Bright Ideas Blogzine
Issue #1 - August 2008
Publisher: http://heblogssheblogs.com/

Welcome to the first issue of Bright Ideas Blogzine! Every month,
your blogzine will be packed--we're talking JAM packed--with
practical blogging, writing, and marketing tips. Since it's our
kickoff issue, we thought we'd help you get to know us better.

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   IN THIS ISSUE
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1. Q & A With Jim Rubart and Laura Christianson

2. How to Drive Traffic to Your Blog: A Blog Makeover

3. Hot Posts on HeBlogsSheBlogs.com

4. Featured Services

5. Helpful Links

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1. Q & A With Jim Rubart and Laura Christianson
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Q: Who are you guys, anyway?

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

Q: Do you offer marketing and writing services, too?

A: 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. http://heblogssheblogs.com/resources/

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.

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

A: 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.
http://heblogssheblogs.com/resources/blogging/

Q: Who is on the He Blogs, She Blogs team?

A: 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.

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

A: 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.

Q: 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!

Q: 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.

Q: Who are your bloggers?

A: 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.
http://heblogssheblogs.com/faq/


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2. How to Drive Traffic to Your Blog: A Blog Makeover
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Author and speaker, Janet Perez Eckles
(http://www.janetperezeckles.com/), came to us with that
question. Janet's primary audience is women who hunger for hope,
inspiration, and encouragement.

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. 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. http://heblogssheblogs.com/resources/blogging/


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3. Hot Posts on HeBlogsSheBlogs.com
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MARKETING

Business Card Marketing
Essentials of a great business card
http://heblogssheblogs.com/2008/06/02/businesscardmarketing/

Yellow Page Advertising: Waste or Essential Marketing?
Why you may be wasting thousands on yellow page ads
http://tinyurl.com/5rwue8

'Green' Marketing Must Appeal to the Customer's Self-Interest
How to convert those who haven't yet joined the eco-chic bandwagon
http://tinyurl.com/68wklb

Marketplace Manners - For Serving and Being Served
The importance of gracious customer service
http://tinyurl.com/6axwga

BLOGGING

Doggone Bloggy: Glenn Close Starts 'Lively Licks' Blog
Blog enhances Close's pet supply business
http://heblogssheblogs.com/2008/05/16/glennclose/

MySpace for Babies? Say It Isn't So!
Infants and toddlers crawl into the social networking fray
http://heblogssheblogs.com/2008/06/24/totspot/

Working Mother Magazine Builds Business Via Blogs
CEO learns that blogging is fastest, easiest way to connect with
readers
http://tinyurl.com/6zcbm5


WRITING

Great Dialogue Makes Your Prose Sing
Sparkling,unimbellished dialogue speaks for itself
http://tinyurl.com/6cz57o

Good Writing is Tight Writing. Great Writing is Tighter.
How to express an idea in 7 words, instead of 17
http://tinyurl.com/6j324x

The Value of a Writing Critique Partner
Why writers need constructive criticism
http://tinyurl.com/5b5lo8


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4. Featured Services
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BLOG TUNE-UP PACKAGES
http://heblogssheblogs.com/resources/blogging/

Choose any 2 tune-up services - 15% off

Choose any 3 tune-up services - 25% off

Choose all 5 services - 35% off

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MARKETING DEMYSTIFIED
A complete intro to branding yourself for maximum impact
http://heblogssheblogs.com/resources/marketing/

An interactive, hands-on course, tailored for writers' conferences.


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5. Helpful Links
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HeBlogsSheBlogs - http://heblogssheblogs.com

E-mail Us - info@HeBlogsSheBlogs.com

Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/heblogssheblogs

Subscribe to our blog - E-mail: HeBlogsSheBlogs@aweber.com

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