Latest Posts

7 tips for search engine-friendly URLs to let Google make sweet love to your website

I get to see a lot of URLs pass my virtual doorstep in my dual editor/vendor relations roles. Almost everyone has some grasp of SEO and the tools that help us tread those nasty waters. But inevitably, I also see tiny ways we might be tripping ourselves up when it comes to SEO. And so often they are easy-peasy fixes. I’ll be talking about these strategies in a few posts, starting with one of the most basic: the slick and simple optimized URL!

How do you follow offbeatempire.com?

I want to understand a little bit more about how y’all are following posts here on offbeatempire.com (note the URL: I’m specifically interested in offbeatempire.com — not the other offbeat sites)…

Our comment policy — now in French!

As many of you know, the Offbeat Empire’s comment policy is part of what makes our community different. I wrote a post a few years ago about How to write your blog’s comment policy, and at the end I mentioned that the Empire’s comment policy is Creative Commons licensed… which means anyone can adapt it […]

Show-don’t-tell marketing: how to share your business story with integrity

I spent over a decade in the corporate marketing trenches before I founded the Offbeat Empire. If I learned anything from my time with Microsoft, Amazon, and The Seattle Times, it’s this: the best marketing is just about telling a story. Really, all you’re trying to do is share stories that potential clients might be interested in and might see themselves in… all with the hopes that those potential clients will themselves become a part of the story.

As a writer, however, I know that it’s all about SHOWING (not telling) your stories. Don’t just TELL people about your business’s new products or values — SHOW them.