Reaching out for high tech advice

Wendy Meyeroff from WM Medical Communications, Inc. was sparked by one of my recent blog posts to ask a few questions.  She's a print writer with lots of experience who also writes web content.  She claims she's not a "techie," and says she only first heard the terms SEO and keywords in the beginning of this year.  She's wondering about two things:

1. I could spend a fortune signing up for classes and investing in books, and also spend hours reading.  But I'm a hands-on type of person.  If I had a tutor, maybe a more techno-savvy "partner" I could probably figure out Google rankings and Twitter (totally confuses me) in a few hours.  Trying to do it alone, I'm just thoroughly confused.  Does anyone know a place where I could barter:  the techie who'd train me in exchange for some really nifty articles they could backlink to enhance their visibility?  (Or maybe something else?)

2. I started a blog in Blogger, but stopped 'cause someone told me any ads I might glean would enrich Google, not me.  In another place they said you must use Wordpress...but they added you need a techie to help you get started or it would take forever.  It looks like you're using Typepad.  I just wanted to ask your attendees to give me an opinion.  Which one is worth either the money or time to invest in?  (Again, maybe I could set up a bartering arrangement.)

Any ideas or advice we can share?

Comments

[Andrew Schulkind]

I agree that having a mentor or guru walk you through these things (anything, really) is way more efficient. They'll take the ocean of information you're likely to be faced with, and put it into some sort of context that relates to your situation more directly.

And once those first useful pieces fall into place, the rest becomes easier to understand and either use or forget about.

As for blogging platforms, you don't HAVE to be anywhere. (Though I do agree that WordPress is a better choice long-term.)

You're probably better off without ads. Unless you build a lot of traffic, you're not going to see much return.

Plus, I would think the goal of a blog for you would be building relationships, establishing thought leadership, and making connections rather than generating ad revenue.

Hope that helps,

Andrew Schulkind
Andigo New Media
www.andigo.com

[Jim Bursch]

I would be glad to offer my services in barter. I am in the process of setting up a consulting/web development business, and Wendy sounds like exactly the kind of client with whom I like to work.

I highly recommend the WordPress solution because it is far-and-away the most versatile solution, as well as the low-cost solution. It may seem a little scary at first, but as you get to know and love it, the more you will be able to do, and the more independent you become.

I was a Typepad blogger for a long time after leaving Blogger. The reason I recommend WordPress over TypePad is that WordPress will vastly expand your horizon for very little cost. Innovation occurs much faster in WordPress because it is an open source platform.

Of course, discussing platforms is like discussing religion, so I'm sure there are adherents to other platforms who will disagree with my assessment.

Feel free to contact me -- talk is cheap (actually, it's FREE to talk to me!).

Jim Bursch
310-869-5340

[Andre]

Wendy, thanks so much for your post. I agree that most of the time, especially when the learning curve is rather steep, one should get a good mentor, a good freelancer. This speeds up the process immensely. about blogger versus WP - I'm convinced that as of now WP is the ultimate choice for blogging. For so many reasons. If you don't want to set up your WP blog yourself, hire a freelancer for $20 to $100. He/she will have you runnung in 30 minutes or less.
I have good experiences with: elance.com, rentacoder.com, outsourcing offshore.

[Jeannine Papelino]

Hello Wendy,

I agree, it's definitely great to have mentors. I too am just tackling Wordpress--something I'll be doing very soon to develop a business newsletter. I have checked out a Wordpress environment and it seems fairly easy. I'd be happy to address any questions you might have, even as I fumble through the process myself. I know once you get the hang of it, it will be easy.

[Catherine Cantieri, Sorted]

I too am considering making the switch to Wordpress from Typepad. They're launching a new version of Typepad soon, and hopefully it'll provide the stuff I've started to want from a blogging platform. If not, though, I'm ready to start looking at Wordpress.

Deirdre, please keep us posted on Wendy's decisions and progress!

[Sara Kmiecik]

I have definitely always preferred to use Wordpress over Typepad, and have been doing so for years.

It is definitely important to have a mentor. I would also recommend checking out SEO Book - www.seobook.com. I know you said you don't have too much time, but they have a great online book that explains all the basics of SEO that you would need for your website.