We've seen a flurry of new Wordpress versions recently:

11/12/2009 - Version 2.8.6
10/20/2009 - Version 2.8.5

08/12/2009 - Version 2.8.4
08/03/2009 - Version 2.8.3
07/20/2009 - Version 2.8.2
07/09/2009 - Version 2.8.1
06/20/2009 - Version 2.8

That's seven versions in less that five months. Frankly that's too much for you - a business owner with a company to run - to have to deal with. 

That's why - for most business owners - I prefer TypePad.

It's a ridiculous comparison and it's meant to me.  The two are designed for two completely different types of people and two completely different types of driving.

Mashable doesn't seem to see the distinction.  Last week they did a 'WordPress vs TypePad' poll, and it's just as ridiculous as the 'Convertible vs Pickup' comparison - the two are designed for two completely different types of people.

WordPress' template system is simpler and easier to understand.  If you need to heavily customize your blog then you are probably better off with WordPress (Having said that, I customize every client's TypePad blog and so so with only a few CSS changes.  I never modify the templates themselves).

The big issue is this:  Do you have the technical ability to host your blog, and understand all the maintenance issues that go along with it?  New Wordpress versions seem to appear every month.  Yes, WordPress has made the upgrade process easy, but is your theme compatible with the new  version? Are your plugins compatible? What if they are not? Are you prepared to handle it if something goes wrong?

My clients are business owners.  Their business is running their business, not running their blog.  For most of them, TypePad is a better choice.

A few days ago, my friend Mark Roberts wrote a great blog post about smores (Social Media Whores). From his comments to me this morning it's obvious that he stirred up something.  It's a topic I feel strongly about so I want to elaborate:    

You may know how to use a hammer, level, and saw but that does not mean you know how to design and build a house.

Gary Vaynerchuk said the same thing using a different analogy at the AZ Entrepreneurship Conference last year:

The Telephone is not a Marketing Strategy.  It's a Tool.

When I started this business - way back before the term 'social media' became popular - a business owner could start a blog almost anywhere, write anything anytime to anyone and he would likely get noticed. Maybe even end up on the front page of the NY Times.  Businesses that blogged were that rare.

It's different today.  Technorati's 2008 State of the Blogosphere says that one million new blog posts are being created every day. "If you write it they will come" doesn't work any more.

As another friend and colleague Dave Cooke says, you must start with a strategy.  Who are your clients?  What does your perfect client look like?  What are the problems you solve for them?  What are their reasons for not buying from you now?  

For example, in my Twitter webinars we talk about using Twitter as a branding tool, but if you don't know what you want to be known for then you've got the cart before the horse.

There are a lot of consultants and 'experts' who only want to talk about the tools. Why? Because tools are cool.  Particularly bright shiny new tools.  Several months ago I mentioned to one of these smores that I was planning to offer webinars.  He immediately replied that I should use XXXXXX for that.  Why did he recommend XXXXXX? Because it was new and it was what he was currently fixated on.  A quick review of XXXXX revealed that it did not fit the needs of my business.  It wasn't even close.

Don't focus on the tools. Focus on the business.

Mark Roberts has some great recommendations for steering clear of smores.  I'll add my own:

Look for someone who starts with, "Tell me about your business".  Questions like "What's your target market?", "Who's your perfect client?" and "What problems do you solve for your clients" tend to indicate that you are taking so someone who understands business and marketing, not just the tools.

When you engage us to create a blog for you, we spend over half of the entire engagement focused on issues like these.  We help our clients answer these questions.  The results is not just a better social media strategy, but a better business strategy as well.

Click on the Settings tab. Locate Posts & Pages in the left sidebar and click on it.  Scroll down until you see the section shown here.  Click on DIsplay a 'page' and select the desired page.

It's time for your long-overdue vacation.  You're about to spend two weeks at a spot so remote there is no Internet access (Yes, those places still exist).  But what about your blog?  You don't want your readers to feel neglected, do you?

A pop-up calendar will appear.  You can specify the exact date and time you want your post to be published. Don't forget to click the green Publish button when you're done.

For example, I often get asked about adding a 'contact us' form to a blog.  There's a Widget for that.  Want to add a PayPal storefront?  There's a Widget for that.  Want to share upcoming events from your Google Calendar?  There's a Widget for that. Best of all, you don't have to be a geek to install a Widget. 

TypePad's Widget Gallery can be found here, but here are some of my favorites:

FormSpring forms.  Create a contact form.  Use it to gather opt-in data. FormSpring can connect to various shopping carts so you could use it as a simple online store.

Feedzilla. Build your own custom news feed using any search criteria and display it on your blog.

Google Calendar. Display your events from your Google Calendar.

PayPal Storefront. A mini store.  Displays title, price, and image for each item you want to sell.

OpenMind. Prominently display quotes from your blog.  When a reader clicks on a quote they are taken to the blog post containing that quote.

Job Search. Several widgets allow you to display job postings on your blog.

ShareThis. My all-time favorite.  Give your readers a single icon to click on and share your content via Twitter, Facebook, email, Digg, and more.

Lijit.  My second favorite.  Add a search engine to your Typepad blog.  User's enter a search term, click 'search' and see all your blog posts containing that term.

TypePad has made it easier than ever to add Google Analytics to your blog.  After you've set up your Google Analytics account and created a 'website profile' for your blog, all you need to do is:

1. When you log in to your Google Analytics account you should see a pae that looks like this. Find the UA Number associated with your blog. (If you can't find an entry for your blog in the table then you need to add a profile for it.  Look for the Add Profile link):

If you have a Twitter account you can have your blog automatically tweet about your blog posts each time you publish them. Here's how to set it up.

The Twitter Authorization form will appear in a pop-up window.  Enter your Twitter username and password and click the Allow button. After a moment the Your Other Accounts page will refresh and you will see Twitter in the list.

Now it's time to set the default. Click on Blogs in the green bar at the top of the page and select your blog from the list.  Click the Settings tab.  Click on Sharing in the left sidebar. Turn on Twitter under Publicize Defaults:

My new book, Guide to the New Typepad is packed with tips and step-by-step instructions just like this.