This post originally appeared on Strategy Stew — because that’s the blog that attracted the #WordCarnival host, Tea Silvestre.  I’m posting here because I’d like you to consider doing something similar in your industry.  Blog carnivals aren’t just for bloggers – this is a truly creative way to engage other thought leaders in your industry and build wonderful and profitable relationships.

I’m blown away by the speed at which online media changes.

Yesterday I participated in a Blog Carnival.  Basically this is how bloggers build traffic and comments to their sites when they first get started.  It used to be very popular “back in the day” — which was about five or six years ago.  CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE THAT?

“Back then” all the big names were having these blog carnivals.  Those people have grown their brand and their readership lists and are now “over” the whole blog carnival thing.  But there are millions of newbies out there who have yet to understand the power and the fun of blog carnivals.

Did I say that blog carnivals help you build traffic and readership for your blog or site?  I’m saying it again if I didn’t. I’m not sure why the people I interact with don’t talk or do blog carnivals so much, but it’s still a powerful tool — especially if you’re new to the online marketing world.

Here’s an updated primer on blog carnivals

1. Have a blog. It helps to have a blog, otherwise, why bother.
2. Participate in a blog carnival. Check out www.blogcarnival.com.  It’s a great place to start learning about carnivals and participating in one.  Don’t try to host one until you’ve participated.
3. You troll the blogs in your subject area and find ones you like.  You invite them to participate in the carnival.  That part is easy.  Then it gets a little sticky.
4. Find a niche in BlogCarnival.com and submit your article. That’s really all there is to that.  In fact the hardest thing will be finding a niche you want to participate in.
5. Read the posts. Then you go over to the other posts and read their articles, post comments, etc.  It’s a great way to meet people and build relationships

The next thing you’d want to do is look at hosting your own blog carnival.  My new friend Tea Silvestre did just that and added some new twists to her #wordcarnival by adding a free converence line so that you can participate even if you’re not at Twitter.  I can honestly say I hadn’t thought of that.

It was a smart and cozy group and I was happy to meet some wonderful, creative folks.

Hmmm.  Maybe I’ll participate in some more blog carnivals from now on.

One of the biggest challenges for many bloggers is to come up with new ideas for content on a regular basis.  Sure, it’s easy to just throw something together but that’s not really the point of blogging.  The whole point is to provide your target audience with quality content that establishes your place as an expert within a given industry or niche.  Even the best bloggers face writers block and whine to themselves, “I have nothing to write about today!”  When this happens (and it will), why not look back at an old post and write a retrospective post that sheds new light on the topic and link to the original post?

As time goes on, your knowledge of a particular subject matter should evolve.  It’s likely that the industry that you are blogging about has evolved as well.  Depending on how long you have been blogging, you may have lots of great content that could use an update.

To start, look back at some of your “best of” posts including:

Posts That Got Lots of Comments

Clearly, not everyone that reads your blog takes the time to comment on it.  Many blog readers skim the content, get the point, and are on to the next thing.  If you have an old blog post that got many more quality comments than usual the subject matter must have been important to them.  Why not revisit it?

Posts That Received Lots of Traffic

Check your analytics data to see if there are any posts that received an unusually high number of visitors.  What was the post about?  What new information can you add?

Hot/Timely Topics

Smart bloggers keep up with industry trends and write posts about these topics.  Timely topic posts could range from something as captivating as a scandal within the industry to something exciting like an innovative new product launch.  What has happened since then?  Is the scandal still relevant?  Did the product turn out to be a dud?

Your Favorites

There’s no doubt that there are some blog posts that you are more proud of than others.  Point out what you like so much about them and explain the writing experience and process.  Include what you might change if you were writing it now.

Best of the Worst

It may be hard to admit, but there are probably posts that you look back at with slight embarrassment and think, “Really, I wrote that?”  While you might not want to draw attention to those posts, they are evidence that you have grown and your audience will probably appreciate that.  Pointing out your own flaws and recognizing mistakes that you might have made in the past humanizes you and makes you more relatable.

Just because your blog posts are categorized in the “published” section of your blogging platform, that doesn’t mean that they are no longer valuable.  In addition to creating retrospective blog posts, browsing old posts can sometimes spark a brand new idea.  Taking a look back can be a great strategy when you are really strapped for ideas, but don’t rely too heavily on it.  You never want to be accused of living in the past!

About the Author: Nick Stamoulis is a Boston SEO consultant and the President and Founder of Brick Marketing, a search engine marketing and SEO services company.

There’s beauty in the immediacy of social media marketing — instantly you get feedback from customers on your products, service, brands, and campaigns. But the downside of that immediate exposure is its short shelf-life. What’s relevant one day is moot and forgotten the next. Even old-school networking has its drawbacks. A great first impression may be made but there’s not always time for the kind of personalized follow-up you’d like to initiate. Read on for ways to make sure that your marketing message goes beyond the lifespan of a tweet or the fleeting moment of a handshake to make a lasting and recurring impression.

1. Make Your Online Content Last

If you had especially good customer feedback via facebook or twitter, consider including those comments on your website as testimonials. This way, a good day of good news can be used again and offer recurring returns as opposed to disappearing into cyberspace.

If you write guest posts for blogs or contribute articles to online industry publications, instead of writing, posting, and forgetting, include your blog posts on your website under a tab called “resources” or “articles” so visitors to your site can continue to use your good material. With informational content added to your site, your company becomes a resource for potential customers to revisit. If you keep a company blog on your site, be sure to organize it so that even older material can be highlighted in menus titled “Most Popular Posts,” “Signature Posts,” or “And More.”

2. Make Your Promotional Product Part of Your Signature

What if instead of buying a wide-range of promotional products and handing them out here and there, people actually paid you for the privilege of wearing your logo? There’s a fishing shop I know of that started off as one small store and has since grown to over six locations. They make the bulk of their profits from expensive gear and guided fishing charters, but in each location they have a whole wall of plain old hats with the shop’s logo on it. Stickers of the logo are on cars and trucks all over town. Their promotional products have taken on a life of their own. Plenty of people who can’t afford a fancy rod and reel buy hats from this place. The shop can hardly keep them stocked.

To get this phenomenon going for your business, be sure your logo is well-done — something people would want on a hat. Create a brand people want to be a part of, give them a simple way to be involved (like a hat), and you’ll be the first place customers come calling when they do have the money for that rod and reel.

3. Make Your Promotional Product Come in Handy

There used to be a time when funeral homes handed out fans during hot-weather funerals. Give potential customers what they need when they need it, and you get their attention. I’ve seen floating key chains passed out by a boat-towing service and reusable grocery bags given out at a farmer’s market by a bank with an ATM across the street from the market.

When it comes to promotional products, an item with practical use is appreciated — especially with consumers being more interested in sustainable practices and cutting clutter. The key to promotional products is knowing your ideal customers and knowing what products they would be most likely to need, use, and appreciate.

4. Make Your Free Information Pay Off

When you attend networking events, trade shows, or conferences, give away some helpful information on a brochure or info sheet of some sort. Then at the bottom, of course, include your company name and website. Make the information something valuable. For example, I know a copywriter who has actually had someone call to order some of the information sheets she’s passed out for free on Business Writing Tips. She also has sheets on topics such as Proper Email Etiquette and How to Write a Good Blog Post.

Give free talks. A friend of mine who is a dentist gives free talks to schools about keeping teeth and gums healthy and gives away toothbrushes with his name, web address, and contact info on them. He gets his business out there while doing a little good at the same time. If you have good information you’re willing to share, be sure to not only hand it out with your business’s web address and contact info, but also to post it on your website so it becomes a lasting resource for clients and potential clients.

5. Make Your Last Deal Count

You always want to be marketing to potential clients for the future, but don’t neglect the marketing power of your current clients and sales successes. There is plenty of opportunity there to develop more business or garner referrals from a happy client. Capitalize on that already-established relationship by keeping your impression fresh. A great way to stay in touch is to send a monthly or quarterly e-newsletter via MailChimp or Constant Contact.

Make sure again that you anticipate the needs of your customers and provide the information they will find handy. Sharing good news about your company is great, but a newsletter that is going to be read instead of deleted is one in which you offer something helpful to your recipient. Maybe it’s a special coupon or promotion or maybe it’s helpful tax information or energy-saving tips related to your industry. Don’t think of your newsletter as a way to tout your products or services — let a newsletter be another way you make a lasting impression on your clients that your business is all about them.

About the Author: James Lee is a marketing analyst for Amsterdam Printing, a leading company in the promotional pens and personalized calendars business. James has owned small businesses himself and at Amsterdam concentrates on marketing ideas that utilize personalized pens, mugs, and other promotional items such as keychains, magnets and apparel.

It’s one thing to keep saying that you should have a blog, but having a blog that actually attracts customers and builds loyalty means that you have to provide great content.

Here are some tips for providing great blog content:

1. Make a list of the 5 -7 top reader frustrations. In the same way that our eye is drawn to the crooked picture in an otherwise perfect room, we tend to focus on frustrations and peeves that drive us crazy.  Whenever someone mirrors those frustrations, we feel a sense of camaraderie.  Use these frustrations and your solutions as the anchor and mission of your blog.  You want each article to be a salve against the painful frustrations that your readers are experiencing.  Literally make this list and keep it handy use it as a rotating theme for your content.
2. Identify keywords and phrases from that frustration list.  Recent studies have shown that people aren’t exactly looking for solutions first.  BEFORE they look for a solution, the search out their problem — looking for ideas and options on what the solution is.  For example, “Leaking Roof” is a problem that I will search on hoping to see what options are available to fix it.  Is this a quick fix or do I need a roof replacement.  Or I might search on a term such as “sales process” because I feel like I have no control over my sales process or I’m not getting consistent results.  So all these terms are hot button issues that you can write about.  Your audience is searching for guidance on how to buy.  They are more likely to buy from the company that helps them understand and choose.
3. Answer customer questions. The easy way to do this is to have a board or Google Document  that people can contribute customer questions to so that you can create content that answers them and gives advice.   Take a helpful and educational tone in your writing and be open about where the question came from and then simply answer it.  Keeping tabs on customer questions will also give you ideas on additional kinds of content such as video.
4. Recruit contributing experts for each “frustration” your customers have.  Blogging can becaome a daunting task — but not of you recruit experts in your company or in your industry to be contributing experts.  Ask if sales, customer service, technical or engineering folks would be interested in writing out answers to customer questions or writing about events they’ve attended.  Also think about writing about events that you’re attending such as trade shows and what you’ll be featuring there.  Another win-win strategy is to recruit the experts in your industry to write for your blog.  Trust me – they would be honored and happy to do it.  It’s a HUGE promotional and marketing opportunity for them and a big help for you and information for your customers.
5. CEO or president is a regular contributor.  I’ve separated the CEO writing for the blog as a separate tip because it is so very important.  You don’t have to be a journalist or the next Tom Clancy to communicate what you’re up to as a company.  CEOs miss a HUGE PR opportunity in NOT writing for their blog.  You’d be amazed at the CEOs who blog.  I mean if the CEO from GM can find the time to blog — so can YOU.

Referrals are still the number one way of getting the best, most profitable customers.  And don’t think that just because you’re in a more B2B or industrial market that referrals don’t work — I’m working on a heavily industrial project right now where the most popular way that people choose suppliers is by calling other suppliers and customers and asking who they would recommend.

Your blog is a tremendous promotional and advertising tool – don’t let it go to waste.