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15 Golden Rules for Blogging

Jennifer Nastu, a partner at Fast Trike, was one of the offical bloggers at the Word of Mouth Marketing Associations conference in San Fran this week - we handle their blogs/newsletters. Here's one of her posts from the conference on the 15 golden rules for blogging:

The companies that are going to be the most successful are the ones who are able to "unlock content" and the blog is the best way to do that.

It's important to understand that there are a lot of flavors of blogs. There are event blogs, CEO blogs, blogs about the news, crisis management blogs.

Marc Schiller of Electric Artists offered 15 Golden Rules for blogging:
#1. Recognize that every client has a different set of business objectives
An A&E blog he launched around tattooing to reach a specific niche, while a blog for Starwood Hotels was launched to increase loyalty and drive ecommerce.
#2. Don't focus on the results.
Document the process. The best blogs let you peek behind the curtain of the company.
#3. Don't try to force someone to be a blogger.
#4. Copywriters can't be bloggers. The worst blogs are over-written.
#5. Center editorial around advice and recommendations.
#6. It's okay to enter a crowded marketplace, but you must be best in class.
#7. No stealth blogs, no character blogs.
#8. Get the lawyers and PR team invovled early.
#9. Don't let your branding and advertising compete with the content.
#10. Let bloggers publish early.
#11. Update every day or you won't hit critical mass.
#12. Develop themes and obsessions that will get people coming back for next session.
#13. Keep content eclectic.
#14. Make sure bloggers can respond to legal side.
#15. Be benevolent.

Triple-Digit Growth for Blog, Podcast and RSS Advertising

Combined blog, podcast and RSS ad spend by the end of 2005 totaled $20.4 million, a 198.4 percent increase over the 2004 levels for user-generated online media - and is projected to climb 144.9 percent in 2006, reaching $49.8 million, according to a new report, "Blog, Podcast & RSS Advertising Outlook," from PQ Media,
arketingVOX reports (via MediaBuyerPlanner). Total spending on user-generated online media is forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of 106.1 percent from 2005 to 2010, reaching $757.0 million in 2010.

The blog ad market is the largest of the three, at $16.6 million accounting for 81.4 percent of total advertising in 2005, followed by podcast advertising at $3.1 million and RSS at $650,000.

The blog market is expected to remain the largest of the three user-generated media in 2006, climbing 117.8 percent to $36.2 million. By 2010, however, blog ad spend is projected to account for 39.7 percent (at $300.4 million), behind podcast ad spend, which is expected to total $327.0 million, or 43.2 percent; RSS ad spend is projected to reach $129.6 million in 2010.

Technology, automobile and media brands have spent the most in user-generated media ad spend, $11.1 million, accounting for a combined 54.5 percent in 2005; food & beverage and apparel round out the top five categories, with 19.0 percent. Tech was the largest category in ad spend in 2005, at $4.0 million; auto was second with $3.9 million; media was third with $3.2 million.

Ad insertions through advertising networks (e.g., Pajamas Media and Federated Media for blogs; PodShow and PodTrac for podcasts; and Pheedo and FeedBurner for RSS feeds) and cost-per-click ads (e.g., Google AdSense) are the top two advertising methods, having generated $8.0 million and $7.8 million, respectively, in 2005. Advertising networks are the largest ad insertion method, accounting for 39.2 percent, or $8.0 million, of user-generated media spending in 2005, followed closely by click-through insertions at $7.8 million, or a 38.2 percent share.

However, affinity programs (such as LinkShare and Shareasale), which offer website publishers payment when a consumer purchases an advertised product online, are expected to be the fastest growing method from 2005-2010, growing at a compound annual rate of 130.8 percent.

National advertising dominates user-generated online media, accounting for 98.1 percent of total spending in 2005 at $20.0 million, but as more local content is created and the importance of local search increases, its share of ad spend is projected to grow to 9.3 percent in 2010.

Analyst's Blog Garners $1 Million in New Business

Forrester analyst Charlene Li's blog triggered $1 million in new business for Forrester last year, that equates to an ROI of 5,000 percent, BlogWrite for CEOs reports. Li, who's a principal analyst for Forrester based in San Francisco, blogs here.

Wal-Mart Recruits Bloggers for PR Battle

Under fire for its less-than-employee-friendly policies, among other reasons, Wal-Mart has apparently been rallying a force of blogger loyalists and mercenaries, supplying them with PR ammunition in hopes of beating back the assault, writes the New York Times (via MarketingVOX). Pro-Wal-Mart propaganda produced by public relations firm Edelman has appeared in blogs, often verbatim and without attribution - clearly counter to the norms and unwritten rules of civilized blogging behavior, as well as word-of-mouth best-practices.