Business Blogging Tips - Beginning to Blog

The case for business blogging has been made loud and clear. A well-implemented company blogging strategy generates a valuable interaction point with customers and prospects, a "thought leader" reputation for the company and lots of "content food" for search engines to absorb. However, dipping that first toe into the blogging pool can be a daunting task and tons of companies have trouble figuring out where to start.

It's best to examine the overall goals of a blog first:

• A blog is social
• A blog provides valuable content for readers
• A blog is constantly updated with new content.
• A blog gives value to its owner, commonly called a "new" asset in the IP industry

A blog, tied to your company's domain and constantly updated with content, will do wonders for your search engine rankings, without having to pay an SEO company thousands of dollars to plug in keywords. All search engines love fresh, new content, so having a site that lives on your domain getting loaded up with fresh text will increase your "authority" and level of relevance with the search engines. The blog will work even harder once other sites considered "authorities" or "experts" on your subject matter start linking to your blog posts. Those other sites will effectively share their "search karma" with your blog, which will reflect well on your corporate domain.

The Power of Time and Passion

The only real factor in the success of a blog is the content. The blog's author needs to be passionate about the material, and available to write a lot of it. Often, a company will pull their marketing coordinator, primary public relations person or someone else who's already got a full plate and say "congratulations: you're our new blogger." For some of them it like saying, "Hi, we are the government, we're here to help", in the fact it is not really a promotion but a drag on their time. Blogging requires significant time and a writer who wants to write. If blogging is something that an otherwise busy employee "squeezes in" grudgingly between other things, it's going to come out in the writing, and the readers will connect that sense of disinterest with your company.

"So...what do I write about?"

A common misconception is that blog topics must flow like wine from the imagination of the author. Unless you're extremely passionate about your subject matter, coming up with unique and interesting topics on a weekly (or more frequent) basis can be horrifying. Use your audience. Think about the types of people who would visit your blog, and find out where they "play" online. Check out industry blogs and forums. Search Twitter and Facebook for common keywords in your business. Think of questions you hear frequently from customers. Assign someone to point out relevant topics and ask other to write about them. Good writers need topics, that's all, most of the time.

Now take all this "topic fuel" and make yourself a schedule. Plan out 10, 12, even 24 blog posts in advance. If you just say "I'll write a blog post each week," frankly, you won't; the stress of sitting down and coming up with a topic will be too much. If, however, you've got a timed list of pre-selected topics that you just need to expand on, the task becomes a lot more approachable. Always leave yourself with a few topics out in the future and "in the bag" so you never run out of "fuel." As important current events pop up, or time-sensitive posts need to be made, you can easily maneuver them into your post schedule.

Don't forget the "Social."

Human beings instinctively need to be part of social groups; it's the reason we join sports teams and clubs. Now, when they hear "social media," most people immediately think of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other networking sites. Remembering that blogs are also part of the social media world will go a long way in making your blog popular and securing repeat visitors.

To make your blog a truly social interaction, you need traffic. To help pull that traffic, go back to those blogs, forums and networking sites where you did your topic research. Create accounts there and make sure to include a link to your blog in your signature and/or profile. Now, talk! Take part in the discussions, link to your own blog posts (only when relevant: don't spam) and offer some valuable "insider information." Don't speak as a representative of a company; don't even mention your company. Communicate as just another user interested in the topic at hand. If you provide useful information to the community, they'll click your links and follow you back home.

Once they're at your site, you've got to engage your audience. Leave "comment bait" in your posts; ask questions directly to the commentators, look for opinions, and reply as much as possible. If you look active and interested in the community, the community will respond well. To take your blog into the future, you simply need to repeat these steps and nurture that community. Do your audience research, write valuable posts and participate in the communities on and off your site. Once you get into the routine of careful blog maintenance, the content will flow and those daunting first steps will be miles behind you.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Business-Blogging-Tips:-Beginning-to-Blog&id=6054559

Emu Farming Industry

Although emu farming is a fairly new industry, great strides have been made into turning a once hobby farm animal into a highly productive and profitable business venture. Farming with livestock usually demands a high capital investment, and a lot of space, to make it profitable and productive. Emu farming on the other hand is low maintenance, and minimal space, and less capital investment is required.

The emu bird is a hardy animal, which adapts easily to varying circumstances. In their home habitat in the Australian Outback, they are used to climate extremes, with extremely hot summers, and cold winters. There is little rainfall, and at times minimal foraging ground. Emus have few natural enemies, especially when fully grown.

Emu farming has a variety of revenue creating potential markets:

• The selling of young chicks and/or fertile emu eggs 

• The selling of slaughter-ready / breeder emu birds 

• Emu meat 

• Emu feathers 

• Emu skin 

• Emu dung as fertilizer 

• Infertile emu eggs for those interested in egg carving

Emu farming can be a profitable venture in small or large-scale. The venture can be a low input farming industry, where the birds are left to flock together in large camps, and where they fend for themselves most of the time. Minimal feed is given additionally, mainly in dry seasons when foraging is scarce, or to fatten the emu birds a few months prior to slaughter. Emus are allowed to make nests, brood the eggs and raise their own young. This method generally works well in the following circumstances:

• Low initial investment is available

• Large areas are available, with adequate foraging ground. (Emu birds eat mainly grasses, roots and leaves, with berries, fruit and insects making another, smaller portion of their diet.)

• Minimal labor is available

• Emu farming will remain a small-scale enterprise

The second method of emu farming is far more intensive. It requires more capital outlay, and requires more labor. Emus are kept in smaller pens, and are fed nutritionally balanced feed every day. They forage minimally. Breeding emu birds are kept in separate cages from growing slaughter birds. The emu eggs are removed from the nests daily, and incubated artificially. The chicks are raised in rearing pens, and are not placed with the parents.

Emu farming on this intensive scale is beneficial if:

• Naturally growing feed is limited 

• Higher initial capital outlay is available, especially for the purchase of feed 

• Farming is to be on a large-scale 

• Additional labor is available 

• An incubator is available

The benefits of this intensive emu farming method are immense:

• More eggs are laid, and more chicks are hatched and raised 

• Unproductive or less productive emu birds can be singled out, and removed from the breeding program 

• The emu birds generally have a thicker layer of fat, and are larger 

• Production is thus less costly per kg (lb.) of fat and meat produced, than with the free-roaming method. 

• Chick survival rate is higher when raised away from the parents

Whichever method you choose for beginning your emu farming venture, you will find it to be a profitable business that has a lot of growth potential, and high profitability as well.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6048178