ho are you guys, anyway?

He Blogs, She Blogs is a Seattle-area company that specializes in creating, writing, and managing business blogs.

Do you offer marketing and writing services, too?

Yes. We're professional writers, and we know that for writing to sell, it has to be great. Our interactive seminars teach people simple techniques that boost their writing skills and make their marketing have impact.

Clients hire us to create or overhaul their Web sites, write and produce radio spots, TV spots, e-newsletters, press releases, direct mail, and other types of content.

Do you work with individuals, as well as with businesses?

Absolutely! In fact, we recently did two consults with individual bloggers. We've developed an array of blogging packages for individuals and businesses--everything from a basic blog tune-up to a complete blog overhaul.

Who is on the He Blogs, She Blogs team?

The team currently consists of co-founders, Jim ("He") Rubart, Laura ("She") Christianson, four part-time contract employees, our graphic design/development team, and two salespeople.

Why did you name your company He Blogs, She Blogs?

Jim is a creative, big-picture guy while Laura is a behind-the-scenes, detail-oriented gal.

Together, we make a much stronger team than we would individually. And frankly, there are things guys are blind to and vice-versa with women. By having a male and female running the company we can give our clients a well-rounded perspective and tools to help them shine. As a he/she team, we bring vastly different, yet complementary skills and perspectives to the table.

We also hire both male and female bloggers, and we work with male- and female-owned businesses, so our moniker seems a perfect fit.

How did Jim and Laura meet and decide to go into business together?

Jim - My wife sends Laura and her husband an inordinate amount of money monthly to work with me and keep me off the street. Actually, Laura and I met at a writers' conference a number of years ago, kept in touch and brainstormed with each other on various writing projects. When Laura came up with the vision to create a company based on blogging, it was a natural fit for me to bring my marketing background to the proverbial table, and we joined forces.

Laura - Ah, that Jim; he's such a joker! At the writers' conference Jim refers to, people who attended my blogging workshops dubbed me "blogging queen" and begged me to start a consulting business. How could I refuse? I shared my plan with Jim and asked him for some marketing advice. Instead of giving me marketing advice, he said, "Let's go into business together!" How could I refuse? We landed our first clients before we even had our official business license!

What skills do you both bring to the company?

Jim - As mentioned earlier, I love exploring the big picture. Since 1994 I've been the owner and creative director of JR2 Marketing, working and/or training clients such as Cingular/AT&T to RE/MAX to ABC to Clear Channel radio.

Because of my background in advertising, marketing, speaking, and sales training, I'm able to offer those skills to companies and individuals wanting to breakout in the blogging world and make a significant impact.

Other stuff:  I graduated from the University of Washington in 1985 with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism, am on the board of a Seattle area writers' group, member of ACFW, The Writer's View, and the National Association of Speakers.  I also love photography, playing guitar, water-skiing, speaking, golfing, and am a semi-pro magician. But my favorite way to spend time is with my perfect wife and my two almost-perfect sons.

Laura - Whew, reading Jim's bio exhausts me! I've had a varied career, as well. After graduating from Whitworth University sometime before 1985 (okay, it was 1982) with a B.A. in English/Education and a minor in Journalism, I taught journalism and English in the trenches of the public education system. While simultaneously earning my master's degree. (Because I have that degree in hand, I feel complete freedom to use sentence fragments.)

Some 11 years into that career, after our own kids came along, I unceremoniously "retired" from teaching and morphed into a freelance journalist (I've written two books, contributed chapters to two more books, and written tons of magazine articles). I've also done a stint as the public relations director at a fast-growing national franchise, blogged professionally, and have been writing my own award-winning blog (www.exploringadoptionblog.com) for four years.

I am still a teacher at heart; I love mentoring and instructing emerging writers, and I teach at writers' conferences around the country.

Other stuff: I live with my hubby of nearly 26 years and our two imperfect-but-loveable sons. I like to swim, snorkel, rollerblade, "camp" (in our 30-foot trailer), read to my sons, and watch DVDs of old TV shows with them.

Who are your bloggers?

We love our blogging team! They are professional freelance writers who have years of experience in the industry. We're not going to tell you their names because several of them are ghost writers, but suffice it to say they are highly-capable, self-motivated, extremely reliable writers. In addition to our regular bloggers, we work with several interim bloggers who fill in when a team member has an emergency. If you're interested in joining our team, please read our FAQ and download an application.

How can I drive more traffic to my Web site and blog? Author and speaker, Janet Perez Eckles, came to us with that question. Janet's primary audience is women who hunger for hope, inspiration, and encouragement.                                                              BEFORE We looked at Janet's site and offered her a slew of suggestions on how she can pump up her brand (and thus, increase visitor traffic to her site). We also recommended ways she can give her Home page a cosmetic makeover. Here are five of our suggestions: 1.  Your story is powerful, Janet. Losing your vision as an adult, suffering infidelity, the tragedy of your youngest son's murder, and the acquittal of the man who took his life. You are more than qualified to encourage women who are in difficult circumstances! However, this information is buried in the "Welcome" message on your site's home page. Rewrite your "lead" so visitors learn those details about you in the first sentence - they'll be hooked! 2.  We love your tagline, "Faith and Love with a Latin Flair." And we love the fact that you included a "welcome" page en Español. But your tagline isn't used anywhere else on the site. If you want focus on your "Latin flair," consider adding an audio introduction and other features in both English and Español. 3.  Your site has a feminine feel, which is perfect, considering your audience is mostly women. And while the type font in your banner is attractive, the italicized script font in your navigation buttons is distracting and difficult to read. Change that to a standard, sans-serif font such as Arial. 4.  Your newsletter subscription form contains a mysterious image of a white mailbox. The image, while tiny, is distracting. What is its purpose? Does this mailbox have a story behind it?  (Janet told us that there is, indeed, a story behind the image; she'll be moving it to her "Contact" page, inserting it into a callout that tells the story). 5.  You post three times per week on your blog, but are concerned that people aren't reading it. We know why. First, your blog is buried in the sidebar, on the bottom of the home page. Most people won't take the time to scroll through that narrow column, and if they click the link to read the blog in its own page, they are routed to an interior page on your site where they again have to scroll through your introduction in order to access the content. We recommend: Add a "blog" navigation button to your Home page. Move the blog content out of the sidebar altogether give the blog its own page. Axe the blog intro so readers can dive right into the content of your most recent post. Janet is making good progress on upgrading her site, as you can see from the "Before" and "After" pictures above. She notified us that she has rewritten her "Welcome" message, changed the fonts in her navigation buttons, and cleaned up her newsletter subscription form. She says, "I've already received comments that it's easier to navigate." Does your Website and/or blog need a tune-up, or perhaps a complete overhaul? Visit our Resources page for complete details about our blogging packages.