What is involved in producing a successful podcast? Bob McAdam, one of the hosts of the Enterprise Software Podcast, along with Todd McDaniel and Darcy Boerio, shared his story with me about how their podcast started, what is involved in producing it and some of the benefits along the way.
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People who intentionally plagiarize blog content, and pass it off as their own, are slimy. There is an easy way to find out if someone else is plagiarizing your content (or if you have copied theirs!)
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Duplicate content is bad. You should not post exactly the same blog article on more than one site. But many of you that write for the ERP/CRM Software Blogs also write for your own company blog sites. How can you avoid duplicate content across company and group blogs? Here are my 3 tips:
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You know that posting duplicate content online is dangerous, but I bet you do it anyway.
You will get the most SEO value for your hard work if you rewrite the post for each blog you intend to use it on. But, I know that when you have worked hard on an article, posting it more than once is just so awfully tempting that it is hard to resist.
So here are steps you can follow to use canonical link tags to identify duplicate content and hopefully avoid any Google penalties.
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Once you have made the effort to write a blog post, isn’t is worth just a little more effort to make sure it is optimized so people (and search engines) can find it?
An easy way to optimize your post for SEO is to the “Wordpress SEO by Yoast” tool. This is already installed on the blog sites that I manage. There are 4 basic fields on the “General” that take just a few minutes to fill out but can improve your SEO results.
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Once you have been in the Dynamics channel for a while, you know where to get the information you need.
For example, here are my “go to” directories when I want to find a specific ISV product or partner. (Hint: if you are an ISV partner that wants to get found, you should check out these lists too). And a list of top events for Dynamics partners you shouldn't miss.
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I will tell you a secret: I am a marketer who hates working with graphics. But recently I found a tool that makes working with other types of images much easier. www.canva.com lets me to “pretend” to be a graphic designer, without really knowing anything about graphics or design. I can create my own images, with graphics and text and then download them for free to use in blog posts, on Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and more.
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Do your prospects understand what you mean? I am not talking about using acronyms or techy lingo, although Microsoft Dynamics partners are notorious for that too. My question is, are you sure that your prospects understand the meaning of your words the same way you do? I found out I was doing it wrong.
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They say that location is the key to value, and the same is true with blog posts. Many people ask me where they should post their content - on their own blog or a group blog such as the ERP Software Blog. Find out how I decide.
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The first time I was invited to attend Microsoft Convergence as a member of “The Press” in 2012 I was scared to death.
I found myself in a room of about 50 very seasoned, mostly male, journalists firing tough questions at Microsoft’s top executives. I remember wondering, “How in the world did I get in here and when is someone going to realize I don’t belong?”
But nobody called my bluff and in fact, they continued to invite me back year after year.
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ISV partners often need to form new relationships with VAR partners in the Microsoft Dynamics community and many of them still rely on cold calls. As a VAR partner I can tell you that I get far too many of these “cold calls” and I tune them out. But I can also tell you that there is a better way. Here are some simple ways that ISV partners can connect with, and get their names known by, VAR partners using social media.
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For those of us who are not Google+ experts, we can still look like experts by using a few simple tips. My last post “How to Change Thumbnail Images on Google+ Posts” is one example. Here are a six more simple Google+ tips:
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The image added to this article doesn't really match the content, and it is actually kind of confusing….Are you doing the same thing to your readers with your Google+ posts?
Using the right graphic is an important way to engage readers. It may seem simple to some people, but many don’t realize that you can change the default image that appears when you add a link in a Google+ post.
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Don’t feel bad, you are not alone. Ever blogger I have met struggles to find enough content. But we can help each other by sharing our creative ideas.
At the annual Microsoft Dynamics Convergence event I met with several of the writers for the ERP Software Blog. Here are some of my favorite ideas that were shared by the group:
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How can software marketers make screenshot images look more interesting? I have found a new tool that I just love that guarantees I never need to use a boring screenshot again.
Check out www.placeit.net
Basically you can upload any screenshot/image you have and it will appear as if it is on the screen in the image. You can filter my photos of laptops, tablets, phones etc… It is hard to explain so let me show you an example of how it works.
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Are you a Twitter quitter?
I admit that I was a Twitter quitter. I set up an account years ago and promptly abandoned it. I am not alone though, 60% of all Twitter users quit in the first week.
Then I started Tweeting at events such as Microsoft Convergence. It was fun to interact and connect with other people at the event this way, but I still didn’t see what all the fuss was about.
Two tweets changed my mind.
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Convergence 2015 is starting soon. On your mark, get set – BLOG!
I always think that I am going to have more time at Convergence than I actually do. So here are a few tips to help my fellow bloggers, and tweeters, to get the most out of the event.
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When I started using Twitter, many people gave me advice on WHAT to do, but they didn’t actually tell me HOW to do it, or what TOOLS I could use to actually get it done. So I want to make it easy for you. Here are some specific Twitter tips and the tools I use to actually get them done.
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I think that most of us like to help other people; especially when it is not too difficult to do so. If you want people to help you share your blog content, make it easy for them.
A great way to do this is to add a tweetable link. This link is preformatted with the text, a link to the post and your Twitter name. If readers like your idea and want to share it all they have to do is to click your (tweet this) link and hit send.
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When I talk to people about content marketing, specifically blogging, I usually hear three main objections:
1) I have nothing to write about.
2) I don’t have time to write.
3) I’m not good at writing.
In this article, let’s tackle the objection that you have nothing to write about.
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