Blogging for business is one terrific way to stand out from the pack, especially when your company is in an ultra-competitive industry. Blogs can help give your brand a digital edge in a crowded marketplace. And no industry is more crowded and competitive than cosmetics. The business of being pretty can get downright ugly, and the ones rising to the top are the ones using digital marketing to its fullest. LUSH cosmetics is one company rocking blog marketing to help stay on the radar of ever-fickle makeup devotees.

Launched in the 1990s in the United Kingdom, LUSH is the brainchild of husband and wife duo Mark and Mo Constantine. Since then, the company, known for its great-smelling products with all-natural ingredients, has become a major contender in the worldwide cosmetics market. But having a unique products and original take on cosmetics isn’t enough. LUSH has had to employ unique marketing techniques in order to remain a memorable and powerful force in its field. The LUSH cosmetics blog is part company newsletter, part beauty magazine and all LUSH.

The company keeps its products and philosophies on the front burner while blogging. LUSH achieves balance in blogging by maintaining an upbeat attitude throughout its posts. Beloved employees are celebrated with the same enthusiasm that new products are blogged about. Other recent posts include a behind-the-scenes look at how the brand creates perfumes, a profile of animal activist Jane Goodall and DIY recipes for Earth-friendly cleaners. Since LUSH’s products are different and environmentally-conscious, the copy in all of the posts celebrates the brand’s uniqueness.

Another smart move on LUSH’s part is having a toolbar which directs blog readers to easy access to Internet shopping for all their favorite products. LUSH is one of the most clever brands on social media, so it brilliantly makes access to its Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr pages incredibly easy from the blog.

Yet one of the greatest things the LUSH blog does is blog all of the time. Blogging with regularity is the only way to make it work, and clearly the brand has figured this out. Posting new blogs several times a week is a simple trick companies of any size can do to help them stand out from the pack.

From the latest updates you need to know about in social media marketing to inspiring online video creation, our five things you might have missed will make you a hit at happy hour. Enjoy the list (as well as your status as a happy hour hero)!

1.) Analytics Come to Twitter: Twitter announced this week it’s now allowing access to analytics for all of its users. Once available only for a few big-time advertisers, these helpful tools will help marketers see which links followers are clicking on as well as how many achieve “favorite” status, which posts get retweeted and the general popularity of tweets.

2.) Photoshop in Real-time: Our favorite viral video of the week, this incredibly clever video from Photoshop uses ace photographers and a killer graphic designer to pull off a series of incredible bus stop pranks. Innocent folks waiting for the bus soon find themselves featured on bus shelter posters in real-time, and the results are pretty cool.

3.) Facebook Bites Twitter: Hashtags have popped up on Facebook for a long time, so why not make it official? The social network said this week it will rollout official hashtag recognition and make it even easier to find hashtags with its search engine. “Hashtags are already happening across Facebook, but now they will be clickable and it will pop out a hashtag feed,” a Facebook spokesperson told ABC News.

4.) Fashion Blogging Explained: Among the branded blogs in the webisphere, fashion blogs are surely one of the most popular. But how do fashion blogs make money and how can regular folks make their fashion blogs more popular? Business of Fashion has the answers and so much more in this informative article.

5.) You’ll Be GLAD You Did: Here’s a heartwarming video from GLAD products in Dubai celebrating Ramadan and helping hungry children, too. It’s clever interactive marketing with a soul.

Blog creation can look a zillion different ways. For design-heavy business, great photos are a must. For large companies, blogs that keep tabs on all facets of the business are important. And for tech companies, like those creating mobile apps, it is essential to create blog posts that tell readers how to use the product in a fun and simplified way. Evernote, the super-popular digital post-it, uses blogging to do precisely that while creating a blog that stands on its own.

What does an app like Evernote do? What kind of interesting uses are there for Evernote that normal folks might not know about? How do updates to the app effect Evernote and how we use it? These are the kind of questions that Evernote’s blog tries to answer, all while presenting a visually-pleasing and easy-to-understand blog. Similar in style to TechCrunch or Mashable, the blog’s layout and style are instantly familiar to casual tech blog readers and super techies alike. This was a wise design move as it says, “We’re more like a cool, online magazine and less like a company blog.” The posts themselves are equally impressive. A first-time visitor to the blog and non-Evernote user could easy understand the product and what it does just by reading the informative posts. How to use Evernote to redesign your website, new security features users need to know about and interviews with Evernote execs and creators are a few of the things you’ll find at Evernote’s blog. The posts are well-organized and concise, which is also probably intentional given that Evernote is an app which promises to help its users’ lives become more organized and less chaotic.

Evernote’s blog perfectly captures how blogging can carry a company’s message without resorting to corny sales messages or spammy posts. As a result, tech bloggers often quote and cite Evernote’s blog as a valuable and reliable news source. In other words, why wait for bloggers to break your stories when you can break them yourself? Turn your business blog into an online magazine like Evernote did and you’re bound to see results.

Transcending the normal business blog and becoming something industry leaders and normal blog readers can enjoy alike is a terrific goal, indeed.

The “advertorial” — you know, that big, lame advertisement disguised as an article — has made a comeback thanks to content marketing and Google isn’t happy about it. Companies are attracted to advertorials because they are essentially articles, reviews and write-ups created to look like they were written by someone who has used the product or service. But according to Google’s Matt Cutts, this digital engagement practice is a deceptive one and could get marketers in hot water with the world’s No. 1 search engine.

The inherent lack of transparency in advertorials is Google’s big issue. By not disclosing to readers that they are in fact reading paid content, Google feels advertorials mislead audiences. There are thousands of informational articles on the Internet, and a great many of them are sponsored content. But Google’s problem comes in when these articles are masquerading like legitimate news or feature articles put out by reporters and not companies. Google has recently penalized businesses that use advertorials to trick consumers, and Cutts says the company will continue to crack down on the practice. Most recently, Google penalized InterFlora after a massive advertorial campaign with links slipped by PageRank.

But this isn’t to say marketers should shy away from article and blog marketing. Google just wants us to be honest.

“If you are doing disclosure, you need to make sure that it’s clear to people,” Cutts said in a video released this week. “So a good rule of thumb is there should be clear and conspicuous disclosure. It shouldn’t be the case where people have to dig around buried in small print or have to click and look around a long time to find out, ‘Oh, this content that I am reading was actually paid.’”

The biggest crime we see in branded blog creation these days? Heavy-handed promotional messages. This unfortunate trend has businesses littering their blog posts with boring, pushy promotional posts that are both off-putting and no fun to read. Blasting ads for company seminars, annoying product profiles and poorly-written posts begging for folks to sign up for your newsletter are but a few examples of blogging in promotional hell. Yes, we get it: You need your company’s blog to pull its weight and sell your company’s products and services. But you can still do this while creating a blog people will actually enjoy reading. In fact, you’ll sell more products and services this way. We promise.

Blogging is all about audience building. The most successful blogs on the planet — branded and otherwise — offer readers dynamic, interesting and entertaining content on a consistent basis. Think about the blogs and websites you yourself enjoy. Whether it’s for goofy pictures of cats, the latest tech news or celebrity gossip, you go back to these sites because of the promise of something fresh and fun to read. Your company blog can be the same way. Nellie Aklap of Mashable.com explains it like this:

“If the bulk of your posts are company or product-centric, you’ll need to change the way you think about your blog. Focus your content so it offers information that’s useful and relevant to whatever your particular community cares about.”

Educational posts are a terrific way for businesses to offer readers something valuable while giving them a break from commercial messages. Aklap recommends a mixture of informative, how-to posts and promotional information.

“Some experts advise on keeping a 90:10 or 75:25 ratio when it comes to educational vs. promotional content. You don’t necessarily have to stick to some magic equation, as long as you keep your audience’s needs and interests at the forefront of your blog strategy,” she writes.

Teach them something, give them how-to tips or share creative ideas and your readers will come back.

Blog writing, even when it’s for your business, should be fun. Using a blog as a daily platform to talk directly to consumers, followers and friends about your brand doesn’t have to be a boring or dry affair. In fact, many major companies use blogging as a way to express their brand’s personality, style and sense of humor. This week, Blog Like the Big Brands looks at the blog-styles of Sharpie, a company that really knows how to make blogging and content marketing fun.

A favorite among stodgy secretaries and tagging teenagers alike, Sharpie markers have been a staple of our collective office supply drawers since they were released in 1964. For nearly 50 years, consumers have associated Sharpie marker pens with being permanent, long-lasting and very smelly. Yet thanks to digital marketing, the company is now trying to inspire consumers to use its products more creatively. The Sharpie Markers Official Blog is filled with mind-blowing ideas for budding artists, organizational junkies, graffiti fiends, students and everyone in between. Posts like this one, which shows readers how to make cool psychedelic coasters, are the kind of crafty innovation readers can find on the blog. The site also has feature articles with renowned artists using Sharpie, new product profiles, contests and even more DIY craft ideas for kids of all ages. Also stunning are the photos, videos and bright graphics which make visitors to the blog not only want to stick around but to grab a Sharpie and start doodling. Sharpie has taken a traditional blog and turned it into an art magazine, an inspiration site and, most importantly, a powerfully-branded platform. And the best part about Sharpie’s blog? It’s fun to read!

Infusing our blogs with a little fun and personality is something we can all do. By sharing the things, ideas and inspirations that we ourselves like with our readers, we’re inviting light-hearted and positive engagement from our readers. Without the amount of negative information on the web, blogs’ positive, fun and upbeat message can’t help but stand out. Add to it some terrific images and helpful videos and you’ve got a blog that will brighten someone’s day.

So, readers, now it’s your turn. How do you put your brand’s personality into your company blog? Sound off below!

Hot tips on blog marketing? We got ‘em. Hot buzzed-about online video creation? We got that, too. In fact, our weekly list of five things you might have missed has a little something for everybody. Let’s get started, shall we?

1.) Do it Like a Bluth: So much Arrested Development hype, so little time. One could barely turn on their favorite electronic device without being bombarded with news, opinions and reviews surrounding the return of the cult sitcom on Netflix. Yet this blog post from Kristin Kovner for ClickZ is worth checking out if you missed it. In it, she gives four Bluth-inspired marketing lessons sure to satisfy Arrested Development fans and marketing gurus alike.

2.) Share a Coke: Coca-Cola is pretty much tops when it comes to creating terrific digital content and memorable videos for a global audience. Each of the soda giant’s recent videos perfectly capture the brand’s sense of fun while cleverly playing with the viral marketing platform. This recent little bit of ambient advertising goodness features the first sharable can of Coke and is sure to put a smile on your face.

3.) Blog Title Badassery: Having a hard time getting folks to care about your latest blog posts? Maybe you need to start with creating eye-catching titles to get folks to stop and read. After all, how many times have you personally slowed down and read something just because the title piqued your interest? Lucky for you, Business2Community.com has 6 must-have tips for writing awesome blog titles in this great post you might have missed.

4.) Dance to the Brainwaves: Smirnoff Vodka has a new campaign doing something unexpected: using brainwaves to make music. Working with a brainwave expert and an electronic music producer, Smirnoff helped folks with disabilities who cannot play musical instruments to make music with their mind by controlling musical software. The song created with brainwaves can be purchased online and the proceeds go to Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People.

5.) Have You Heard the One About the Hitler Tea Pot: And finally, no recap of the week’s biggest marketing stories would be complete without mentioning the silly kerfuffle that swelled up around a tea kettle folks said looked like Hitler. The kettle in question, which was featured on a billboard for JC Penny, became a social media phenomenon and sold out online in a matter of days.

Stalled out with your company’s blog content management strategy? Has your blog marketing run out of gas? Well, perhaps we can help. Each week, we examine the blogging habits and styles of some the planet’s most powerful and influential brands. This week, we take a gander at how luxury carmaker BMW uses blogging to get car enthusiasts drooling over its latest models.

Blogging for a global brand like BMW could potentially be a scattered, ADD-inducing affair. After all, with thousands of products in different markets, what on Earth do you begin to blog about? Wisely, BMW sticks to delivering the goods: cars and plenty of them. Upon entering the BMWBLOG, visitors get a glimpse at dozens of cars through slide shows, videos and lots of images. For folks fluent in BMW, the company delivers in-depth pieces about test drives, safety features and industry reviews. For novices just learning the ropes in luxury car land, BMW goes back to what works: more pictures of those glamorous cars.

Editors of the BMWBLOG have clearly written the text of each post with the curious and well-researched car buyer in mind, however. The posts do not back away from giving specifics about each car and its features. Chassis, headlamps, kidney grills and lower front ends are the kinds of terms you’ll see dropped casually on the blog, and clearly it works. The BMWBLOG is routinely ranked one of the top automotive blogs on the web.

As a takeaway for businesses of all types and sizes, BMW certainly inspires us to take pride in our companies and to blog about them proudly. BMW assumes that visitors to its blog want to read “car lingo” and wordy technical reviews, and it delivers these things unapologetically. Branded blogs should feel free to brag about the products and services that put them on the map and that they want new customers to know about. Blogging, with its online magazine feel, is a fantastic way to do that on a regular basis.

It’s a common tragedy. You’ve been cooking right along with an amazing and inspired blogging-for-business campaign. Your company’s blog thus far has been filled with inspired ideas, informative posts and really dynamic content. And then just like that, you’re dried up and run out of ideas. Call it blogger’s block or creative brain freeze but whatever you call it, the sudden inability to write blog posts is definitely a downer. The automatic impulse when we’ve run out of creative steam is to just stop and hope we’re struck magically with great ideas. But when it comes to blog writing, quitting is the worst possible thing you can do when you’re stuck.

Greater minds than ours have pondered for ages about the curse of writer’s block and how to move past it. But when it comes to blogging, we’ve certainly had plenty of experience getting stuck and powering through it anyway. Blogs, especially branded ones, should really be published several times a week in order to be effective. And this is fantastic news if you’re wrestling with writer’s block. No, really! Using blogging’s tight deadlines and never-ending schedule of new content as a motivator is a sure-fire way to squish stuckness. Short posts with pictures, reblogged posts from blogging idols and contemporaries and posts with videos instead of text are all terrific blogging solutions to help push through it. By continuing blogging, even when it’s hard, you and your company are working toward something instead of just surrendering. If you can just write through the tough, uncreative, blah times, you are sure to find that your blog will be all the better for it.

Quitting or swearing off blogging every time we run out of ideas or feel uninspired isn’t really a solution, anyway. In order for our blogging campaigns to remain effective and powerful, we have to continue to produce content. Sounds hard, huh? It doesn’t have to be. Besides, we’re here to help. 

It was the shot heard ’round the hipster blogging world on Monday when it was announced that Yahoo! was buying super-stylish blogging platform Tumblr for a cool $1 billion. For marketers bent on über visual blog creation, Tumblr has been tops for years. Unlike any other blogging channel, Tumblr caters to visual arts, design, memes, GIFS and, most importantly, that elusive younger demographic. So how will this deal effect Tumblr devotees and marketers? What changes can blogging-for-business experts expect? And how do Tumblr users feel about this mega branding blogging collision?

For its part, Yahoo! has loudly and proudly already vowed not to mess with Tumblr.

“Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business,” Yahoo! said in a statement.

Yahoo! contends that everything users and brands love about Tumblr will stay exactly the same. The purchase, insiders say, had less to do with Yahoo! wanting to improve Tumblr and more to do with good, old-fashioned cash. Reports estimate that Tumblr brings in about $13 million in revenue annually, and for a sagging company like Yahoo!, this was a wise purchase.

“Tumblr in terms of users and traffic is an immediate growth story for us,” Yahoo! Chief Executive Marissa Mayer said in an interview with Reuters earlier this week.

For marketers currently rocking Tumblr for their clients, they too can expect things to stay the same. Or so Yahoo! promises. Tumblr lovers are not so sure. Longtime users/fans of the site certainly have their doubts about the merger and have naturally taken to the Internet to express their concerns. “The beginning of end” and “they’ll ruin our home” are just a few of the Negative Nancy comments left on Tumblr and Twitter regarding the news. While others compared it to the unpopular Facebook/Instagram merger of last year, some have already vowed to leave Tumblr immediately.

Regardless of how you feel, Yahoo!’s purchase of Tumblr is bound to be watched by users, blog marketing professionals and business reporters alike. So readers, you tell us: Tumblr and Yahoo — match made in blogging heaven or hell? Sound off in the comments!