Blog Reviews by Bloggeries » Marketing

Trade Show Help – Blog Review

chrissie — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:31:24 +0000

For those who are interested in the Trade Show industry, you will want to check out a new blog that is all you need to know about Trade Shows. The blog is called Trade Show Help. If you are a Marketing Manager, Event Coordinator, Convention Planner, Booth Staffer, or just someone that wants to know more about the Trade Show world and about exhibiting at Trade Shows, this blog may have something valuable to offer you. The blog not only offers information about trade shows, but also provides answers to questions asked by its readers. How they do this is through a panel of 40 trade show experts with combined experience of over 100 years in the exhibiting industry that are ready to answer your questions on Trade Shows. To get an idea of what you will find here, check out the most recent bloggeries at Trade Show Help: Pop Up Display Graphics How Should They Be Rolled?, Trade Show Case Sticker and Label Removal?, Question on Banner Stand Heights, What Trade Show Promotional Items are the Most Successful?, Question on Cleaning Fabric Hanging Structure, and What’s the Best Trade Show for Pet Related Products?

The site is fairly new and is well organized with a clean professional template, thus making it very easy to navigate. Bloggeries are in black text on white background and links are highlighted in blue. Bloggeries are centralized and there is both a left and right sided navigation bar. There is also a convenient top navigation system to get to the blog’s main links which include links to the Home page, Exhibitor Resources, Trade Show Dictionary, About page, RSS, and Ask a Question. In the left navigation bar you will find the Recent Posts Menu, Pages Menu, Archives Menu, Blogroll, Tags, and Advertising. Here the Pages Menu provides a comprehensive list of anything you need to know about trade shows such as the blog’s About Page and Privacy Policy, Ask a Question page, Exhibitor Resources, Trade Show Articles, and Trade Show Terminology. In the right navigation bar you will find more links to Ask a Question, a Categories Menu, Hot Topics Menu and advertising.

Overall I give this blog a 3.8/5 for starter, though as a new blog it does look like it has a lot of potential as it grows. The blog scores well on navigation as it contains a lot of blog meat and navigation systems to assist readers in moving throughout the blog with ease. The blog offers good content that is easy to read and informative for the trade show reader. The blog also has a clean appearance that makes the blog look professional and well organized. I might suggest adding some pictures to go with some of the bloggeries, just to give the blog a little more color and to avoid the appearance of being a little too ‘texty’. The activity on the blog could use a little work, particularly since it is only a couple of months old and thus will want to maintain consistent activity to get as many readers as possible. Right now bloggeries are spaced sometimes a week or more apart, and the blogger will want to increase this a little bit to sustain any new readers coming in. Overall however, this is an easy to read blog with a well designed and easy to navigate template. With some more activity this blog should be able to build and sustain a healthy readership over time.

-Chrissie

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Trade Show Display Exhibits Blog – Review

chrissie — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:15:42 +0000

Bloggeries is going to look now at a blog that is dedicated to trade shows. The blog is known as the Trade Show Display Exhibits Blog and is located on its own domain at . The blog is generally a blog all about trade shows, so anything you ever wanted to know about trade shows you can find at this blog. Learn how to prepare for a trade show, about upcoming trade shows, how to market your trade show and so much more. To get an idea for what the Trade Show Display Exhibits Blog is about, have a look at any of their recent bloggeries: Trade Show Giveaways and Promotional Marketing Items; Trade Show Marketing, Post-Show Follow Up; Marketing Matters Within the Confines of my Cubicle; CotC – Carnival of the Capitalists December 3rd, 2007; Exhibitors and Trade Show Attendees; Marketing Stand Out at Trade Shows; Diving into Exhibiting; Dog Day at the Catalyst Exhibits, The Duchess Rides In; and 2008 Trade Show Preparation – How to Plan for a Tradeshow.

The blog is very simply laid out which makes it just as simple to navigate. Bloggeries are right marginalized and appear in white text on a black background with dark gray bordering. In the left navigation bar you will find a Blogroll, Archives, Pull Down Categories Menu, Blog Visitors widget, and Trade Show Blog Feed which is essentially the Recent Posts Menu. There are few pictures accompanying the bloggeries but you will find some on the odd post. The blog is almost entirely content with little extras in there to distract the readers so again, this makes navigation very easy. I might suggest then adding more entries to the Blog Feed Menu, as this will fill up some space on the blog a little more.

Overall I will give this a 3.4. This is a good blog but it seems to be lacking some punch. I might consider changing the theme as the grey and black is not appealing on the eyes. The blog is very texty with few pictures and the darkness of the background and borders makes this a difficult read from an appearance perspective. Navigation scores are okay, though I do recommend adding some more content in the navigation bar just to bulk the blog up a little bit, as it is currently a little sparse. The blog could also benefit from an About page which could be an addition to this navigation bar. Activity could also use some work, as there is no consistency to this either. Bloggeries are coming in every few days to a couple of weeks in between. I suggest some more regular content to sustain whatever readership the blog currently has. Overall however, this is a unique blog that is not unappealing, it just needs some work to spice itself up in order to see some future growth.

-Chrissie

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For All Your Blogs – Review

chrissie — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:00:52 +0000

If you are looking for another resource to get some tips on marketing your blog, you may want to check out the For All Your Blogs blog, a blog on blog marketing and resources you need to get your blog the traffic it deserves. I have to say, I have run across several blog marketing blogs and for a topic with a potential to get dry, this blog really gives you some new insights in a user-friendly credible manner. If you want to check it out, For All Your Blogs. To get an idea on the tips you will find here, check out any of their recent bloggeries: Backlinks-Text Link Publishing, Directory Submitter-Free Directory Software, The Free Site-Free Blog Services, Link2Me-Free Link Exchange Directory, Search Engine Myths Exposed, Adsense Revenue Sharing – List, and Blogoria Free Networking Tool.

The blog is only a few months old, but this is not easy to discover at first, which is interesting considering most new blogs are fairly obvious. The blog has a clean template and is nicely laid out which makes navigation very easy. Bloggeries are right marginalized and there is a left navigation bar. In the left navigation bar you will find a Vote for my Blog Widget, Advertising, a Recent Posts Menu for archived Posts with clickable links, Feedjit widget indicating blog post popularity, recommended reading, Link Partners, Traffic Generators, Blog Directories, Link List Information, Free Advertising Information, a Tag Cloud, and an Archive Menu. My first suggestion regarding navigation would be that some of the navigation menu be cleaned up a little. Perhaps the blogger could condense the formatting in the Recent Posts menu so that it does not simply look like a long list of links, though I do like the idea of a Recent Posts menu with clickable links for Archived Posts. I also think some of the link menus could be served better if they were condensed into one menu. For example condensing traffic links into one menu, directories into one menu and so forth. Right now this navigation bar simply looks like a long list of links and it could use some reformatting. I also suggest the Archives Menu be moved up the navigation bar closer to the top so readers can see it. At its current location at the bottom of the bar some readers may miss it. I also do not see a Categories Menu here, and I think the blogger could use this to organize posts better for their readers.

Overall I go with 2.4 for this blog. I really enjoyed reading this blog but think a little cleanup is necessary both for appearance, activity and navigation scores. That navigation bar really needs some work, but the content within it is very good for the niche of the blog. The content of the blog is well done, and in a user-friendly personal voice that gives credibility to the advice the blogger is giving. The activity is ranging from every few days to a few weeks in between, and I think if the blogger was able to focus on daily content they may be able to generate a more solid readership. Overall however, I think this blog has quite a bit of useful information at an early start, and this information is delivered very well also. If this blog continues on this path it should serve its demographic very well.

-Chrissie

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Minty Money – Make Money Online – Blog Review

Bloggeries — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:35:31 +0000

Bloggeries is going to look at another money making blog today, and this one is called Minty Money – Online Money Making Help Source. The blog does not have an author profile or about page, but it does appear to be a money making blog. The blogger uses standard money making services to make money on the Internet, and offers information and advice on these services. You can get a feel for how this blogger makes money on the Internet by reviewing any of his recent bloggeries: Website Name and Feed Changed, Referral News, Use MyBlogLog, Please Don’t Blog, and The Clickbot Fraud.

The blog is fairly young so there is really not much to it at this point. This normally makes it somewhat easy to navigate, but the blog does have some navigation concerns. Currently the formatting is set for only one post at a time appearing on the main page, and I do suggest the blogger change this setting to allow for a more blog-like look with at least a few more bloggeries on the page. If readers are looking for older posts, it will take them a long time to do so, and they will not likely stick around to keep clicking until they find them. The other navigation concern right now is that the Home link in the Header navigation bar does not work. It clicks back to the former website for the blogger with a ‘Page Not Found’ error. The blogger definitely wants to fix this as unworkable links are never good for the success of a website.

Bloggeries are left marginalized and are in black text on white background with links highlighted in blue. There is a right navigation system that contains subscription information, Content List (Archives Menu), Recent Posts Menu, and a menu for step-by-step signups for services such as Feedburner, Gmail, and blogroll. There is currently no categories menu which I attribute to the youth of the blog, but there are labels attached to posts. Currently labels look like ‘Feed Address Changed’ or ‘Website name changed’ and I recommend the blogger change these labels to searchable terms that the search engines would pick up. I also recommend the blogger add an About page or profile as this will enable the readers to connect purpose and vision to his blog a little bit better. Again, due to the youth of the blog, it is a little difficult to get a real grasp on what the blogger is looking for.

This blog definitely needs some growth and some work, and thus I am going with a 2/5 at this point. The blog does well for content and appearance, and at this point these seem to be its saving graces as the rest of the blog needs some cleaning up. There have been some issues the blogger needs to work on already discussed, so I would suggest the blogger start there. I also think if the blogger updates a little more frequently than he may see some additional traffic as well. Overall, I think this blog has a great running start, and with some advice out of a review, it may be just what the blogger needs to get his site rolling with some good readership.

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Chicago Trade Show Displays – Blog Review

chrissie — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:35:05 +0000

Bloggeries is going to look at a business blog today, and this is one that attendees of trade shows will be able to appreciate. The blog is called Chicago Trade Show Displays. The blog is exactly what its domain says it is, a trade shows displays blog for the Chicago area, and a trade shows tips blog that just about anyone who frequents trade shows will be able to enjoy. Have a look at any of their recent bloggeries to get an idea for exactly what the blog is about: Trade Show Leads – Make Them Count, Post Trade Show Evaluation and Follow-Up, Unhappy is as Unhappy Does – Dealing with an Unhappy Client, Effective Use of Banner Stands for your Next Event, Trade Show “Chotchkies”, Create a Winning Booth, Shipping May be Ripping you Off!, and What the Heck Does Drayage Mean?

The blog is cleanly laid out with a business style format and this makes it very easy to navigate. Bloggeries are right marginalized and there is a left navigation system as well as a top navigation system. Bloggeries are in black text on white background and there are blue accents and bordering. In the top navigation bar you will find links for Home, Contact Us, Trade Show Program Management, and Tradetec Skyline Displays. In the left navigation system you will find blogroll links menu, Editors Menu, Event Calendars, Trade Show Resources, Pages Menu, and Categories Menu. The Categories menu contains items such as Exhibit Services, New Products Announcement, Trade Show Tips, Trade Show News, and a category called Uncategorized. At present there are no accompanying pictures with the bloggeries as the blog is an information blog.

I will give this blog a 3/5 for now, but I suspect it is new and with some growth the blog should improve. It is difficult to tell at this point how old the blog is as there are no archives listed. The blog needs work in a few areas, but it does show some strength in some as well, so it has a good foundation at this point. Navigation is easy on the blog as there is not much to move around at this point. I would recommend removing the ‘Uncategorized’ category from the category menu, or changing the name of it to something less miscellaneous (such as Trade Show Information) as it makes the blog look a little disorganized. Appearance scores are very good as the blog has a nice clean template that gives it a true business feel. The content is well written and would be readable by an audience seeking this type of information, so as the blog grows, this may be its greatest asset. Activity however is lacking somewhat, with no strong consistency in activity. The last bloggery was run on January 2 and there is a range of one week to a month in between bloggeries. I also recommend adding an about page to the blog so that the bloggers and editors can establish a rapport with their readership by a small information page about the blog. Overall however, the blog has a good start and if it maintains the consistency of its quality content, it should do quite well in serving its niche as it grows.

-Chrissie

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