Everybody's Doin' It: Blogging for Business
Posted by Tricia Fagan Griffiths on Mon, Aug 08, 2011
We’ve discussed the benefits of blogging to market your business and increase sales by driving traffic to your site. We’ve also talked about topics to blog about that may not be about your specific business, but may be related to your business. Still wondering where to start? Let’s take a look at some small businesses that are making their blogs work for them.
Each day, I pass the Scituate Animal Shelter. I always look for their letter board which features a weekly saying about the benefits of adopting a shelter pet. There’s a great writer working in that shelter! Here are some of the gems that I’ve taken note of while driving by:
Wear natural fibers, hug a cat today.
Second hand animals are first class pets.
Dogs are not our whole lives, but they make our lives whole.
Okay, so it’s not Bill Shakespeare. But, it engages passersby and involves them in the organization's cause. And, most importantly, it’s free marketing! When I found the shelter’s Facebook page, I noticed that many of the sayings are also featured weekly as status updates to keep their efforts on the mind of potential donors and adoptive families. The updates are light and often funny, which keeps readers coming back. Their Facebook page is also a wonderful place for adoptive families to update people on how things are going at home with their new pet and to post pictures.
Blogging can be a benefit to any business. If you start digging, you’ll find many fabulous blogs. Recently, a friend was looking to cater a party for many and thought that a great idea would be to hire a food truck. As she’s a healthy eater and would like to support businesses that foster nutrition, she was interested in finding out more about The Clover Food Truck. The CFT is a Boston-based food truck that describes itself as “...a new type of fast food. This food is local, it’s just-cut...and organic.”
The entire CFT website is basically a blog - will near-daily postings about menus and spots where the truck was selling that day. It also features heads-ups in the sidebar where to look for their truck on your next lunch break. The site is fast and loose, as if you’re talking with the proprietor about his business. Many people comment on how their experience was, with the owner writing back to them with thanks or asking them how they can improve.
However, there was one thing glaringly missing from The Clover Food Truck website - contact information. My friend ended up going in a different direction to cater her party because she could find no actual contact info. for the business. Let this be a lesson to us all - online marketing and sales are wonderful, but allow your customers to contact you directly by phone as well.
I'd love to hear how you are marketing your business by blogging. What are you blogging about?