Inside the Enterprise Software Podcast: Interview with Bob McAdam

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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3 Ways to Avoid Posting Duplicate Blog Content

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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How to Safely Post Duplicate Content on Multiple Blog Sites

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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How To Use Yoast To Optimize Your Blog Post

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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Directories & Events Every Microsoft Dynamics Marketer Needs to Evaluate

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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How Canva.com Can Make Anyone a Graphic Designer – Even Me

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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Lessons I Learned In the Press Room at Microsoft Convergence

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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5 Ways ISV Partners Can Connect With VAR Partners Using Social Media

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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How to Change Thumbnail Images on Google+ Posts

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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6 Tips From Fellow ERP Software Blog Writers

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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Never Use Boring Screen Shots Again – A Tool Every Software Marketer Needs To Have

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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8 Tips for Bloggers to Make the Most of Convergence 2015 and Other Events Too

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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Feeding the Content Machine When You Think You Have Nothing to Write About

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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