Posts Tagged ‘free social media’

Tech Tuesdays: Best Blogging Platforms

Coke or Pepsi?

Mac or PC?

Uma or Oprah?

Ask any experienced blogger which platform is best for your small business and you’re liable to get a very specific response. Ask another and you’ll likely get an equally specific opposing opinion. That can make it a challenge for a novice to decide between platforms like blogger, wordpress, typepad, livejournal or others – no one, after all, wants to feel confined by a platform’s limitations once a blog is up and running.

As rstanley at Highfade.com explains, the truth is:

“There’s no such thing as a blogging platform that is objectively the best platform, because every blogger has unique needs.”

So, if not the best platforms, which are the most popular?

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Combine the hosted and self-hosted versions of WordPress and Movable Type (which includes Typepad), and these platforms dominate, supporting 60 of the top 100 blogs. So while it’s difficult to say which platform is the best, the ones the world’s most popular blogs use ought to give you a good idea.

Other considerations.

According to Maria Reyes-McDavis, the three things to consider when choosing your platform and building your blog are:

· Goals: “Whatever your goals, they need to be a result of your business objectives…. How you build, maintain and market your blog will depend on your goals.”

· Money: “Be realistic about money and your entire online experience. Don’t plan a caviar plan with a kool-aid budget.”

· Technology: “Build a blog you can easily manage. Blogging can be time-consuming…. And, think long-term too. It’s a heavy cost to realize an make changes later.”

What blog platform are you considering or do you use? And what are the pros and cons?

Posted by Lynnette in Technology on December 1st, 2009

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Of horoscopes, weather forecasts… and taco trucks

Let’s face it: if we were better at predicting the future, more of us would be a lot richer. Not wiser, maybe, but definitely richer.

And while I sometimes wonder about the value of forecasting, I still can’t help watching weather reports and checking my horoscope. This week “my daily routine will be injected with a dose of inspiration,” in case you were wondering.)

Which brings me back to how Canadian small business owners and executives say they’re feeling about the future. According to STAPLES Canada’s latest Small Business National Quarterly Index 71% predict their business situation will improve in the next 6 months – up from 58% in March.

So what really is in store for small businesses in the short term? Here’s one mind-blowing paradigm-shifting prediction that should give us all pause for thought – or inspiration: 90% of your sales will come from word of mouth or digital promotion by 2011.

Here’s one of my own:

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Earlier this year, the roving Kogi Korean taco truck made news by broadcasting its whereabouts – and marketing itself to adoring LA foodies – almost entirely on Twitter. I bet some creative Canadian entrepreneur will harness the power of free social media just as effectively – unless of course, one already has…

What are your predictions for 6 months out? Let me know and I’ll post some of your most interesting comments in an upcoming post.

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz, Lifestyle on November 18th, 2009

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