Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I recently read this post
Can You Stump Business and Blogging?
in which the authors are having a contest to demonstrate how even the most obscure businesses can benefit from having a blog;

responded with
Gas Stations Don`t Need Blogs
in which I outlined why I thought blogs for a lot of small businesses (gas stations especially) was absurd;

and got a rather passionate response in
Does Your Small Business Need a Blog?
in which she picks apart my arguments because she still thinks that gas station bloggers can save the world. (Okay, I`m highly paraphrasing, but still ...)

So weigh in on the fun here in this thread ...
Should everyone have a blog? Why or why not?
As an entrepreneur, do you feel like you have the skills necessary to create and maintain a blog?
Do you side with the for`s or the against`s on the "should a gas station have a blog" debate?
Anything else to add to the debate?

Generally speaking, I think a blog for a gas station is a lousy idea and won`t make the gas station experience any better for customers.

HOWEVER... I think it could be done in a compelling and attention-grabbing way.  But one would have to think outside of the box of regular business blogging.  And the gas station owner would have to have the right kind of interests and passion for writing and the subject matter.

Instead of a gas station blog being about oil prices, tips to maintain your car, upcoming promotions or whatever people would probably NOT be interested in reading about, what if it were something like this.

A blog about gas station culture.  It might include the history of gas stations with entries about those crazy old art deco route 66 stations, those super tall pumps of the 1910s and such.  As a business owner blogging, the blog could discuss some of the business behind gas stations, not so much about purchasing gas but about how stations market themselves - like the advent of the roadmap, the attachment to convenience stores, and why the staple ice machine out front.

Plus, I`m sure gas station owners have all sorts of crazy stories to tell about customers.  I`m not saying a business should slam their customers but the blog could have some humorous stories from all across the world.  You know, the story about the lady with the flat tire who...?

And of course there would have to be the local aspect to it.  A blog can reach everyone but gas stations only need people close by.  So there would have to be local content.

I think if there were a gas station blog about American auto culture written with humor and insight, it could do wonders for getting drivers to stop in.  But it would really have to be the right situation - the right biz owner with writing skills, the right community that might engage in the subject, etc.

Heck, I`m just brainstorming here with a stream of consciousness.  Maybe it`s still a bad idea.

I would almost certainly read a blog about "gas station culture" -- that could be highly entertaining if it was done well. I doubt if I would buy my gas from the blogger`s gas station, however, unless it were highly convenient or if there were some incentive... like maybe having my photo taken with the gas station owner and seeing it posted might motivate me to make the trip to his/her station once or twice.

I am not at all sold on the notion that every business can benefit from having a blog. In some cases, having a blog can actually hurt the business. If the business owner is too busy to maintain the blog, it will quickly become outdated and make the business look neglectful; poor spelling, grammar and punctuation skills can make the business look irresponsible; blogs that veer into controversial territory -- accidentally or not -- can alienate customers; taking time away from mission-critical activities to maintain the blog can lead to minor chaos (or maybe even major chaos) within the business.

Moreover, it is highly unlikely that businesses dependent upon local foot traffic will see any measurable return on the time investment a blog requires, simply because the number of people in the neighborhood who will even find the blog, much less be motivated to spend money with that business, is so low. Can a blog pull in significant business from beyond the immediate neighborhood? Maybe, but only under a specific set of conditions: parking isn`t a nightmare; the business offers something unique; the business owner has time and motivation to maintain the blog properly; is savvy enough to understand how to use the blog effectively.

Blogging is like any other marketing strategy, it will be great for some and not great for others depending upon the specifics of the business and the target audience. I have certainly counseled some clients away from setting up a blog -- even though I would have made money building a blog for them -- because it would obviously not have served their business goals as effectively as something else, or perhaps not at all.

I, too, can`t help but bristle at this notion that every last business on the planet should be shoehorned into a blog solution (or any solution for that matter). I can`t help but think that this is a manifestation of the old adage, "when your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." If coming up with a strategy to make a blog work requires leaping through burning rings of fire then it is not a good solution. The issue here is not whether a blog can be made to work for a given business, but whether it is ultimately in the business owner`s best interest. Sometimes it is not, and I think failing to acknowledge this is a disservice to small businesses everywhere.

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Web Design | Best Beef Jerky | ecommerce articles | Follow vwebworld on Twitter

If you`re in a business that relies on Search engines for survival, Blogs are a MUST have as Search engines LOVE blogs.  Especially when they`re updated frequently.

With Google`s recent de-emphasis on Link pages and link exchange, blogs are the next step in the evolutionary scale for link exchanges.


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Aaron Wood
CEO
San Diego Dream Weavers
http://www.sddreamweavers.com
awood@sddreamweavers.com

New and improved! Now with blogging goodness!
http://www.sddreamweavers.com/san-diego-seo-marketing-blog/

Anything can be entertaining. Richard Pryor had a whole routine not only about having a heart attack, but also setting himself on fire. And he made lots of money from those alone.

But there`s also an interesting set of commercials lately, for um....Prilosec?...all about how heartburn isn`t funny. Some guy talks about various events he deals with, and a laugh-track comes on as if he`s on stage telling jokes. Of course they`re not jokes, not funny, and that`s the point of the commercial.

The reason I find it interesting is that it highlights concepts of humor, entertainment, communications, and interest. Any small business can do well with a blog if it`s interesting or entertaining. But even the most fabulous things in the world can be made incredibly boring.

So I agree that an entertaining blog about gas stations, life in one particular gas station, "gas station culture," or that sort of thing would likely help that particular gas station. It isn`t about whether blogs in and of themselves help or hinder someone, it`s about whether interesting events in the world attract attention. And that`s my story, and I`m stickin` to it. :-)

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Ric Willmot
Executive Wisdom Consulting Group
www.ExecutiveWisdom.com
info@executivewisdom.com
Blog: www.ricwillmot.com

Founder of the Society for Executive Wisdom
www.ExecutiveWisdomSociety.com

Strategy for Professionals: www.strategyforprofessionals.com

I read blogs and I use blogs.  They are great ways to keep customers up to date.  With RSS feeds the info is sent to them.  It is an easy way to communicate.





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I finally took the plunge myself, and set up Wordpress to add a business blog to my site, primarily to see what type of SEO/traffic benefits it would provide if I could add ( at least ) halfway intelligent posts to it, as well as trying to provide additional information for potential customers. I think the main reasons I held off are because I don`t consider myself a natural gifted writer, and the idea of trying to be original enough that you stand out from others while benefiting yourself and the readers.

It seems like the blog has become the internet bandwagon. "Everyones doing it, you should too!" ( Admittedly, I have a habit of refraining from going with the latest fads and trends, so I can admit that I may be behind the times just a bit.) I think that is the inherent problem with the blog; anyone can do it, and write on any subject, but does the blog world become so overwhelmed with so much information that many start to become lost and ineffective? Is it a "Do it just because" outlook for many people? Is there so much out there that many won`t matter, or really accomplish anything, whatever their purpose?




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M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons

I started a WordPress blog some time ago because Nikole made me do it. There was a big thread about which blog application was best or easiest; I don`t remember really; all I know is Nikole made me do it!


In any event, what I saw is that as soon as you start a blog, you`re confronted with this wide open plain of empty expanse. You can say anything---one word or thousands. In the next instant, you realize that whatever you say should have some kind of meaning, not be just babble. :-)

I suppose it comes down to whether or not you like to talk, doesn`t it? Or maybe how much thinking you do? A blog, having a sort of infinite roll of paper, sort of begs the question as to what will you fill the paper with.