Editor's letter,

Well, we're finally "acharei hachagim," after the holidays, and it really shows! Israelis are back at work at full speed, and some very exciting things are happening.

First, I'll be speaking at two upcoming conferences on the topic of blogging and business, both of which are free of charge. Second, we hope to hold our first Entrepreneur Breakfast meeting in Tel Aviv, with a very interesting speaker. And finally, we've officially added web and blog design and development to our list of services. Read on for more details.

I hope you are all well, and surviving the post-chagim crunch!

Regards,

Miriam Schwab

Free workshop on using blogging as a marketing tool

On Oct. 30, I will be giving a free workshop to the Yokneam Technical and Marketing Writer's group. It will be held at 6pm at Yokneam City Hall, and registration is required.

Topics to be Covered:

• What makes a blog a blog?
• What are all these things we've heard about: RSS feeds, trackbacks, pingbacks?
• What system should we use to blog: we'll look at blogger, typepad, wordpress.com and self-hosted WordPress.
• How blogs benefit your business: increase search engine rankings, control your online brand, strengthen customer loyalty, and more.
• Blog writing strategies: how often should we post, what should we write about, how long do the posts need to be, how do we find new material?

To get more information and to register, click here. I hope to see you there!

WordCamp Israel - illuminea's on the business blogging panel!

WordCamp, the official WordPress conference, is coming to Israel! WordCamp covers topics related to blogging and WordPress, and the Israeli version has managed to bring out Lorelle VanFossen as the keynote speaker. Lorelle is a WordPress and blogging guru who is well-known in the WordPress community.

I will be moderating and presenting on the panel on blogging and business. The panel members are some really cool guys, and I think it will be interesting. Read more about the panel here.

You can read more about the conference on the official site, or the English blog (which is maintained by me). Unfortunately, registration closed a few weeks ago, and the waiting list is already really long. So if you haven't signed up, you probably won't get in, but there's always next year!

Entrepreneur Breakfast coming to Tel Aviv!

Until now, all Entrepreneur Breakfast meetings were held in Jerusalem, simply for logistical reasons. Well, we're getting pretty close to finding a venue for the meetings in Tel Aviv, and we already have a speaker lined up for November in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv: Zack Miller.

Zack serves as Vice President at Profile Financial, the oldest and largest American-style investment house in Israel. Profile Investments works with clients residing in Israel and abroad to help clarify financial goals, create formal financial plans, and objectively match the proper investment instruments to reach such goals. Trained at Harvard in Economics, Zack comes to Profile Investments from SeekingAlpha, the Internet's fastest growing financial website where Zack was responsible for crafting partnerships with Yahoo Finance, Dow Jones, AOL Money, and Google Finance.  Previous to SeekingAlpha, Zack was an equities analyst for a leading $2B hedge fund based in Stamford, CT.  Zack holds a BA in Economics from Harvard and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

Useful links

• With all the social media sites out there, many people find themselves managing multiple profiles and repeatedly adding content in many places. Ryan Hellyer has guest-posted on WordPressGarage.com with an explanation of various ways to integrate your WordPress blog with facebook. Read Finding the perfect facebook-WordPress system...
• Guess what? Not only do women employees not damage company profits, but companies with women serving in executive positions actually outperform. Studies conducted in both the US and Europe showed similar results. Read Studies show companies with women execs outperform to find out more...
• An Israeli company has developed a technology that enables you to recharge your cellphone, laptop, and more by placing them on their special mat! Imagine - no more cords, searching for plugs, and batteries dying all over the place. Read israelplug's review of the technology over here...

illuminea provides marketing and online media services to Israeli businesses for marketing and development purposes. Our services include web and blog design and development, copywriting, and design.

illuminea also maintains a blog dedicated to the challenges and satisfactions of running a small business in general, and in Israel in particular. Take a look at the illuminea blog here.

Our blogs:

• Good news from Israel: israelplug.
• Learn about how to run your business better, and network at the sane time: Entrepreneur Breakfast. Sign up to the email list to get updates on upcoming events.
• Learn more about WordPress? Visit WordPressGarage.com.