I just came across an excellent article discussing what blogging can do for your business. In Blogging: The Best SEO Tool for Small Businesses, Small Business Trends writer Janet Meiners Thaeler reports on a Hubspot study that shows “companies that blog have far better marketing results” than companies that don’t, including:

• 55% more visitors to their website
• 97% more links to their website
• 434% more indexed pages

Every time a member blogs on one of the NAIWE-linked blogs, the entire site receives an SEO boost, and the blogger rises in Google search engine rankings. I’ve informally tested how long it takes for a NewsWire post or one of my personal posts to show up in Google Alerts or on the front page of Google (when searched with relevant keywords), and it’s often less than an hour. The search engines love the PHP format and fresh content!

The lesson? Post something on your blog at least once a week. If you’re not sure where to start, Thaeler offers helpful tips and links to other resources. Blogging will benefit your business and can be part of the rising tide that lifts all NAIWE blogs!

The next Board of Experts Teleclass will feature NAIWE’s Smart Self-Publishing Experts, Linda and Jim Salisbury. If you have considered self-publishing or you work with self-publishers, don’t miss their interview or the outstanding tips they’ve posted on their NAIWE site.

Jim Salisbury is the publisher of Tabby House, a company that specializes in its own titles and quality book packaging for authors and small press. He is past president of the Florida Publishers Association and, with his wife, Linda, is co-author of Smart Self-Publishing: An author’s guide to producing a marketable book, (3rd edition), and The Tabby House Breezy Guide to Charlotte County and Southwest Florida. Tabby House has advised or produced books for nearly 400 authors and publishers since it was founded in 1990. Jim is a graduate of Upsala College with a B.S. in Geology. He spent many years in teaching and has a background in business.

Linda Salisbury, a former newspaper columnist and editor with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, is now a freelance writer, book reviewer, and senior editor at Tabby House. Linda has written several children’s books including the seven-book Bailey Fish Adventure series, and Mudd Saves the Earth. She has won prestigious awards including a bronze medal in the 2006 Moonbeam Children’s Book award in the pre-teen fiction category and was a finalist in the 2008 ForeWord magazine Book of the Year Contest, and earned the President’s Pick Award in the FPA best children’s books contest. She is the author of two collections of humorous newspaper columns, Good-by, Tomato; Hello, Florida and Read My Lips: No New Pets. Linda is a graduate of Oberlin College, with a degree in English.

Together, the Salisburys offer seminars on self-publishing, and Linda also speaks about writing children’s books and presents numerous school programs. They are based in Central Virginia.

If you’re already a subscriber to The Edge, you’ll receive the teleclass phone number and access code in your inbox on the day of the call. If you aren’t a subscriber, just sign up in the box on the NAIWE homepage, and click on the confirmation e-mail when it arrives in your inbox.

If you could complete only one task today, what should it be? Choose the activity with the highest ROI, do it firsthttp://ping.fm/xLs9P #

• Feeling blessed at close of day: finished priority projects plus extra bits. Added 2 new goodies for e-zine signups at http://www.NAIWE.com. #

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Do you have words that always seem to trip you up?

Join us Wednesday, August 12, on The Freelance Life, where we’ll talk with NAIWE Expert Barbara McNichol about problematic words and her book, Word Trippers: The Ultimate Source for Using the Perfect Word When It Really Matters (see it at http://bit.ly/on4pL). You’ll also learn Barbara’s top ten techniques for improving your writing!

 The Freelance Life

Wednesday, 08/12/2009 03:30 PM EDT

Phone Number: (724) 444-7444
Call ID: 38165

We are delighted to feature an interview with writer and editor Lillie Ammann, author of Dream or Destiny. Lillie’s career path shows her deep understanding of the idea that most successful freelancers have an “and” in their job description. She not only writes fiction, but also works with self-publishing authors on many aspects of the publication process.

Listen to Lillie’s interview at The Freelance Life podcast.

Q: Please share a little of your professional history with our readers.

As a freelancer, I enjoy working with a relatively small number of long-term clients. Though I started out writing and editing, I have added a number of other services as a result of clients’ requests.I love working with authors who choose to self-publish, and I think of myself as a book midwife, helping the author deliver a bouncing baby book. I edit the manuscript, consult with the author on publishing options, format the interior layout, and find and negotiate with a cover artist and printer. Most of my author clients ask me to create and maintain their Web sites and blogs as well as write and submit press releases, send out review copies, and assist with other promotional activities.

Q: How and when did you make this business a reality?

I started freelancing thirteen years ago after selling my interior landscape company. I had always dreamed of writing someday, but a stroke convinced me that someday had arrived.

Q: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned thus far in your career?

As an editor, my job is to make the writer sound exactly like himself or herself—only better. My voice has no place in the work. I smile every time a client reads the manuscript and says they can’t believe they wrote such a good book.

Q: Are you working on any personal writing projects at this time?

My personal writing projects are fiction.  Dream or Destiny, a romantic mystery, and Stroke of Luck, a contemporary romance, are published by a small press. My current work-in-progress is Act of Faith, the sequel to Dream or Destiny.

Q: What are some of the teachers, books, or authors who have influenced your professional life in a positive way?

I have learned so much from so many classes and books that narrowing the list down would be difficult. Although health issues have kept me from participating in as many events in recent years, early in my career I attended the conferences of several organizations each year. Some were better than others, but every one helped me improve my craft and expand my knowledge, as have the books I’ve read and classes I’ve taken.

Q: As a seasoned professional, what advice would you offer an independent writer or editor who is just beginning a career?

I always encourage writers and editors to join organizations to network and learn the business. The local chapter of a national romance writing organization and a local multi-genre writers group helped me tremendously when I started writing. NAIWE offers independent writers and editors learning opportunities as well as online networking and promotion.

Q: What inspires you?

As an editor, the joy of a newly published author inspires me to continue doing what I do.As a writer, a reader telling me they couldn’t put the book down inspires me to keep writing.

Q: How has your membership in NAIWE benefited you professionally?

I didn’t know about NAIWE until Words Matter Week, and the education and inspiration offered during that week sold me on joining the organization. Association with a professional organization of the caliber of NAIWE enhances credibility, and the blog, portfolio, and profile available to members give me another venue for people to find me.

Be sure to visit Lillie’s primary blog, to read her wonderful 8-part (so far) series on creating characters. You’ll definitely want to add her inspiring blog to your feed!