BUSN3002W Notes PDF

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Maria Vint...

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Blogging for Business Purposes ● What is blogging in business? ○ What it is ■ Business blogging is a marketing tactic that uses blogging to get your business more online visibility. A business blog is a marketing channel (just like social media, direct mail, email marketing, etc) that helps support business growth ○ How is business blogging different than regular blogging? ■ It is NOT ● 1) a hobby, like many people’s personal blogs ● 2) the primary way your business makes money ■ Is IS ● A marketing channel (plus other benefits) ○ Examples of business blogging in action ■ JP Morgan Global Fixed Income Blog ■ Bloomberg blogs ● Philanthropies ● Tech ● Financial ■ Deloitte Perspectives ● Benefits of Blogging ○ 1. Boost to engine optimization ○ 2. Drives traffic to your website ○ 3. Helps convert traffic into leads ○ 4. Drives long-term results by Developing and Strengthening Relationships with Existing and New Customers ○ 5. Connect people to your brand ○ 6. Creates opportunities for people to share your content and business name ○ 7. Helps to establish your business’ authority as an industry leader ● The amount of additional traffic frequent blogging attracts to a business’ webpage= 55% ○ According to a study conducted by Hubspot ● How do I write a blog entry? ○ First it depends on the types you’ll write ○ Types: ■ Listicle ● “6 essential tips for successful social media customer service” ■ How to articles, with step-by-step guides ● “How to create an inspiring customer service philosophy” ■ Informative ● “Everything you need to know about implementing a price increase” ■ Announcements ● “Introducing Against the Grain: A New Series Highlighting ValuesDriven Businesses”

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Interviews ● “Building a Mission-Driven Brand: Q&A with Ryan Carson of Treehouse” General blog-writing guidelines ○ 1. Know your audience! ○ 2. Organize your message ○ 3. Short paragraphs ○ 4. Short sentences ○ 5. Be as clear as possible ■ Use plain language and a conversational, yet still professional, tone ■ If you introduce industry-specific terms, be sure to define them ○ 6. Be specific and include evidence! ■ Instead of saying “some suggest…” provide a specific example of who said what ■ Hyperlink to evidence ○ 7. No more than 750-1000 words, usually ○ 8. Consider incorporating images and infographics Final important tips and rules to remember ○ You need to be “fast, right, and readable” ■ Fast: for this reason, you want your blog posts to be relevant, even ahead of the curve, if possible (kairos) ■ Right: you absolutely want to make sure your info is factually accurate. There is always an element of research (and thus citation) involved with writing a blog entry. If you ever blog for a company, your own or the one you work for, you have an ethical obligation to ensure you are delivering the truth. You also don’t want to lose the trust of your customers! (logos and ethos) ■ Readable: going back to the discussion on knowing your audience, you want to consider the language, tone, and delivery of information to most effectively reach your readers! This goes, also, with the physical nature of the post (pathos)

Intro to Infographics ● Elements of an infographic ○ 1. Visual ■ Choice of color ■ Use of graphics ■ Reference icons ○ 2. Content ■ Time frames ■ Statistics ■ References ■ explanations/ breakdowns ○ 3. Knowledge

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■ Facts In regard to graphics, please note how the chosen graphics all serve a purpose. In order to explain the concept of responsive web design, the composer decided to demonstrate web responsiveness on three different devices. There is also a clear explanation of how many px are available on each device In regard to color, please note that there is an inviting scheme, of warm blues, greats, orange, yellow, and white. None of the colors clash with each other In regard to the effectiveness of the visual, notice how your eye is pulled straight down through the center of the graphic

Visual ○ Ensure that the info is displayed in a clean, uncluttered, and organized manner ■ Disorganized info makes it difficult to find the needed content, and can overwhelm ○ Be aware of empty “white space”. See these examples ■ Too much white space ■ White space fixed ○ Choose colors and graphics carefully ■ “Color influences the way we buy” by conveying attributes such as professionalism, friendliness, security, authority, wealth, wisdom, etc. and this is especially important when it comes to combining colors in a brand’s online presence. You want a brand’s color palette to evoke the right emotions in viewers to increase trust and interest Tell a single, powerful story in your infographic Content: what story do I tell? ○ In BUSN 3002W ■ You might choose to look at the info you’ve gathered for your blog post, choose one single segment, and create an infographic from that ■ It should be a story that is, perhaps, easier to tell via a visual graphic. They’re also useful to provide a potentially great deal of information in a small space ■ It does not have to be related to what you wrote your blog about, but should still be something that you are clarifying for the new freshmen ○ When being used in business ■ Dependent on the company you work for, there may be info they want to get across to their customers/ clients, colleagues, etc. It’s a quick and easy way of getting that info to the customer ■ It might be some facts/ stats you want to deliver, to educate the customers/ clients, to help them make a decision or to explain why they need a specific product or service ■ Blog post about ways to use infographics in business: Knowledge: help the viewer trust you ○ The “knowledge”/ facts component is important (logos) ○ While the visual attracts and entertains the viewers, and the content delivers your story, the “knowledge: and facts will anchor it all

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Citing your sources, ensuring you have credible sources, and ensuring you provide the data/ info needed to defend your statements will help the viewers (potential customers) continue to have faith in your message Citing sources in an infographic ○ All sources used for the infographic should be listed at the borrow ○ Minimally required info: ■ Title of source ■ Name of publication source (Website, publisher, etc) ■ Date of publication ○ Indicate the source citation with a small reference number ○ Make sure sources are credible ○ This image is hyperlinked to the website where the animated infographic is located. In it, you will see the way the composed inserted smaller reference numbers throughout the graphic which correspond to the source numbers at the bottom, like footnotes Steps for composing an infographic ○ 1. Make a plan for a succinct story and outline the important information to present for that story ○ 2. Decide on headings, which help direct eye traffic ■ Tree infographic ■ Sourcing infographic ○ 3. Consider the logical physical layout for the information ○ 4. Consider the appropriate colors and graphic and how you’ll present the individual pieces of information, to highlight the most important sections/ facts most effectively Recap of things NOT to do in infographics ○ Don’t make something out of nothing. Make sure the infographic you’re making is telling important info ○ Remember to include appropriate axes on charts/ graphs. Make sure the data you include makes sense ○ Avoid too much text ○ Definitely avoid false information ○ Avoid clashing colors ○ Keep it simple. Avoid clutter and overcrowding ○ Avoid too much whitespace...