog. I hear the excuse from so many people “But no one is going to read my blog”. So what if no one reads what you write? Write for YOU, write like no one is reading and don’t be afraid to put your thoughts down in a tangible place. By doing this you’ll receive so many benefits. So I present you with 4 Reasons to Blog Even if No One Reads Your Blog. 

1. SEO- The first reason is just practical so let’s start with that. Even if a single soul doesn’t read your blog, updating your site with fresh, new content (this is especially important if it’s a business blog on your website) will significantly improve your SEO. Search engines pick up on fresh, new content and place a higher value on sites that have been recently updated versus stagnant sites that have been sitting around for months or years. Within each blog post you can create links with keywords directing readers to other areas of your site. I won’t get too technical here, but just know that blogging will improve your SEO.
2. Blogging teaches you- I learn something new every day and much of it is attributed to writing. I find that writing stuff down often teaches me how to be more clear and concise with the thoughts I have racing through my mind. Because I’m able to clarify my thoughts, Ican see things in a different perspective which in turn teaches me more about the very topic I’m blogging about.
3. Blogging is cathartic- Sometimes you just need to get things off your chest. During these times, it can also difficult to say these things out loud. Well blogging is a great way to release any emotions you have stored up.  Not all blogs need to be public. If you write something but don’t yet feel ready to share it, there’s no shame in that. But at least you put it out into the world so it’s no longer just stored inside you. Putting things out there is also a great step in being able to let things go.
4. Reflection- I just read a bunch of blog posts I wrote back in 2008. Wow it’s really amazing to be able to read the YOU from 4 years ago. Reading old posts really allows me to reflect on things I’ve done in the past but also appreciate the present moment. It brings into perspective even more of how everything that’s happened so far has led me to where I am today. I do find it amusing though because reading back on some of the stuff I wrote the thought “Are you kidding me? I actually said that?!” does tend to pop up a lot. Live and learn. Live and learn.

As you can see, writing, blogging, whatever you want to call it has helped me in so many ways. Please feel free to share with me other reason you blog. I leave you with a quote from a famous writer that really inspired me:

 “And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt”.  ~Sylvia Plath

Ringing in the New Year with List of 12s for 2012!

Happy New Year! 2011 was amazing! And I’m excited for what 2012 has in store. For my first post of 2012 I’m sticking with the “new year” theme!

I love making lists. To-do lists are the most common for me. I make these daily to stay on task with both my personal and professional life. In fact I’ve even added things to my to-do list after I already accomplished them, just so I can check it off. C’mon I know I’m not the only one who’s done this before! Fess up if you have!

Instead of resolutions, I shared with my network that 2012 means making “Lists of 12s”!

I’m working on lists of 12 new restaurants to try, 12 new places to go, 12 marketing goals for my business and first list I made is of course related to tech and social media: 12 tech/web/social media related things I’d like to accomplish in 2012! 

1. Pinterest- We all know about my food porn addiction. I recently joined Pinterest and wow, it’s any food porn addict’s DREAM! I have 2 boards related to food. My Sweet Tooth is filled with gorgeous, mouth-watering sweets. Rather than just look at these images and drool, in 2012 I’m going to actually make at least 2 desserts I’ve pinned on Pinterest. (Give me food and I’ll cook but please note I have virtually zero experience when it comes to baking sweets so this is something new for me!)

Wishing everyone the best of the best in 2012! Thank you to everyone who reads my posts. I’ve really appreciate the comments, tweets, Facebook Likes, Subscribes and emails! It makes me happy to hear from you so please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time!

Marketing Melodie in 2011: A Year in Review

Happy 2012 everyone! I can’t believe another year has gone by. The start of a new year is always a great time for me to reflect on the previous year and set goals for the upcoming year but also appreciate the present moment and everything that’s led me to where I am today.

At the end of 2010 I decided to write Marketing Melodie in 2010: A Year in Review. I have a habit of discrediting many of my accomplishments because I feel like I can always do more. Writing this really allows me to appreciate and be grateful for everything that I have done rather than focus on what I haven’t. Just like I did for 2010 here’s a year in review of 2011 highlighting noteworthy events, clients, blog posts, friends, accomplishments, adventures and amazing opportunities.

*JANUARY*

While marketing is my expertise and passion, I have another passion; YOGA! I’m very grateful for one of my clients this year, La Jolla Yoga Center. Creating marketing campaigns and strategies for a yoga studio I love definitely makes me happy.  I trained their team on using social media to grow their business and helped them get set up on Facebook and Twitter. They’re definitely doing a great job connecting with yogis on social media!

I’ve been practicing yoga for a few years and really wanted to strengthen my practice and take it to the next level. I contemplated getting my yoga teaching certification for a while. It’s a huge time commitment and I was really on the fence. Well I made the decision to go ahead with yoga teacher training and can now say, if you are ever on the fence, DO IT! I am so happy I completed my Yoga Teacher Training and wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. I began my training in January and completed my 200 RYT Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training at the inspirational La Jolla Yoga Center, located right on the beach! I met so many amazing new friends, learned so much about myself and really took my yoga practice to the next level.

*FEBRUARY*

I hosted the 2^nd event in my Digital Media Dinners series. The topic: Social Media Branding. This was a great milestone because it officially turned Digital Media Dinners into a series rather than a one off event.  I taught strategies on how to strengthen people’s brand across various social networks including review sites such as Yelp, group buying sites such as Groupon and location based sites such as Foursquare. I incorporated a variety of sites because marketing and social media is growing beyond just Facebook and Twitter.

*MARCH*

Since I learn and receive so much from my online and social media community, I really want to give back. I did this by hosting Twestival San Diego. This event is hosted all over the nation using social media for social good by connecting communities offline on a single day to highlight a great cause and have a fun event. It’s entirely promoted via social media. Twestival San Diego was hosted at the Keating Hotel and all proceeds benefited the San Diego After School All Stars.

Me and a few other lovely Yogis were featured on KUSI demonstrating Bootcamp for Yogis run by my fellow yoga teacher trainee, Body By Mags. Check out the video below where I get my 5 minutes of fame while I’m smiling through holding a yoga tough pose and demonstrating yoga boot camp moves (Warrior has got nothing on me!).

VIDEO: Yoga Boot Camp Video

*APRIL*

I successfully pulled my second April Fool’s Joke on Social Media! Everyone decided to wish me a Happy Birthday on April Fool’s this year!

The first annual Foursquare Day celebration took place in 2010 and I hosted Foursquare Day Hong Kong. This year I was in my home town, San Diego and had the opportunity to host Foursquare Day San Diego for my community at R Gang Eatery. Check in specials, complimentary wine, cocktails, delicious comfort food with an upscale twist, friends, badges and a good time was had! Foursquare Day on 4/16 (Yep that’s 4 squared which equals 16) is officially, my favorite geek Holiday!

Oh not to mention, I met my first Celebrity Chef, Rich Sweeney @ChefRicSweeney from Season 5 of Top Chef who is also the head of R Gang Eatery. You can read all about my addiction to food porn and cooking shows here.

*MAY*

I was interviewed by the San Diego Reader on using LinkedIn for Job Seekers. I shared my insight, advice and was gratefulto have my article published both in their paper and online! You can read the full article here.

Another Geek Holiday takes place in May! Star Wars day on May 4^th! May the Fourth be with you! I celebrated with some fun posts on Social Media!

 

*JUNE*

I really want to help others with yoga passion so I hosted my first yoga event: Yoga For the Busy Body at Hera Hub! I really want to provide an opportunity for other busy professionals and entrepreneurs to have a chance to experience the benefits of yoga while teaching them poses they can do on their own despite their busy lives. That’s exactly what I accomplished at this event.

*JULY*

I was cast in a Microsoft Commercial!  It was such an amazing experience to work a full day on set as talent! You can read all about how I was casted in the Microsoft Commercial and then watch my commercial when it finally aired below!

VIDEO: Marketing Melodie’s Microsoft Commercial

 I hosted my third Digital Media Dinners in my series. This time I educated attendees on How to Build Your Social Media Community. I had generous sponsors, expert speakers, delicious food and of course a captive audience who made the event a success. Check out the event recap in the video below.

VIDEO: Digital Media Dinners- How To Build your Social Media Community 

*AUGUST*

I attended BlogHer for the first time as it was hosted right here in America’s Finest City. I connected with inspirational bloggers from all across the nation. It was great talking to so many people about their passions and seeing  them creatively share it with others through their writing. I had a good time at the conference itself, attending workshops, checking out the booths, the networking events, parties and left with more swag than I knew what to do with!

Oh and I met another Celebrity Chef, Brian Markaley in the Season Final of Top Chef Season 3. He was hosting a BlogHer party!

 *SEPTEMBER* 

Marketing Melodie is growing quickly! I sent out a call for interns and bring Allison Schummer @AllisonSchummer on board to help me!

Allison recently graduated from SDSU and I give her my highest recommendation to anyone who’s hiring as she’s currently on the market for a new job!

San Diegans experience a MAJOR BLACKOUT! But we united and got through it while making new friends! We proved that even during a black out social media still shines!

*OCTOBER*

Fall is in the air (even though it’s always sunny in San Diego) which means time for a new fall wardrobe! I attended one of my favorite tweetups ever, an Epic event at the Nordstrom Rack Plaza Bonita Grand Opening. I’m a very lucky person, I always win things and that night I won a pair of Designer Hudson Jeans.

In 2009 I said to the universe that I want  to meet my favorite author, Keith Ferrazzi. I finally met him 2 years later in San Diego at the Entrepreneur Challenge Fall Kickoff Event at UCSD. He autographed both my books and I learned some awesome networking tips from meeting Keith Ferrazzi.

The Nerds United! I tweeted and connected with amazing new friends  from the Talk Nerdy To Me Lover community by hosting @JenFriel and the #nerdsunite crew in San Diego. We had a fun night at the Tilted Kilt San Diego and a nerdy sleepover!

You can read all about the things that make me a nerd here.

*NOVEMBER*

After completing a successful Digital Media Dinners series, I hosted my first Digital Media Now Seminar- Personal Branding on Social Media at Pangea Bakery Cafe. Attendees learned how to make their personal brand cohesive with their business brand.

I was honored with an opportunity to speak to NATAS- National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences at their Social Media Workshop. Teaching television professionals how to use Social Media in their industry.

Thanks to the luxury car company, Infiniti and Social Media I enjoyed an amazing afternoon at the San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival. I also met my 3rd celebrity chef this year, Sam The Cooking Guy!

*DECEMBER* 

I hosted my first Digital Media Now Webinar on How To Integrat Social Media Into Your Marketing. It gave me a chance to share my knowledge with people who can’t always be available and in San Diego to attend an in person seminar. While there were challenges to work out with my first webinar, I received great feedback and plan to host additional Digital Media Now Webinars in 2012!

I celebrated my Birthday on my lucky day, December 13^th (It’s clearly not on April 1^st). In the photo below I’m dressed as a Monster, holding a class with an M and Minty Wonderland and Mozart cupcakes. Yep M THEME PARTY!

I began my new venture at National University. I was hired as a Course Developer and Adjunt Professor at National University. My first class starts in January where I’m teaching a marketing class on Interactive Strategies.

Wow a lot has happened in 2012! If you read this entire post or even part of it, THANK YOU!  As I reflect on 2011 I just can’t help but smile and be grateful for everyone and everything in my life right now. I am truly blessed and so excited to ring in 2012!

16 Things to Write About in Your Business Blog

My inspiration for this post is two-fold. First, I couldn’t think of a topic to blog about today so I wanted a resource for getting rid of bloggers block. My entrepreneurial spirit kicked in as I thought, why don’t I just create the resource myself? My 2nd inspiration is the recent blog launch for my client SafeList. We just launched, SafeBlog and during the process of creating a blog strategy we brainstormed on a variety of blog topics their team can write about. Some of the topics are industry specific and others are general that can apply to your own business too.

So whether you just launched a business blog, are thinking of starting one or just need a little inspiration on what to write for your existing blog here are a list of topics to choose from:

1. Feature Business Partners- Are there other companies you work with who add value to your service? Tell us about them!
2. Your Event- What cool event are you hosting? Why should people attend? Here are some sample event posts: Yoga for the Busy Body with Marketing Melodie , Tweet for After-School All-Stars at Twestival San Diego and Digital Media Dinners- Social Media Branding Panelists .
3. An Event You Attended- Recap a conference or event your company participated in. Did you learn anything new? You can also highlight community members you met at the event. @HeyStephanie did a great job summarizing my one of my events she attended: Digital Media Dinner- Social Media Branding Recap
4. Tour of Your Office- Videos or photos of your office humanize your brand, especially if you’re a larger corporation.
5. Community Service Projects- Does your company participate in charity drives? Beach cleanups? Other projects that give back? Cause campaigns are great stories for a blog post!
6. News- Is there breaking news about your industry? Although major blogs and news sites may have already written about it, do a quick recap adding your own insight or possible solutions.
7. Your Customers- Feature customers, tell us about who buys your product or uses your service. This is a way to give back to your customers while also humanizing the customer experience.
8. How did your company get started?- The “History” may be somewhere on your website, but you can personalize your story on the blog.
9. Going Green- What is your company is doing to create a more sustainable environment? Are you recycling in the office? Are you eliminating paper documents and making them electronic? Are you encouraging employees to bring reusable mugs to work
10. Holidays- Are there any holidays coming up? How is your company celebrating? Are you offering any deals for customers? Are you hosting an awesome party? Holiday related posts are always festive! During the Christmas season I wrote a post related to Marketing: Tis the Season for Marketing Yourself to Advance Your Career.
11. Job Openings- Is your company hiring for a new position or intern? Create a blog post so others can easy repost and share your opportunities.
12. Your Social Networks- Most companies have profiles on Facebook and Twitter. Write a blog post telling your customers why they should Like and Follow you on these sites. Are you offering something exclusive to followers they can’t receive unless they’re a part of your community? Will you be providing useful tips to people in your networks?
13. New Hires- Tell us who the new guy is that just joined your team!
14. Overcoming Objections- Are there common objections you receive from potential customers who are hesitant to use your product or service? List these objections and give explanations that overcome any misconceptions.
15. New Products or Services- Has your company recently launched something new? Tell us about it! Why will your new product or service benefit your customers? What are some reasons to try it?
16. Media Appearances- Was your business recently featured on the news, in an article, the radio or even another blog? Share a clip of your feature while telling us about it! Check out my tips on How To Optimize Your Public Relations Effort for Social Media when you get featured in the media.

What are some other topics you’d like to see a business write about in their blog? Please share your ideas. I’ll be compiling a follow up list in the future and may use your tip!

BlackBerry Tips To Increase Productivity

The Month of May started off with some exciting news for BlackBerry lovers.  During the first quarter of 2009 BlackBerry became the top-selling consumer smartphone. As a loyal BlackBerry user I was ecstatic to learn the great news. I hear so many Apple device users discrediting the BlackBerry and all of its awesome features and functions. I’d like to give credit back to my BlackBerry friends with this post.

We love the tactile feel of a QWERTY keyboard (Typing QWERTY was fun I just had to do it again!).  When we’re on our phones we’re not shaking it frantically so a light saber can flash or dice can roll, we’re actually getting real work done. Our battery life is strong like the engergizer bunny (I’ve had my BlackBerry for 2 years, use it all day, every day and have never had it die on me) and if it does die down we can pop a spare in or recharge the original one back to full power rather than being forced to buy a brand new phone because the battery is no longer capable of being fully charged. Oh and three more words that have made it necessary for other devices to catch up on: CUT AND PASTE! Read more

Blogging Tips from One Blogger to Another

I started my marketing blog a year ago to document and share things things I’ve learned, talk about my own insights and experiences. I knew blogging would give me freedom to write on any topic, blog on my own time and use my own writing style. I’m honored that each blog I post receives more page views than the previous which means I’m educating and reaching out to more people. I truly hope everyone learns at least 1 piece of useful information each time they visit my website. Since blogging is such a hot topic, I’m dedicating this entire blog to blogging. Read more

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