This is a bit off-topic for this site, but bears enough importance to warrant comment. . .the blogging going on at the Democratic party convention. Let me say up-front that I am not a Democrat, nor a supporter of their party's platform. That's not the purpose behind this post, however. Just a disclaimer.

What is of note is something that B. L. Ochman said on her blog, "Traditional media will have to take note or they will be left behind in bloggers' dust. It's inspiring and exciting to see this sea change."

Blogging will become ensconced as a formidable publishing medium. To quote ChangeThis.com, "Blogging is the populist response to the media hegemony: a sea of independent voices."

Traditional media better wake up and pay attention. Small business ought to as well. Blogging is here to stay.

Check out this Technorati search on the blogging at the convention.

There's a new book out. It's called "Building Your Business with Google for Dummies." It purports to be the "first-ever book to show businesses step by step how to capitalize on advertising programs offered by Google, the world's #1 search engine." Brad Hill, the author, also writes the search engine marketing blog at WebLogs, Inc.

The point I want to make is this: Someone can build a business through the intelligent use of one Internet application, in this case Google. Think about that for a minute. Does that sound as revolutionary to you as it does to me? To think that one search engine has not only become such a cultural phenomena that its very name is now a verb used in our vocabularly (We don't search for something, we "google" it.), but that entire business fortunes can be built using it alone! It would take people with far more grey matter than me to probe the depths of the significance of that fact.

But, wait, there's more!

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Here's an excellent post from Rick Bruner about how to promote your business blog. The most salient point he makes is this. . .

"Periodically produce a really utilitarian post that people are going to find particularly useful, not just interesting. Dedicate an hour or more to rounding up a lot of links on a theme or analyzing a trend in detail and debunking common misperceptions or otherwise really doing some real work of investigating, aggregating or articulating something that a lot of people are going to find useful."

If you A) are looking to start a small business either part-time or full-time and B) you love eBay, here's a business idea worth its salt. . .

Start an eBay consignment shop.

According to a Reuter's news article back in January, eBay consignment and drop-off shops are sprouting up all over.

There are already some heavy-hitters in the business too! One in particular, Auction-Drop, just inked a deal with UPS Stores to provide more drop-off points for individuals interested in using the service. Another, NuMarkets, even offers franchise opportunities. That doesn't mean there's not plenty of room for mom-and-pop operations, however, even working from your home part-time.

If you know how to buy and sell on eBay, this might be just the opportunity you've been looking for. Heck, place an ad in the classifieds of your local paper and see what happens. As business progresses you may want to consider opening an eBay store.

I was getting the oil changed in my car the other day at one of those quick lube places. Sitting in the waiting room I noticed a stack of nearby magazines. Since it was going to take a few minutes I rifled through the stack expecting to find periodicals like Car & Driver, Hotrod, or even Sports Illustrated. You know, guy stuff. How surprised I was to see copies of Ladies Home Journal, Southern Living, and Redbook. Then it dawned on me, this business knows who their customers are, and something about how to appeal to them!

There is a new book out, Don't Think Pink, that will help you see your brand through a woman's eyes, unlocking the secrets to developing products, services, and marketing strategies that truly resonate with female buyers. Written by ReachWomen.com's Lisa Johnson and Andrea Learned, the book focuses on what drives women's buying decisions, and how businesses can capitalize on this enormous (and evergreen) market.

With women heading some 40% of households in America, making 85% of consumer buying decisions and running 40% of all companies in the U.S., it makes sense that marketers would want to appeal to this audience. Marketers need to understand the customers, get their feedback and focus on the context of the product.

According to Promo Magazine women are driving the growth of online shopping. Last year, women accounted for 52% of online buyers — 18.9 million of the total 36.5 million U.S. shoppers online, according to Forrester Research. Thirteen percent of women shop online in a given week, compared to 9% who shop in a drugstore, reports WSL Strategic Retail, a New York City consultancy. Even among teens, girls tend to get down to business online more quickly than boys.

I don't know if the guys down at the oil change place have read this book. Probably not. They just know more women come through their doors than men I guess, and are trying to appeal to them. Shouldn't you?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is both art and science. You can spend lots of money and end up with minimal returns if you don't know what your doing. Here are some answers to questions you might not have asked, but need to.

There are site submission services that promise to submit your site to thousands of search engines. Is that a good tactic?

First, there aren't thousands of search engines on the Internet. There are many free-for-all link sites, and many special interest sites, but not thousands of search engines. Second, it won't do you any good to submit your site to directories that have nothing to do with your business.

Which search engines should you submit to?

Currently, there are only three major players: Google, Yahoo and MSN Search. They are responsible for the bigger part of the search engine traffic you can get because they also power other search engines.

What about directories?

Directories are different from search engines because all web site submissions are reviewed by humans. The most important one is The Open Directory Project at www.dmoz.org.

You should also submit to topic specific search engines. If your web site sells garden equipment, you should submit your web site to specific garden directories. Even if they don't send you some visitors, they could improve the link popularity of your web site which helps your ranking in other search engines.

Of course, none of it means anything if your web site is not optimized for search engines. Search engines see your web pages with different eyes than web surfers. Search engines crawl your site looking for text. If your site doesn't have keyword and description metatags, if the title tags aren't keyword optimized, and if the content in the body of your pages is either not keyword optimized or of sufficient quantity, then it is simply not ready to be submitted.

As I said at the outset, SEO is both art and science. To do it well, you need to be armed with some knowledge and the right tools. Let me recommend two resources to you that can help.

The first is an ebook called the SEO Book. This book, written by SEO expert Aaron Wall, has wide acclaim, and is kept current with the latest, most relevant information. It will give you the knowledge you need, and comes with a money-back guarantee.

The second resource is an SEO software program called IBP. It's a suite of 10 professional web promotion tools that help you with all aspects of web site promotion and search engine optimization. You can download a trial version at no cost.

Search Engine Optimization is not an option these days. If you want to compete either locally or on a global scale, it's a necessary component.

If you're thinking about incorporating a weblog into your business marketing and communications strategy, let me cite what I think are two pristine examples of the genre:

• BizNetTravel.com - This travel industry blog goes from "soup to nuts" giving the reader practical and valuable travel information. The site ought to become "travel central" for every savvy traveler. Interestingly, they use TypePad as their blog platform. (Why not Movable Type instead?)



• My friend Kevin O'Keefe uses a blog to support his business LexBlog.com, which just happens to provide blog sites for attorneys. Kevin's blog, called "Real Lawyers Have Blogs," talks about, what else, blogging! (And, in this paragraph I used the word "blog" six times! Talk about keyword stuffing!)

The good news for all search engine marketers is that there is a window of opportunity until September 30 to purchase or renew your Ask Jeeves Site Submit subscription. If you don’t act before September 30, you may be unable to secure this low cost paid inclusion offering. The countdown has begun!

With Site Submit, your content can be found throughout the Teoma search partner network, including sites such as: Ask.com, Teoma.com, Metacrawler, Excite, MyWay.com, Mamma.com, Hotbot.com, and Search123.com. (Forgive me for not hyperlinking all those. I didn't have the time. Right-click, copy, and paste always works.)

If you've thought of adding an affiliate program to your marketing mix, here are some things you ought to consider. . .

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You've heard the old joke, "What do you call an honest lawyer? An oxymoron." Well, I found an attorney who shatters that sterotype. His name is Kevin O'Keefe, and aside from being a lawyer, he is the president of LexBlog.com, a start-up company that builds blog sites for attorneys.

I had the opportunity to speak with him a couple of days ago, and found in Kevin a man whose real desire is to help people. He did that for 17 years in his law practice, and he's doing it now through his business. That's why he started his company, and that is why he and it will be a success - he's helping keep lawyers honest! He's doing it by giving them the tools needed to communicate in an authentic, honest way, through blogs!