Today’s special guest blog post is by friend and fellow blogger Lorraine Ball, owner of Roundpeg. 

Scholars have argued this question for years: If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there, does it make a sound? The same question can be asked about a blog post.   If you write a terrific post, but no one reads it, was it a waste of time? 

As a business blogger, I write for several reasons, including: demonstrating my expertise, engaging clients and prospects, and improving visibility on search engines.   For me, it is critical that people actually read my blog posts. 

To improve the chances people will actually visit the Roundpeg blog, and read a post or two, I am constantly testing new techniques to build buzz, and drive traffic.  Here are just a few things you can do to build your own blog buzz.

1.    AutoFeeds – Automatically feed a link to my twitter stream.  I use twitterfeed (http.www.twitterfeed.com)   I like the ability to set it and forget it, knowing at least once a day; my new post will be updated to my tweet stream.   The tool also provides some insight into which posts are retweeeted.

2.   Influential Followers -Simply sharing a link is not enough.  You need to have a network of followers who will share the link with their followers, and that takes time.   To build the following start by looking for people who are writing and talking about the topics you write about.  Comment on their posts, ReTweet their messages.  Over time they will do the same for you.

3.   Links on other blogs – Don’t restrict your conversations to twitter.  Find interesting and relevant blogs and post comments with links back to your site. 

4.   Add, "like" "retweet" and "share this" buttons to your blog – But don’t wait for others to use them.  You need to get the ball rolling.   Share this will allow you to connect to a wide range of social networks, including Digg, Delicious, and Stumbleupon.  Right now Stumbleupon seems to deliver the most traffic.  But this may change over time, so be sure to check your webstats on a regular basis so you know what is working for you.

5.   There is a place for eMail  – Despite much of the hype to the contrary, email still has a place in an integrated social media strategy.  Be sure to have the option to sign up for your newsletter displayed prominently on your blog.   Don’t abuse the list, but an occasional email with links to your most popular posts brings past visitors back, again and again.   Even on high-traffic blogs, the majority of visitors are first timers.   eMail gives you a way to bring them back again and again.

There is no single strategy which will work every time, but these will certainly help to amplify your sound!

Rhoda:  It’s always fascinating for me to read posts from other blog content writers who, like me, deal in corporate blogging for business. I think Lorraine, as a small business marketing consultant, is making an important point – blogging alone cannot be a business’ total marketing strategy – tactics development must happen on many fronts, all working together. That means the business blogging assistance I offer – or my services as freelance Seo copywriter – are most effective when I can function as one member of a company’s marketing team.

As a ghost blogger offering business blogging training, I think the Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy may be onto something when it comes to corporate blog writing.

Five years ago, Courtney Martin handed each of nine friends $100, directing them to use the money for creative acts of kindness.  Since then, explains Mental Floss Magazine, "the idea of small-scale creative giving has captured the imagination of do-gooders around the country," adding that the Secret Society now has chapters in New York, California, and Georgia.

In many SEO marketing blogs, the content focuses on appealing to consumers’ fear or greed.  The message is often geared towards highlighting a problem, creating enough fear about that problem that readers will be moved to do something about that fear – now! The other frequently used approach is an appeal to greed, telling readers about all the wonderful benefits they can gain by taking action.

Learning about the Secret Society of Creative Philanthropy made me wonder if blog content writers shouldn’t be using Calls to Action to appeal to readers’ higher instincts as well as their need to avoid pain and gain comfort. In fact, marketing blogger Michael Masterson calls fear and greed "two overrated emotions". 

Fear appeals don’t work in the long run, says Masterson, unless you follow fear with hope of some kind. Greed-based promotions attract the wrong sort of customer, he adds. Buyers don’t like to think of themselves as greedy; they want to be successful and to feel good – about their choices of product, services, and providers.

The bottom line in all this, I believe, is that corporate blogging for business has to be part of a company’s overall marketing strategy and tactics development. Put another way, every word that appears in a business’ blog – including the Calls to Action – must be consistent with the company branding and corporate identity.

The popularity of the Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy seems to be tied to the anonymity of the giver.  In providing business blogging help, though, the "secret" I’d share is that, to appeal to a better kind of customer – the kind that buys for the right reasons and then remains loyal – Calls to Action (both the implied CTA’s in the blog content itself and the Call to Action "buttons) should appeal to readers’ better nature.