 We are excited to announce that we have chosen YWCA Metro St. Louis as our women's charity of choice for the first quarter of 2012!
In honor of Women's History Month in March 2012, we will be donating 10% of our revenue between January and March to the YWCA Metro St. Louis to help their women's programs!Congratulations to YWCA Metro St. Louis to be the first charity chosen! We are excited to support this group as 2012 approaches!Check back January 31st., 2012 for the January total being given to YWCA Metro St. Louis for that month!
 Are you crazy about weddings? Many bloggers like to use their wedding editorial blog as their own business. Think of these sites as digital magazines coupled with the interactive platform of a social community.
If you are thinking of creating a blog as a wedding editorial, here are a few tips to keep in mind:
Choose a Theme OR Specific Region for Increased Viewership
One mistake some wedding editorials make is to be the best site ever made for brides. This is not only very difficult to do without a large team behind you doing promotions or marketing, but can feel overwhelming.
It is best to start out small. Make your blog regional, such as for your state (Missouri, Colorado, New York, or wherever you live!), region (such as Southwest weddings or Northeast weddings) or city (Phoenix, San Diego, or whatever large nearby city in your area), for increased views.
You might also choose a theme, but choose carefully! Choosing too narrow of a theme might limit the topics you can talk about, but too wide of a theme might not attract the audience you wish.
Some popular wedding editorial themes include DIY wedding decor, faith-specific wedding blogs, or style-specific wedding blogs, such as vintage wedding style blogs.
 Include These Important Pages!
Believe it or not, some of the best wedding editorial sites fall short when they forget these important pages!
About Page
Tell your readers about you and why you made the blog! Include a photo to make it more personable.
Blog Page
Whether or not your blog is on page 1, you should include a tab to the blog for easy navigating. You want brides to read your blog, right? Make it easy to find!
Contact Page
Allow people to contact you via a form or email address. If they want to ask for your help, they need this page to contact you!
Submissions Page (optional)
While not a requirement, a submissions tab lets photographers and brides know that you are willing to post their photos or story (or both)!
Press/Advertising Page
To grow your readership, it would be wise to allow for sponsorships and advertisements from vendors. A good place to put these are in the sidebar of your website.
Include this page so vendors know your guidelines and how to contact you about writing about your site in a news article or sponsoring your blog.
 Use SEO and Interact!Many wedding editorial blogs fail because they do not use words their targeted readers are using in search engines. For example, if you want to reach readers for DIY weddings in Virginia, your site wording needs to include the state name, the words DIY, bridal, wedding, etc. Don't just include these keywords in your landing page, either! Use them throughout the site's blogs, but don't overload your pages with the phrases. Optimizing your site for search engines helps people searching for those basic keywords come to your site!Another mistake wedding editorial blogs make is posting blogs, but never interacting with their readers or other blogs. This means making partnerships and using proper Twitter etiquette to gain readership. Consider making a Facebook page to reach out to your key audience.
 Include Real Weddings
Whether you choose to focus on bridal fashion or DIY decor, including a section or category on your blog for real weddings is key!
This will bring more traffic to your blog, will help real brides see that you are interested in their wedding and is easy to incorporate into any theme.
Too many blogs focus on crafts for weddings or what vendors in the area are great. Make the blog personable -don't leave out real weddings!
 Twitter has become an important platform for business marketing and indirect sales. Businesses have found great ways to use Twitter and start bringing buzz to their biz.
However, there are many businesses that break with etiquette when it comes to using Twitter. Here are some practical do's and don'ts businesses of all sizes should use for their accounts.
 Do...
start a conservation.
Twitter was made with interaction in mind. If your account doesn't engage on Twitter, you're almost better off not having one at all.
If you want to have a good following on the site, try to talk with your followers or retweet relevant content. You'll be glad you did!
Bottom line: Twitter is for interacting. Either come aboard the the boat or board another ship!
 Don't...
auto DM.What started out as a good concept has morphed into a pet peeve for avid tweeters everywhere. Auto DM's have quickly become the bane of Twitter's existence. Unfortunately, many businesses and even solo entrepreneurs still engage in this practice.Believe it or not, auto DM's are actually quite counter-productive and will result in many unfollows. Bottom line: If you want to get your brand out their on Twitter, don't use auto DM's.
 Do...
perform solid customer service.
Businesses that sell products should especially pay attention to good customer service as part of their online presence!
If you have a business Twitter account, make sure your social media manager watches for any signs that customers aren't happy with services. They may @ your account looking for help. What you do from there will result in either the customer's satisfaction or further frustration.
Bottom line: Always be on the lookout for opportunities to fix problems and meet your customer's expectations through social media.
 Don't...
spam your followers or potential business.
You want to get your brand out there? Don't send the same message or link over and over to followers or potential business.
Too often, businesses can turn off their followers with this kind of behavior. It might make sense to do this, but it will just result in more unfollows and less interaction.
If you use Twitter to find business, it is also wise not to tweet the same message over and over to potential partners.
For example, if you use Twitter as a reporter, don't @ multiple accounts the same message so you can find out information. Chances are, they will not respond and you will look desperate.
Better practices for talking to multiple businesses in the same industry might include searching through Twitter for their contact information (website, phone number, etc.) and sending an email or making a phone call instead.
Bottom line: While email and phone calls are not as mainstream as @'ing accounts on Twitter, they still get the job done and won't result in spamming potential partners (or your own followers)!
 We're excited to share with you our first post with DBMEi! We wrote about the importance of Facebook marketing engagement tools. Businesses of all sizes can benefit from Facebook marketing, but make sure you do it right!To view the post in full, click here.
 We have added a Testimonials page to our site so you can see what others have to say about the work MeganWrites Media does. Check it out!
You can also find more recommendations and testimonials at our LinkedIn page.
Coworking is a growing trend among the self-employed. Many businesses have begun to cater to freelance professionals and independent consultants that require a space to work.
When you cowork, you rent an office space - sometimes a desk, other times an entire office area - and work independently from others in the space.
There are a number of pros and cons to coworking. Here are two pros and cons of coworking, as well as some facts on the phenomenon.
 PROs to Coworking:For freelancers in an urban area, one advantage to coworking might include a professional address. This allows you to send and receive correspondence from clients or set up meetings. Rather than giving your apartment number, freelance professionals can give their coworking address to clients.
Sometimes, working at home can be distracting. The kids might bother you on the weekends, your significant other might want you to run errands, or the space in general can provide a distraction.
Using a coworking space is advantageous for those that need to get out of the house away from the distractions to work. Coworking can also offer you a way to schedule your work so you can make the most of your time.
 CONs to Coworking:
Because you are renting space from a coworking company, your funds are diverted from professional development, software updates, etc.
Freelancers that have just started their business might want to wait to try coworking and work on marketing their business first. Otherwise, whatever money you make starting out cannot be invested in the business. There are plenty of relatively cheap and free spaces new freelancers can work, such as libraries and coffee shops.
Many freelance professionals enjoy the flexibility and freedom of being in business for themselves. One disadvantage to coworking might include feeling like your schedule is less flexible.
Some coworking spaces have specific office hours, and for freelancers that like to work odd hours (early in the morning or late into the night), this could prove to be difficult. Renting a space you might only be able to use for certain hours might feel like an inconvenience. This is, of course, a personal choice.
Some Facts on Coworking:
- According to the 2011 Freelance Industry Report (opens as PDF), only about 8% of self-employed freelance professionals cowork. The majority still work from home.
- American game designer, author and lecturer Bernie DeKoven coined the term "coworking" in 1999. It was Brad Neuberg, however, in 2005 that used it to describe a physical space.
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