Social media, and blogs especially, are all the rage when it comes to small businesses. Blogs offer a great forum to interact with customers, gather feedback and understand what customers like and dislike. In addition, there are additional benefits of a small business blog, including proving your value by providing engaging content, driving traffic through that meaty content and learning more than you ever imagined about your customers. Need some more reasons to start a blog? Here you go:
Reason #1 -- Start a Conversation
Having a blog enables you to build a relationship with your customers. The way the blog posts are written (light and fun or serious and formal) and the topics covered will help shape a small business' personality and style. As a small business owner, you will need to determine if you will personally write the blog posts or if you will outsource that work to a freelancer.
Conversations invite feedback from customers, which can be vital for products and services that are offered. Engaging customers is a great way to build loyalty and provide customers with a sense of community.
Reason #2 -- Become an Authority in Your Field
You should be able to provide commentary about newsworthy items relative to your business. Was there a recent news story related to a key product offering? Provide a blog post outlining the small business' view. Giving opinions and comments begins to build a small business owner's authority. Blog posts allow owners to showcase their knowledge and expertise -- a great business builder!
Reason #3 -- Provide Potential (and Current) Customers With a "How-to"
What better way to showcase your knowledge and expertise than with a how-to blog post? Be sure to include photos (a picture is worth a thousand words) and even upload a short video. Customers will appreciate detailed instructions on how to use a product or how to order a service.
Reason #4 -- Tell a Story (With a Happy Ending, Of Course)
Everyone loves a good story, and including a personal story in a blog gives you and your business a personality. How did the business begin? Offer a great customer service story (what better way to highlight the importance of customers).
Reason #5 -- Offer a Product or Service Review
A blog post is a great venue to demonstrate why a product or service offering may be superior. While this isn't the time to bash competitors, it is a great way to highlight key differences and benefits.
You can offer one type of blog or combine all of these to keep your blog posts interesting. Creating an editorial calendar can make the frequency and types of blog posts you create easier to monitor. For example, Mondays may be a product or service review, Wednesdays offer an opinion and Fridays have a how-to blog post. A great tool for creating an editorial calendar is Google Calendar.
You'll want to create a blog that has your business's domain name attached to it. To get started with a small business blog for free (there are costs with a domain name and hosting), check out Wordpress or Blogger. It's that simple!
Corporate Communication - Marketing - Public Relations
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
PR Tips & Tidbits
5 Tips for Radio Show Interviews
1) Have a goal for the interview - the most common one today is to drive people to your web site.
2) Have a web address that's easy to remember and spell - so listeners won't forget it after the interview.
3) Call-in on a landline - better voice quality and more reliable.
4) Listen to the show a few times before you get on - so you know what to expect.
5) Have a pencil and paper in front of you during the interview - so if a thought occurs, you can jot it down and be sure to cover it.
Source: Fred Gleeck Insights, 8/27/09.
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Twitter Tip
Perry Belcher, a successful Internet marketer with over 60,000 Twitter followers, uses this formula for successful tweeting:
** 30% anything funny (jokes, funny quotes, etc.)
** 25% compliments and praise for others (includes retweets)
** 10% information that keeps them informed
** 5% what you are doing
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***What are they saying about you online?***
Is your business being hurt by people who are trash-talking about you or your product on blogs and web sites?
To find out what is being said about you online, do a full search using your company name, brand, and product names on Google, Bing, and Yahoo twice a month, advises marcom strategist
Dianna Huff.
Dianna Huff.
On Google, open a Google account and set up Google Alerts. These are e-mails that Google sends you whenever a specific keyword or phrase you specify - like your name -- is used online.
Use the images, books, maps, and more links at the top of the Google search page to see how your company and product names are being used. Then click on "more options" to see online reviews, forums, and related searches. Plus: check for mentions of you on Digg, Delicious, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Source: Marcom Strategist, 7/10/09.
***4 ways to make Google love your site***
According to Internet marketing guru Howie Jacobson, Google ranks "authority" web sites - sites that provide valuable information on a topic -- higher than ordinary web sites.
Here are the 4 things you need to have an authority web site:
1-High-quality content - valuable information that's free - and lots of it.
2-New material added all the time - so Google sees the site is growing and staying current.
3-Easy-to-use site navigation - including a site map.
4-Inbound links to your site from other authority web sites in the same niche.
Added bonus: having an authority website also helps position you as a thought leader in your industry.
Source: Early to Rise, 7/1/09.
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***7 reasons why visitors don't buy from you online***
According to an e-tailing group survey, visitors don't buy online for 7 reasons:
1-High shipping charges - 46%.
2-Desire to comparison shop some more-37%.
3-Lack of money-36%.
4-Wanted to look for a coupon-27%.
5-Wanted to shop offline-26%.
6-Couldn't find preferred payment option-24%.
7-Security concerns about ordering online-21%.
Action steps: test lowering your shipping and handling charges; expand your payment options; test coupons on your shopping carts; and make sure you have secure socket layer (SSL) security logos on your site's order forms and shopping cart. These include VeriSign, Entrust, TRUSTe, and GoDaddy.
Source: eMarketer, 6/30/09.
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***5 Ways to Write Better***
1—Write what you know.
2—Know what it is that you know.
3—Make good use of details.
4—Look for details in experience – yours or other
5—Collect information. You never know what will someday be
Source: Richard Lovett, Analog, 1/10/10, p. 55.
This article appears courtesy of Bob Bly Direct Response Letter at www.bly.com.
***5 Ways to Write Better***
1—Write what you know.
2—Know what it is that you know.
3—Make good use of details.
4—Look for details in experience – yours or other
5—Collect information. You never know what will someday be
Source: Richard Lovett, Analog, 1/10/10, p. 55.
This article appears courtesy of Bob Bly Direct Response Letter at www.bly.com.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
From PR to Work Overload, 8 Bite-sized Tips for Your Business
Here are some fun tips for your business...
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***To Get PR, Be Available"***
Always provide the media with your cell phone number and other fast contact info, advises PR pro Annie Jennings. "If you are actively seeking PR, keep yourself instantly available," says Jennings. "Check your messages immediately so you don't miss a thing." If you are traveling to a location for a TV segment, ask for the producer's emergency contact information, but only use it for emergencies. That way, if you have trouble finding the location, you can reach your media contact immediately.
Source: Behind the Podium, 1/10, p. 3.
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***Who Will Buy From You?***
The 4 groups of prospects more likely to buy from you are:
1-People you know.
2-People you do business with.
3-People who do business with vendors their friends talk
about.
about.
4-People who do business with people they read about.
Action step: create and distribute more content so that more of your prospects fall into categories #3 and #4 above.
Source: Patricia Fripp, The Podium, 12/09, p. 6.
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***Handling Work Overload***
When asked to perform yet another time-consuming task at work or at home, apply MaryEllen Tribby's "Triple D" principle:
>> Ditch it - evaluate the task to see if it really needs to be done at all.
>> Delegate it - is the task something that someone else can do?
>> Dominate it - if you DO take on the task, give it your all.
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***Do You Know These Facts About White Papers?***
Are you skeptical about the value of writing white papers? If so, these survey results might change your mind....
Some 84% of businesspeople surveyed find white papers influential in their purchasing decisions. And 89% of
businesspeople pass white papers along to others.
businesspeople pass white papers along to others.
How long should your white papers be? The survey found that readers prefer white papers that are 6 to 10 pages in length.
Source: WhitePaperSource Newsletter, 12/8/09.
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***Affirmations for Success***
Sales trainer Bill Caskey advises "travel the road to abundance through detachment." These affirmations can help:
** "It's OK if you don't buy from me; others will."
** "It's OK if you aren't a prospect for me; others are."
** "It's OK if you disagree with me; I am not my opinions."
** "It's OK if you fire me; I'll find better situations elsewhere."
** "It's OK if you don't love me; others will."
Source: "49 Tips to Create Wealth in Selling," http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102984176833&s=19930&e=001VCmIGtCF70cF6OHr_VF57Pn_hIbOOiVhf7S0_0JXceDCvWcdbcWkuHBep_bbCfoAIwcbcQvllMP0DPrtloecqCUiBqwYeqrWWYIeNxAMgFnMK1HRC38t3I15PEtlRNbg
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***Finding Your Best Customers***
When segmenting your customer list, look for "RFM" - recency, frequency, and monetary.
>> Recency - the customer who just bought from you is the most likely to buy again. This is why you get more solicitations from charities right after you give to them: the person who just made a donation is the most likely to donate again.
>> Frequency - people who buy 2 or more times ("multi-buyers") are more loyal customers than those who have bought only once. Reason: they experienced your product and service, and came back for more.
>> Monetary - the more money a customer has spent with you, the more likely they are to make additional purchases.
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***Look Forward to Something***
Having trouble keeping a positive attitude these dreary days? Think about one small, enjoyable thing you plan to do that day (eating a bagel) and one really fun thing you plan on doing soon (your upcoming fishing trip), suggests Allen Elkin, Ph.D., director of the Stress Management and Counseling Center in New York City. Reason: this helps your brain not obsess about what can go wrong that day.
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***Quote of the Month***
"Like most drudge work, thinking is an undertaking that Americans would rather subcontract to someone else."
--Mattathias Schwartz
--Mattathias Schwartz
Source: Harper's Magazine, 1/10, p. 28.
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This article appears courtesy of Bob Bly's (www.bly.com) Direct Response Letter.
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