Social Marketing Strategies from Social Marketing Expert Peter Lenkefi

If you are serious at business blogging or have an authority site, obey this command and it will change your life!

Stop planning and plotting and just start mashing it up!

Posting daily is the lifeblood of your business blog. If your posts dry up, so will your online business.

But posting daily can be a mind-numbing chore unless you learn how to become a great mash-up artist�. Let me explain…

• Utility Posts. The majority of your posts should be utility posts� not Pulitzer Prize winning manuscripts. A utility post is simply a post that is quick, concise and relevant to your niche - about 250 words will do. The best way to get this done quick is to mash-up content from niche-related blogs with a dash of your personal insight or spin. Conveying this personal insight is where a business blog really delivers. Personal stories seem out of place on static html pages but, on a blog, these stories spark excitement and interest.

• Lists.� Big or small, thoughtful lists make for a great post. I’ve known for a long time that I am wierd, I actually READ. I was writing for myself and ignoring the fact (sad as it may be) that most of you, yes you, don’t read—you SCAN. (”READ-SCAN” - that’s all you saw at first, right?) Create a thoughtful list that offers value to your readers, or should I say scanners, by mashing-up links, tips, tools or stories from niche-related sources and you’ll see your subscriber stats soar.

• Tools. Thanks to brilliance of the web darlings like Wikis, AJAX, JAVA and PHP, digital tools are popping up like fleas on a stray dog. Talented coders are mashing up the web just for you and your niche already, you just have to find them. Everyone is looking for the easy button�! Even if it is more like a one-less-step button�, you’ll be loved and adore if you find it and share it with your blog’s audience.
  

• Power Post. Every week or so, it is time to get your quill out and write a post that your mama would be proud of. You may be thinking linkbait� here but this is not necessarily a linkbait piece. The purpose of these Power Posts� is to establish pillars of credibility. The post may not be read entirely by your scanning subscribers, but the fact that you know THAT MUCH about your niche makes the reader (scanner) comfortable enough to subscribe and buy. Here again, don’t just be a wordy journalist. Mash-up bits and pieces of content from the best niche-related sources you can find and make your post POP and your point STICK!

• Feed Fetcher.� Most parents spend only 20 minutes speaking to their children each week! Aside from being a very startling fact, it illustrates the enormous number of distractions we face. Your job as an authority site owner is to give your visitors EVERYTHING they need and want all in one place — on YOUR business blog. But, let’s face it, there’s great content related to your niche elsewhere. Don’t fret, just mashup those RSS feeds right into your blog. By giving your frantically rushed info seekers these valuable links, they will make your business blog the first stop, the gather place for the knowledge they desperately need but barely have time to acquire.

A mash-up artist is someone who can find, organize and clearly convey information. So, as an authority site owner or a business blogger, you are charged with developing this skill. Promise yourself that you will mash it up a bit from now on and give your readers, scanners, subscribers and buyers what they really want�frequent, relevant, inspiring content.