Build Your Brand Online with a Business Blog - Full Day Course, 25 June 2009

A workshop on how to build the visibility, reputation and profits of your business online by business blogging, run by the IIA and delivered by Krishna De of BizGrowthNews. This course provides a full overview on all you need to run a successful business blog. If you wish you can chose to take the morning's beginner course or the afternoon's advanced course as stand alone modules.

So you have heard of blogs – but aren’t they just online journals? What relevance do they have for business?

In fact business blogging when part of your business communications and marketing plan can have a dramatic effect on your visibility, reputation and profits online as many Irish businesses are already finding out.

But where do you start? What blogging platform should you use? What should a business blog cover so that it is interesting and engaging to your clients and potential customers? How do you measure and the return of investment of your business blog? How can you integrate your business blog into your communications programme?

These are just some of the questions we will be addressing in the Business Blogging Masterclass so you will be able to discover how integrating a business blog into your marketing programme will boost your visibility, reputation and profits online.

Overview

This workshop is relevant for marketing and communications professionals from large companies and is equally relevant for business owners and managers of SME’s who want to discover how to integrate business blogging into their marketing and communications strategy.

Who Should Attend

The programme is split in two parts. PART 1 will cover the basics of business blogging and PART 2 is ideal for those people who have implemented a business blog and want to take it to the next level and increase the result they have seen from their business blog.

Group Discount

Groups of 3 or more receive a 10% Discount - this is automatically applied when you book online, both for members and non-members.

Programme Outline

In today’s world where increasingly customers are going online to research information before making a purchasing decision, they are searching for valuable information.

Businesses who share that information through digital marketing strategies are finding they are able to build a community of potential customers, raise their visibility in the search engines and are attracting more business even in challenging times. And those companies who are using a business blog as a hub for their inbound marketing are able to do this cost effectively and with little technical knowledge – publishing to the web has become as simple as writing an email.

However, applied without reference to your business strategy, business blogging will not support your company in achieving its bottom-line goals. Integrated into your strategic communication efforts, developing and nurturing a vibrant online community can build buzz about your brand online and help you win all important market share, provide a place to nurture conversations with your customers and potential customers and help you be found online.

A business blog is very different from a personal blog. If you want to know how to enhance the impact of your marketing and the relevance of your communications to customers through business blogging, this is a workshop you won’t want to miss.

In PART 1 of this workshop you will discover:

• Why business blogs are becoming popular and what kinds of businesses in Ireland are using business blogs
• Best practice case studies business blogs and the anatomy of a business blog
• How to start to engage with blogs even before you establish your own business blog
• How to determine your content strategy for your business blog and integrating it into your marketing and communications plan
• The different publishing options for your business blog
• Tips for authoring an effective business blog
• How to market and raise the profile of your blog so that you increase traffic to your site
• How to build a community of customers, prospects and fans
• Guidance on measuring the effectiveness of your business blog and evaluating your business blogging success
• You will leave the workshop with knowledge so that you can either set up your own business blog or advise your webmaster of your requirements for your business blog.

In PART 2 of this workshop you will discover:

• Tips for leveraging your blog to further expand your business success
• How to integrate your blog into your business and customer communications so that it enhances your productivity
• Why and how to enhance your blog through the addition of multimedia content from podcasts to online video
• Tips to drive traffic to your business blog
• How to network and outreach to other business bloggers
• We will also be offering a number of the attendees the opportunity to receive feedback at the workshop so that they get feedback about their business blog and have suggestions to take their business blog to the next level to enhance their online marketing.

Outcomes

PART 1- At the end of the workshop, attendees will have developed an understanding about how business blogging is being used by both micro businesses and global organisations.

They will also be able to determine if business blogging will be relevant in supporting the delivery of their business strategy and determine the resources they need to implement the strategy.

They will leave the workshop with knowledge to either set up their own business blog or if they prefer, to be able to advise their webmaster of their requirements for their business blog

PART 2– At the end of this workshop, participants will have specific plans to enhance their business blog, new tips to drive traffic to their business blog, will understand how to build an network and outreach to other business bloggers and will understand how to enhance their blog content through multimedia including podcasts and online video.

Only want to sit one part of this course?

You can book the Introductory (Part 1) or the Avanced (Part 2) Modules as seperate, stand-alone courses. Click on the links below to do so.

Introductory (Morning) Course only

Advanced (Afternoon) Course only

Venue

The course will be held in the Glencullen Suite, Fitzwilliam Hall.

Fitzwilliam Hall is located on the corner of Fitzwilliam Place and Leeson Street and the entrance faces Leeson Street canal bridge. Some parking is available but must be booked in advance. Call 01 669 4700 directly to book a space. Alternatively the Burlington Hotel car park is nearby also.

Questions?

Email Irene Dehaene with any queries.