Blog Member Welcome Kit

1. Blog Member Welcome Kit New Blog Member Welcome Kit By David Foreman dave@interactivelimited.com

2. How to Use the Interactive Limited Blog Site • Click here to view our library of training videos.

3. Where to Find Blog Topic Ideas • Watch out for Duplicate Content – Learn to “Re-purpose” • Remember when you took your high school essay on Yeats and re-wrote it for your Freshman English lit. class in college. You can still do the same thing at work. • Google will not direct traffic to pages that have duplicate text to another site. If you find a company article that has already been published to the web just “re-purpose” the article by re-writing it in your own voice and post it. • Re-use sales literature - company brochures, case studies, newsletters • White Papers • Interview your co-workers, referral partners, ISV partners, industry experts • Sign up for free Google Alerts on keywords of your choice (www.google.com/alerts) • Review Google analytics for top search phrases/keywords • Hot Topics: Comparisons, Top 10 Lists, How To Articles, Industry Trends, Reviews

4. Secret to Successful Blogging is Keywords! • Long tail keywords are searches done in the form of phrases (e.g. “Microsoft Dynamics GP partner in Connecticut” • Good blog writing allows you to link back to your web site with “Long Tail Keywords” that attract visitors who are likely to buy. • Traffic from long tail keywords converts visitors to prospects at a very high rate. • The best way to capture high quality traffic is through blogging. This guide will teach you how to blog so your site attracts visitors who are making buying decisions.

5. How to Write Posts • Review New Member Training and consult a keyword list. (A great source for keywords is the list of categories and tags in the New Post area of the Blog Admin page) • Write your post in a Microsoft Word document and use the spell check function. • Add hyperlinks to your Word document. Check links using Alt-Left Click command. • Add your “byline/signature” at the end of the post in this format. • By {Company} – {State} {Microsoft Credentials (as link text)} • (For example: by CAL Business Solutions - Connecticut Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner) • Top Linking Tips: • Google only counts each link in your post once, so don’t • Do not link to your company homepage within your post – save it for the byline. • Link to interior pages on your site with content related to your post. • Remember to include byline on every post, this is the only way your name will show when post is syndicated or viewed in RSS feed.

6. Top 10 SEO Tips for Bloggers • Review a keyword list • Focus on your headline! Should grab attention and include keywords • Hyperlink on phrases with strong keywords • Ask: “What would a prospect type into search engine?” For example: Click Hereis not a good link! • Approximately 1 link per 100 words • Link to website page that contains link phrase words on the page (and title tags) • Link to interior pages on your website • Use links only once per post (duplicate links are disregarded by Google). • Include a call to action (download, offer, event) • Include local city/state keywords whenever possible • Always include your byline/signature at end of the post

7. Quick Posting Instructions • Read the instructions below or watch this Video • Log into blog’s backend at http://{blog-name}/wp-admin • If you don’t remember your password, click on link to resend. Password will be sent to email you provided at sign up. • Click on “Posts / Add New” from the left side menu. • Click the “Kitchen Sink” Icon under the “Visual” Tab: • Click the “Paste From Word” Icon: • Copy and Paste post from Word into the pop up window and click “Insert” • Add Tags (more on this later) • Select up to 3 Categories from the menu on the right. • Click “Save Draft” in the upper right. Then click “Preview” and click on all links to make sure they are working. • Submit your post for approval.

8. How to Add Tags to Your Post • Tags are seen by site visitors and search engines and help to define the important concepts in your post. • Use the “Post Tags” area on the right site of the Add New Post page to allow for better search engine “spidering”. • As you type a new tag the blog platform will suggest tags that have been used before. Use existing tags whenever possible and add new tags only when there is no existing fit.

9. Add Links from your website to the blog Help Us Build a Stronger Blog Site • You can improve the power of your posts on the blog by placing links on your company website back to the blog. More Content + More Links = A Stronger Blog = More Leads • Consider placing 2 links on your site: • One to the home page of the blog • One to your profile page on the blog • Good pages to place the links are: About us or Product pages related to the blog. • Place the links inside of sentences, for example: • About Us Page: “XYZ Partner is proud to be a member of the Accounting Software Review Blog.” or Product Page: “Read some great articles about Dynamics Software on our blog.” • Important Rules for Linking to the Blog: • Do not put links into page footers or header. It is not good to have the links repeated on every page of your site. • Do not use the examples above, it is important that you use unique sentences. • Providing links from your site to the blog is an important part of building the blog.

10. Drive Traffic to Your Blog Profile Page • Add blog links to your LinkedIn Profile, Twitter and anywhere else you have an online profile. • Read posts on the site and leave your comments. • Send the blog links to your friends, colleagues, customers and ask them to leave comments on their favorite posts. • Recommend more partners to join the group. • Formula for Successful Blogging: • More Content + More Links = Stronger Blog = More Leads!

11. Use Site Analytics To Track Success We strongly recommend that you use Google Analytics (a free tool) on your own website to track how much traffic you receive from the blog to your website. You especially want to track Total Unique Visitors and Referral Links. For assistance in setting up Google Analytics on your website contact dave@interactivelimited.com http://www.google.com/analytics/

12. Reminders • Review Blogging Tips and Best Practices in our New Member Training Library. • Attend a live new member training call or review or recorded : New Member Webinar • Download a guide to blog topics from our library in the “Your Blog” section of our training website: http://training.89blogs.com • To get the next level of blogging expertise review our video Library: Advanced Blog Training

13. FAQ’s Visit our training website and check out the FAQ section for answers to commonly asked questions: Q: I forgot my password, what do I do? A: Go to the login screen of your blog (blog URL + /wp-admin) and click on Forgot Your Password? link to resend. Password will be sent to email you provided at sign up.) Q: I submitted a post but it is not on the site yet? How long does it take to be approved? A: Every post is reviewed by a professional proofreader. We aim to have all posts approved within 48 hours. If you have a special need for a post to be approved quickly, send an email request to info@interactivelimited.com. (Note: proofreader will not check links, so please verify link accuracy on your own) Q: Can I have more than one Author name? A: No, the site only allows one author name per company that shows at the top of each post automatically. You can choose to have the author name show only a company name. Although we feel that having a personal name makes the posts appear more genuine. Some members choose to have one author name but if a different staff member writes a post, they will include their name in the byline of the post. Q: Can I change the Author name? A: Yes, we can change the author name for you at any time. However, it will change the name for all past and future posts. It can not be changed for individual posts. Q: Why don’t I get more leads in my state? A: We wish that we could control lead flow to make it equal in all states. Our only suggestion is to use more geographic keywords in your posts to drive more local traffic to the site. Q: How do I change information on my profile page? A: Most blog members can change their own. Please refer to How To Set Up User Profile Page. EXCEPTION: ERP and CRM blog members must ask us to make these changes for you. Please send any changes to anya@erpsoftwareblog.com

14. More FAQ’s Q: Where are the blogs syndicated? A: We are syndicated on the Dynamics Community site at: ERP: https://community.dynamics.com/blogs/crmsoftwareblog/default.aspx CRM: https://community.dynamics.com/blogs/erpsoftwareblog/default.aspx Accounting Software Review: Coming soon SharePoint: Coming soon MS Infrastructure: Coming soon Cloud: Coming soon Q: Can I submit this expense for Microsoft CDF/co-marketing funds? A: For Dynamics partners this project is approved for CDF Funds. Submit under category of Marketing Consulting. Other Microsoft partners please consult your fund administrators. Q: I work in multiple states, can I advertise that on the blog? A: Each partner is assigned to represent just one state. This dictates where you are listed in the directory and where you receive leads. You can NOT use names of states you do not represent in these areas: Any Hyperlinked text, Blog Title, Tags You CAN use other state names in the body of your text (as long as it is not a hyperlink). You are free to list all areas (and products) on your profile page.