It’s another roundup of five more fabulous blogs. I feel like we’ve been on a roll lately, fortunate to find some great stuff to share. Our biggest problem has been narrowing them down to just five! Check out today’s selections and let me know which ones you enjoyed the most.
Improve Your Storytelling
Written by Jerry Silfwer
I’m a storyteller (and story-listener) at heart so this post was a lot of fun for me. And it can be a tremendous help for you if you’re wondering how to tell the story of your business or just come up with your next great blog post. Jerry shares some great story “scripts” that you can follow. If you’ve ever done Mad Libs, you’ll enjoy these. (And even if you haven’t you’ll be intrigued.) He also gives you some great examples to inspire you and so that you can really understand how effective these scripts can be. My favorite? The Lottery question. Read more to try your hand and if you’ve got a minute, I’d love to hear YOUR answer to the lottery question!
Read the article at doktorspinn.com and follow Jerry on Twitter @DoktorSpinn
10 Unconventional Keyword Research Tools To Include In Your SEO Toolbox
Written by Jessica Tomaszewski
Ever since Google snatched our keyword tool away and then our keywords went AWOL in analytics, there’s been everything from general discontent to outright panic in the marketing world. Sure, you can still do keyword research but Google was free. And we’d gotten used to it. So other than spend a bunch of money on another tool and learning it all over again, what’s a smart marketer to do? Enter Jessica and some really clever outside-the-book research ideas. I guarantee you’ll want to bookmark this so you can try one then come back later and try another. Some of these sound downright fun (or is that the geek in me speaking?), especially the one about using a word cloud generator. Give one – or all – of these a shot and you’re bound to come away with enough ideas to make your Google tool seem so last year.
Read the article at searchdecoder.com and follow Jessica on Twitter @t0maz0oskii
What Invisible Dragons Are Your Teammates Fighting?
Written by Sean Glaze
So first, dragons. How can you not read a post with that in the title? Second, Sean turns a story about a kid who was always late to basketball practice into a profound business lesson that you can extend to just about everything in your life. The premise is this: you don’t know what “invisible dragons” – or call them monsters, demons or just plain old struggles – that your colleagues are fighting. And that means you could be missing out on key information, missing opportunities, even inadvertently damaging relationships. Instead of assuming “that guy who’s always late” is a loser, maybe it would better serve both of you to find out why. This post is about part empathy and part team-building so read more for inspiration and an invaluable reminder: it’s the people that make up a team and the people who matter.
Read the article at changeyourgamebealeader.com and follow Sean on Twitter @leadyourteam
How To Use Pinterest To Market Your Local Business
Written by Rebekah Radice
Rebekah may look familiar to you by now. If you’re not already following what she writes (you should!) and you haven’t seen her posts featured here before (for shame!) then this is a great place to start because she’s always full of practical ideas that you can use – right now. Pinterest is a great visual marketing tool, but if you’re a local business, it may seem like a waste of time. After all, who cares if someone in Oklahoma pins your awesome photo if your business only serves customers in Vermont? Well, think again. Even if you’ve got a small, local following you can still use Pinterest and Rebekah tells you how, with a handful of ideas you can start using immediately. My favorite is her number 2 on the list: highlighting other local businesses. What a great way to use Pinterest… build relationships AND cross-promote at the same time.
Read the article at steamfeed.com and follow Rebekah on Twitter @rebekahradice
As Twitter IPO Begins, A Look Back At Facebook’s IPO
Written by Justin Lafferty
This one is ripped right out of the headlines, so to speak. Twitter just went IPO and marketers and investors alike can’t help but wonder, “Now what?” In this post, Justin takes a retrospective look at the Facebook IPO (a bit of a mess by all counts) and then looks forward to what we can expect from Twitter. Twitter does have one advantage, and that’s a pretty solid grasp on mobile. Would you invest in this social network? If you’re a business geek like us, you’ll find this one will give you something to ponder!
Read the article insidefacebook.com at and follow Justin on Twitter @jlaffertyIF
I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s roundup and if you’ve got a blog to share that you think our readers might enjoy, please share it with me in the comments!
HI Carol Lynn! Thank you so much for including my article in this weeks roundup. I loved the SEO tips and just finished reading the storytelling article by Jerry Silfwer. What great tips! Storytelling is so important as a writer as we’re attempting to make connections and draw people in. I have to say, you are a master at this! I always love reading your posts.
Thank you, Rebekah! I enjoyed the storytelling post a lot. Sometimes it’s fun to have one of those “starter” exercises to get the creative juices flowing. I enjoyed yours too, especially since Pinterest tends to be a harder sell with some of my local clients. But it can be done!
Wow – Thanks Carol Lynn!
Honored to be included. The other suggestions you included were terrific reads… Looking forward to next weekend’s batch of blogs!
You’re welcome! I really enjoyed your post Great story and lesson!
Carol Lynn – thank you so much for including my article in this weeks roundup! Thrilled to be included! I very much enjoyed your other selections as well – they really were fantastic reads. Looking forward to more to come!
You’re welcome! Those were some awesome ideas – I saved your post for reference because I have to try all of them!
Wohoo! Thanks for including me! Love to be in this company of great bloggers.
You’re welcome! I really loved your ideas!