Church of the Customer Blog
« Small businesses and blogging | Main | In search of: marketing intern »
August 03, 2004
Small businesses and blogging
Update: For our August newsletter, we wrote a new and improved version of this original post. The improved version is below.
Blog enthusiasts are excellent evangelist candidates. They’re early adopters. Often, they’re serial buzz spreaders, and they can funnel waves of others just like them toward your blog and your organization, especially if it’s a small business.
B-to-C or B-to-B?
Doesn’t matter. Blogs may provide companies that primarily sell to other companies better benefits because they easily bridge the feedback loop between end customers and channels. That bridge is often missing or difficult to create using existing tools. Like focus groups. Or the telephone.
For any organization, a blog is part of a long-term customer evangelism strategy. Since blogs are easy to set up and pay for (some are free), launching a blog should be at the top of your to-do list.
Why?
Among dozens of reasons, here are seven:
1. They fan the flames of customer evangelism. Their personal nature helps humanize you and your organization.
2. They function as an instant-feedback mechanism. Most blogs allow readers to respond to your posts or link to them on their own blogs. These features provide almost real-time feedback on ideas and issues that strike a chord, or highlight new or existing problems. A blog can help reveal a little problem before it becomes a big one.
3. They compel you to Napsterize more of your knowledge more often. A blog is about sharing what you know, think and believe; search engines index your ongoing knowledge-sharing, making it easier for customers and prospects to find you. Attraction is always easier than hunting.
4. They facilitate the spread of buzz. Honest, informative or thought-provoking posts about issues important to customers and prospects tend to be spread more often.
5. They allow you to have more simultaneous conversations. It's more than you could ever do in person.
6. Most blog service providers offer good-looking templates to use if your existing website design is embarrassing or non-existent.
7. They help position you as a knowledgeable expert in your industry.
Once you start blogging, here are five blogging don'ts:
1. Do not have someone else write your blog. Write it yourself.
2. Blogs should not be managed by the PR department or ad agency. Blogs are best when they’re authentic, which may include run-on sentences, detailed analysis or critical opinions. Typically, those qualities run counter to the sensibilities of traditional public relations.
3. Do not have a thin skin. Comments to your posts may bite or sting, especially while other people watch. But a strong benefit of blogs: unwarranted criticism often causes other customers often to spring to your defense. Trust-based relationships emanate from taking the bad with the good.
4. Do not let your blog go unattended for weeks at a time. Focus on several posts per week, even if they’re just a few paragraphs.
5. Do not make your blog a branding exercise of self- centeredness. If you endlessly promote yourself and your services, no one will care.
There are multiple blog service providers, but here are two of the best:
* www.TypePad.com. Starts at $4.95 per month.
* www.Blogger.com. Free.
While not nearly representative of the tens of thousands of small-business blogs out there, here are a few models to explore:
Stonyfield Farm
This 215-person New Hampshire dairy maintains five excellent blogs about the company's products and the organic lifestyle.
Douglas Berman
Berman is a law professor at Ohio State University. His widely read blog has helped him become the pre-eminent expert on sentencing law. His blog was also the basis for a favorable write-up in the Wall Street Journal.
Z-Coil dealer blog
The blog of Carolyn Linzner, who operates her own shoe store in Sonoma County. Her blog features lots of customer testimonials and photos.
Postlapsaria Fashions
Keiko Groves, a 19-year-old Florida college student, has marketed her successful Internet-based clothing business entirely via her blog.
Other blogs that reference Small businesses and blogging:
» Why Small Businesses should blog from Kalsey Consulting Group
Six reasons your small business should have a blog. [Read More]
» Small Business Blogging from News Goat
Small businesses and blogging — Reasons why small businesses should blog. This is something I think about from time to time. I mention Smart Goat here, but I don’t mention this site on Smart Goat. There’s two reasons for this:... [Read More]
» Why Small Businesses Should Blog from Radiant Marketing Group
I'm continuing a meme that I found on two other blog sites that lists six reasons why small businesses should blog. The first was a post on the Kelsey Group site. They picked it up from Church of the Customer. [Read More]
» Usahawan Kecil Sebaiknya Menulis Blog from #direktif
Church of The Customer menulis perlunya menulis blog untuk usahawan kecil. [Read More]
» Usahawan Kecil Sebaiknya Menulis Blog from #direktif
Church of The Customer menulis perlunya menulis blog untuk usahawan kecil. [Read More]
» Small business and blog from Warnadunia.NET Plug
Kalsey post about this. And there are some examples also (not all of them are small). You?... [Read More]
» Usahawan Kecil Sebaiknya Menulis Blog from #direktif
Church of The Customer menulis perlunya menulis blog untuk usahawan kecil. [Read More]
» Reasons to Blog from Pheedo
Church of the Customer gives us more reasons to blog... Why should you blog about your small business? Among dozens, if not hundreds of reasons, here are six: 1. They fan the flames of customer evangelism. They help humanize you... [Read More]
» How to live in customer heaven or rot in customer hell from Movable Theoblogical
via Church of the Customer via Radiant Marketing Group via DocChurch of the Customer: Small businesses and blogging The Future of Blogging, In Their Own Words, Part II is the 3 Clutrain Bloggers, Doc, David Weinberger, and Rage Boy (Chris... [Read More]
» How to live in customer heaven or rot in customer hell from Movable Theoblogical
via Church of the Customer via Radiant Marketing Group via DocChurch of the Customer: Small businesses and blogging The Future of Blogging, In Their Own Words, Part II is the 3 Clutrain Bloggers, Doc, David Weinberger, and Rage Boy (Chris... [Read More]
» Small Business Blog from Lewiston Web Consulting
How does a small business compete? If you're on the Internet, consider a small business blog. A small business blog is a powerful tool to help market your product, become the expert, or provide good PR. Learn about small business... [Read More]
» Small Business Blog from Lewiston Web Consulting
How does a small business compete? If you're on the Internet, consider a small business blog. A small business blog is a powerful tool to help market your product, become the expert, or provide good PR. Learn about small business... [Read More]
» 7 Reasons For Small Business Blogging from The 'RSS-Powered' Report
In a great article by Church of the Customer they propose 7 reasons by small businesses should be blogging. They state two very key phrases that online businesses should grasp when trying to understand the importance of blogging. Blogs may [Read More]
» Usahawan Kecil Sebaiknya Menulis Blog from #direktif
Church of The Customer menulis perlunya menulis blog untuk usahawan kecil. [Read More]
» Usahawan Kecil Sebaiknya Menulis Blog from #direktif
Church of The Customer menulis perlunya menulis blog untuk usahawan kecil. [Read More]
» To Blog Or Not To Blog--That Is The Question from Customer Service Experience
Maria, at Customers Are Always, continues the discussion I started about how a business can use a blog to blunt negative buzz. I had made an off-hand statement that, I don´t believe that every business needs a blog. Maria says... [Read More]
» Some Blogging Basics from They Rode On
For more on blogs and blogging, check out the following (listed in no particular order): [This post is among those listed.] [Read More]
Rayan Thank you for very imformative post!
Take a look for this commodity online forex resource website... I learned there a lot!
Thanks so much for the great list of links and suggestions. While I don't agree with all your ideas, I thinkn you can have help with your business blog, the point is to get your ideas out there. And let others react to them.
Yes I have found that the businesses with most hits on their websites seem to have most links into blogs - but isn't it very time consuming to do? If there is any quick way of doing this, I'd be grateful to find out.. Thanks!
Easy Forex
trade controller
This is the ultimate visual trading tool. A unique Easy-Forex feature that gives you a clear and complete picture of all profit/loss scenarios.
The Forex market is the biggest global market with daily average trades being carried out to the tune of two trillion dollars. It is the market with the highest liquidity. It also happens to be a market that is open round the clock so that trading can be done at any hour of the day. All these factors make Forex investment appealing and the market a very attractive place for investors.
http://www.onlineforexreviews.com
Your post has on internet marketing is definitely true. Internet marketing has opened new ways of attracting visitors to the website giving the webmasters a way of earning cash as well as web status. Let's see what the future holds for internet marketing.
Thank you for the helpful information. I bookmarked your site, and I hope you keep up the good work on making your blog a success!
Although it has been around for a while, the average businessman does not know what a blog is.
Another good place for a free blog is Wordpress.com. I use it to complement my agencies static site and it provides us much more organic trafic to our health and life insurance sites than our static page which is where we refer customers through our on and off line advertizing.
Or blog is much better at generatin online leads for us to follow up on.
Really a quality information presented here. AnaMaria has given reasonable explanation about advantages of Type Pad to Blogger. Thanks for the post
Regular and most customized points. Thanks for the info
As a web designer I have come across many clients who tell me they just don't know how to write, they are afraid that their grammar is poor, or they can't effectively translate what they understand: their business. Blogging helps break down fears, after all, writing a blog post and writing corporate web copy are totally different beasts.
The next hurdle is getting a client to actually find the time to post on a regular basis.
Thank you for the helpful information. I bookmarked your site, and I hope you keep up the good work on making your blog a success!
