Discuss the fun task of marketing a t-shirt shop. Where to advertise, local marketing tips, word of mouth, press releases, search engine marketing, keyword advertising, magazines, etc.
I have been reading the marketing threads about blogging for your business.
Hmmmmm. I would love to blog. This would give me an excuse to do so, but I am newer than a newbie -- I haven't even started business yet.
I have a caved in garage ceiling -- caused by a leak that requires the repair of an upstairs balcony we hate. Since we have to spend the money to repair the balcony we hate, we're going to turn it into a home office instead. Since we're turning it to a home office, I decided we really should start a home-based business. After bouncing around several ideas, I've decided on a t-shirt business.
I have plenty to blog about with all of this home remodeling, planning, and starting a new business; but I'm thinking that I should probably present a more professional view to potential clients than how new and unsure I am in all of this....
What do you think? Interesting blog material or too much information on how green I am? And does blogging about it really increase business?
I appreciate your thoughts.
Last edited by leapoffaith; November 8th, 2009 at 08:12 PM.
We have a blog, and I use it to document the progress of our business, show off recent jobs and generally vent about day-to-day stuff pertaining to the business. People have been pretty receptive to it, they like to keep up to date with us and it definitely adds a softer side to the business.
I would shy away from airing your doubts and screw-ups on your blog if it will portray you as unprofessional or hurt your business's image. There's plenty you can talk about without telling the potential customer about your insecurities.
blog will increase the traffic of your site especially if your business has its own web site, then make a blog and post the link of your own web site on the blog entry.
I think you have to blog. As it has been pointed out it enables you to build your brand reputation and ultimately gives you a "place" where you can build up your brands identity and create your online persona..
Blogs also help build trust with potential customers..for example, if you blog about something and then get one or two comments on it and then leave a comment back you show you're human - most people don't buy stuff online because they don't trust the sellers - having a blog gives you a better chance of getting trust from customers..
Another really vital thing for blogs, which was also touched on, is for your SEO effort. To a degree each and every blog can be a goldmine for creating back links to your site and get a lot of traffic (or at least some) to your site. Also, by having a blog and lots of saucy keywords you have a greater chance to be high up in SERP, every blog post widens your net and increases you chances of getting some more views/potential customers..
I myself am new to blogging and only started a few months ago..I try to write about 2 - 3 a week to keep it fresh - this is the hard but crucial part (or so I have read) to having a successful blog..
Anyway, hope that helps, get blogging and good luck..
bottom line, blogging creates transparency for your brand and builds trust. Obviously when customers are buying online there isnt the customer interaction that you would get a brick and mortar store, so by creating a blog it at least adds some sort of human element into your line.
Blogging can be a great way to keep up with your customers and to inform them about specials, sales, exciting things you're doing etc. I also think the topics you mentioned, building your business, would be good topics for a blog. Obviously you don't want to dwell on any doubts or fears, but talking about how you're starting and building your business gives potential customers a bit of ownership, and that's not a bad thing.
Keep in mind that a blog isn't magic. You can't just put one up and expect readers to magically appear. You have to update it regularly. You have to be able to write reasonably well. You have to do the work of finding other blogs on which to comment so you can start getting some publicity for your blog. It is work, but it is worth it. Blogs can be very valuable.
All of this is SO true. I just recently added a blog to my site. For an e-commerce only business, it's the equivalent of showing up every day to your brick'n'mortar store and turning on the lights and chatting with customers. You, as the owner, have to be engaged in your business. You have to 'show up everyday'. Nothing turns me off more than going to a blog and seeing the most recent post written 2 months ago. 'Hello, is this place still open?' is what usually comes to your mind when that happens.
You're exactly right. That's exactly what I think when I see a blog that hasn't been updated in months. You have to keep your blog current and you have to do more than post a few sentences once in a while. A blog that just sits there isn't doing anyone any good.
To blog or not to blog.... 
