Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

This is a very exciting topic.  As we are continuing to develop our site I know blogs need to be part of the activity on the site, both for customers and associates.   Have any of you used blogs to share ideas and communication with members or asscociate on your sites?

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Ken Todd
S U C C E S S i d
T h e   A r t   i n   R e l a t i o n s h i p s

Phone: 248-479-1222        Fax: 248-493-6444
Email: ktodd@successid.com - www.successid.com


CUSTOMERS MAKE THE BRAND

Great topic.

What are your opinions on having a stand alone blog site (i.e. www. your name here blog .com versus being a member of a blogging network like Blogger?

I seem to get a few hits from my blog, but I have a feeling it`s just other jewelers checking out my work. And my blog isn`t part of my website...it`s part of a network of other artsy / jewelry people. 

I`ve been working really hard to post on my blog as often as I can each week...but for some reason I have a hard time blogging about MY work. I seem to blog about other people`s work and exciting things I`ve discovered. Harmful? I don`t like the idea of talking about myself all the time.

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Megan Casto
Casto Creations ~ Elegant Handcrafted Jewelry Designs
One of a kind and limited edition earrings, necklaces, bracelets, watches, and rings.

I think your questions are good ones—and I`ve struggled with them myself as I blog. Before answering your main question, I`m going to go off on a tangent in response to your later ones.

I have two and a half blogs: two are topic-specific (Small Failures is about practical sustainability and Bar Stories is about alcoholic drinks). The "half blog" is my business website blog. I started with the intention of doing something in much the same vein as Jeff (Fisher)—various topics but still relevant to my client base. I have since realized that this is not the most appropriate route for me and am currently working towards creating a library instead. The blog portion of my business site will then be titled "Studio News" instead (so I`ll use a blogging platform but it won`t necessarily be a standard blog).

So, to get back to your questions. On both my blogs (Small Failures has a dedicated domain and Bar Stories is hosted on BlogSpot), I have links to my company website in the sidebar and in the footer. I actually do get a decent amount of traffic driven to my company site from those links. I rarely discuss my company in either SF or BS (and yes, the latter acronym is deliberate), but I do when it`s relevant. For example, I recently started a column for BoDo, an online business magazine for designers, that focuses on sustainability in the design field (The Sustainable Studio). Although it was specific to professional designers, I posted about on the Small Failures blog because it was relevant to some of those readers, too.

Cross posting like this is helpful for a couple of reasons:

• It points readers to where you want them to go (your company site).
• It generates link equity in the online search engines (which helps boost your ranking).

The key, as in all writing, is to keep it relevant.

Which brings me to your concern about blogging about yourself. It`s okay to blog about other jewelers, because it builds relationships and good karma. It`s also okay to blog about yourself. It`s all in your framing. A few ways to frame a self-referential post that might help you feel less "self-centered" or whatever concerns you about it include:

• Filling a need: If you have a line of jewelry that is perfect for a particular occasion or type of customer, blog about it and point out why it`s so perfect. Your readers want to know if you have something you can offer them!
• Telling a meaningful story: If you`ve just completed a piece that you are particularly proud of, blog about it. Talk about the idea behind the piece and what it means to you (and to the potential wearer). People want to connect, but you have to give them the means with which to do so.

Those are just a couple of ideas to get you started. The other thing I`ll say about your readers is that it`s okay that many are fellow jewelers checking out your work. This means that you are playing a role in your field—you have a place in it, among your colleagues. I think these relationships are just as important as those you have with your customers. They build brand equity and as you continue to share your colleagues with your customers/readers, so will your colleagues (in many circumstances) return the favor.

And now getting back to your initial question about domains. I went to your website and would never have found your blog if I didn`t know you had one already and was looking for it. The link should be in your main navigation menu, regardless of whether you host it or it`s part of a network.

My second bit of advice would be to track stats on your blog. I don`t know if you can do this through your hosting network, but if you can use a free service (I like StatCounter) you can find out where your readers are  coming from. If no one is finding your blog directly through your hosting network, then you might consider hosting it yourself instead. If, however, you see many click-throughs from other places on the network, you know it`s generating traffic for you and might be worth staying there.

I hope this brain dump was helpful in one way or another.

Best,
Jess



(Also, as an aside: you can see how I`ve scattered [relevant] links throughout my post. This builds link equity in the search engines and helps drive traffic where I want it to go. I notice you don`t do much of that in your blog posts. It`s a great way to tell other bloggers/sites that you`re writing about them, because often they check their incoming click-throughs to ID where their readers are coming from. I`ve gotten many reciprocal links this way without ever contacting the people I link to. Again, though, make the links relevant and use them in moderation.)


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Roughstock Studios | Notes From the Rodeo | Newsletter
Strategic communications without the selling of souls.

Roughstock,

what an awesome post. you`re hugely helpful - tons of substance and clearly expressed.

i look forward to subscribing to Bar Stories!

regarding "blog" site vs. website, castocreations, i think it comes down to who you`re targeting. i imagine a percentage of web users will be inclined to sign up for - or enjoy - blogs, and a percentage won`t.  it`s important to think through the "profile" of a typical person you`re targeting to make this call.


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Rich Sloan , Co-Founder, Chief Startupologist, StartupNation

Thanks, Rich!

I am actually putting together a guide to better blogging for the yet-to-be-launched library portion of my website. If anyone is interested in a free copy once it`s completed, just send me a note and I`ll email you a copy when it`s complete:

jsand [at] roughstockstudios [dot] com

—Jess


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Roughstock Studios | Notes From the Rodeo | Newsletter
Strategic communications without the selling of souls.

jess,

how about making that available from SUN?

rich


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Rich Sloan , Co-Founder, Chief Startupologist, StartupNation

All involved in Blog-marketing:

We`re new to e-commerce, but think it offers tremendous potential for an operation like ours, (designing, manufacturing, wholesaling jewelry).  But it`s taking a lot of time to discover what`s out there and then learn how to develop and utilize and what works.  Do any of you have any suggestions to good self education types of materials, sites, etc?

Most of the posts I`ve read since signing up with Sun are interesting, but confusing at times which is a reflection of my ignorance and skill level, not your forums.

I suspect like a lot of people in our business, designing and making jewelry is a lot more satisfying than spending the time and energy to learn and develop the skillset to make this a really useful addition to the business.

Any comments, ideas, etc. welcome.

metalmagic

To be honest... I am getting a bit fed up with the "blog everything" attitude. It was interesting reading about individual thoughts and perspectives, but I think there`s just too much trash in the blog market. Half the time I am reading a blog it is full of writing errors. Even for those blogs that are well written... typically they are just opinions of people trying to look or sound like experts. Everyone is just like me...

They all have an opinion and you know what they say about opinions... ...blah blah blah, everybody has one.

So what`s the big deal about a blog? I am now seeing it as a free for all advertising ploy. Even quality blogs don`t inspire me to buy their product or click the always present AdSense links on the side.

Everyone is trying to make money at blogging. And by doing so, writers produce content on a daily or weekly basis. Many of the "writers" aren`t even writers. This means many blogs are full of coffee shop conversations. They don`t really change opinions, or make change in the world. It`s just more clutter.

I only find blogs useful to me when interested in purchasing something I know little about. It`s helpful to know a bit about a business or product by reading the company’s blog. It gives them personality. But I am not looking to read a blog entry every week. I don`t visit a site for the blog.

Am I crazy? Am I not understanding the blogs use?

I talk to my friends about politics, history, daily events, and last nights dinner. I don`t think it will improve my web page rank (and therefore visibility) if I blog my conversations at the end of each day. My friends are not going to visit my blog to see what I have to say. I don`t think I want my political views, or my personal history lesson to be connected to my business.

In the business of room decor, how much can I possibly blog about  earthborn & handmade imitation wood flowers or vases? Isn`t that what a forum is for? Everything is categorized by topic. Blogs are generally all over the place as far as content is concerned.

Then again, if the blogger speaks specifically to technology... am I supposed to believe their point of view above the news broadcast of similar topics? Or are they just an amateur news broadcaster. After all, if they were really great at their writing and did inspire change or something, wouldn`t a main stream broadcast take place on standard news reporting outlets? I just don’t get it, but I am trying to go with the flow. Therefore I have a blog, and a lens, and a what ever… but it seems to be more of a waste of my quality time.

Now I expect a bunch of posts about my boredom with blogs. An look. It’s all taking place on a forum!


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Vincent Wilcox (a.k.a. KRAKR)
Drummer
My band: Letters Make Words

Truth is, you could blather on and on in any medium, whether it`s a blog, a wiki, forum, chat, email, a regular website, radio, TV, film, live performance, or print.

Blogs have a particular niche and strength as a tool. The strength of the tool should not be defined by how well it is used (or misused) by practitioners.


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Mac-Sage "Complete Mac & OS X Consulting"      www.mac-sage.com