Scrappy Marketing Solutions Blog

Blog Marketing: Blog Your Event

Here's a great example of a blog promoting an event: NGS 2008 Genealogical Conference Blog.

This blog promotes the 2008 National Genealogical Society Conference in the States and Family History Fair by highlighting different speakers and sponsors.  Not only does this give blog readers a taste of what they would find at the event, but it also offers insight into the expertise of their speakers.  Highlight posts point out the speakers' history, accomplishments, and memberships - all of which point to their expertise, enticing readers to come check out their presentations.

I also like that the blog provides prominent links to conference registration and hotel reservations - both "above the fold" (before readers have to scroll down to access more content).

A Scrappy Marketer's Hat Tip to local hosts of the NGS Conference!

Rubber Duck Blogging: How to Decide What to Blog About

A question I frequently hear at blogging class is, "What do/should I blog about?"  I usually tell blog students to write about whatever they're working on professionally - what's currently keeping them busy in their business. (Well, there's a bit more to it than that, but that's basically it.)  A recent blog post by Denise Wakeman offers another metaphor: How to Build A Better Blog: Writing Blog Content.

Here at SOBCon08, Chris Garrett spoke about creating content for your blog and blogging efficiency. He mentioned something called Rubber Ducking which I had never heard of.

It goes like this:

You say out loud, to a rubber duck, "I want to write about ________ and this is important because _______."

While I can't say I've ever explained myself to a rubber duck, it does provide a valuable exercise.  If you can explain why a blog topic is important to a rubber duck (or other inanimate object, or an imaginary friend, or whomever...), then you solidify in your own mind why you are writing about it, and its value to your audience.  This mindset will help guide your writing and the points you make in your post.

This actually brings to mind some advice a former English teacher gave me about writing book reports - pretend you're telling a friend about the book.  How would you describe what happened in the book to your friend? 

Explaining something to a friend encourages a casual tone, which can help words flow.  A casual tone is also desirable in blog posts.  Explaining something to a friend outside your niche can also help you determine what verbiage is 'jargon' (known usually only in your industry), and what concepts may need a little explanation.  For example, someone outside the scrapbooking industry - or Mr. Ducky - would have no idea what CHA is, or the role it plays in our industry.  The same may be true of many scrapbooking consumers, who don't have a professional role in the industry.  So explaining that CHA stands for Craft & Hobby Association, which hosts two large trade shows each year - shows that act as the launching points for new products and are hotbeds of industry trends - would be helpful for readers who aren't involved in the business side of crafts.

The more you explain, the more of an expert you appear to be.  And Mr. Ducky might be suitably impressed, and tell all of his ducky friends to waddle right over to do business with you.

 

Blog Marketing: Finding Time to Blog

Some interesting thoughts from  Patsi Krakoff of The Blog Squad: Blog Writing: How to find the time....

...The number one question was, "How do I find the time to write on my blog?" Is 'finding time' an issue for you when it comes to writing?

For me, you can never "find" time because there's only so much of it - and never enough. You can, however, schedule time. Since I know that this blog needs updating 2-3 times a week,  I know that every other day I must post.

If I schedule 20-30 minutes first thing in the morning, it gets done. It's not difficult but it can be tricky. For example, if I open email first, it doesn't get done. The trick is to post on your blog first, before you get captured by any other task.

I don't think time is really the issue. It's seeing results. You don't have to "find the time" for something that's important for business. You certainly find time to deposit checks into your bank account, so why would you wait to post "when you have time?"

I think the issue is not seeing the potential payoffs from blog writing because they are long term and subtle.

What do you think?  Do you think not seeing a "payoff" is what keeps people (you?) from blogging?  How long do you think people should expect to wait to see results?

 

How do you "make" time to post?  Any tips on how to make blogging faster/more efficient/productive?

BlogIt from "Inside" Facebook

Typepad recently introduced a new Facebook application which allows you to post to a variety of blogging platforms.

We're excited to announce the launch of a brand new Facebook application -- Blog It Powered by TypePad.  Blog It brings some of the best social aspects of Facebook to blogging, making it easy to blog or micro-blog from within Facebook and let friends and colleagues around the web know what you're posting. Unlike existing blogging tools within Facebook, Blog It is not limited to any one company's blogging services, but instead works with nearly a dozen services including Blogger, TypePad, Twitter, Movable Type, Vox, and WordPress.

For more information about Blog It powered by TypePad, please visit http://blogit.typepad.com.

I'm blogging this from within Facebook - it was easy as pie to set up.  And if you can make it one step easier to blog, you're more likely to do it.  Kudos to Typepad.

Does Your Business Help Your Customer Tell Their (Status) Story?

Recently seen at TrendWatching.com: From status symbols to STATUS STORIES.

STATUS STORIES: As more brands (have to) go niche and therefore tell stories that aren't known to the masses, and as experiences and non-consumption-related expenditures take over from physical (and more visible) status symbols, consumers will increasingly have to tell each other stories to achieve a status dividend from their purchases. Expect a shift from brands telling a story, to brands helping consumers tell status-yielding stories to other consumers.

[Angie's note: emphasis mine]

Huh.  How do you suppose this will translate in the scrapbooking industry/community?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

How a Gorilla in a Grocery Story Made the News

Great grassroots marketing tip on The Publicity Hound’s Blog: Pitch stand-alone photos ideas to weekly newspapers.

When Tom Holubowicz wanted publicity recently for his custard stand in Grafton, Wisconsin, he donned an ape costume and visited the local Pick ‘n Save supermarket to buy bananas for Monkey Pox, his “flavor of the day.”

The recipe calls for bananas, custard and chocolate-covered peanuts.

Before he left, he called The News Graphic, his local weekly newspaper and told them it would make a great photo op.

(You'll have to read Joan's blog post to hear the great marketing results!)

Gets you thinking, doesn't it?  What kind of photo opp could you stage for instant-gratification PR?  Joan's example makes me think of Scrapbook University's "Chicken Soup" party.  SU co-owner Ami Mizell-Flint contributed a story to Chicken Soup for the Scrapbooker's Soul.  To celebrate the book's release, the store pledged to donate a can of chicken soup to a local soup kitchen for every book sold in the store.  Of course they let local media know about the event, and got great coverage as a result.

So be thinking about something you can do to gain media attention.  The custard stand owner needed bananas - he just took it a step further and bought them in a gorilla costume.  Ami wanted to promote a book her store was selling - she took it a step further by also making it a charity event.  Both business owners also made sure to notify the media.  Is there a media opportunity waiting out there for you?  I'd love to hear about it!

How Reading Cosmo Can Quadruple Your Blog Traffic

Via Denise Wakeman's How to Build A Better Blog, a link to Brian Clark's Cosmo Technique for Blogging Inspiration.

Stop by a news stand and check out the headlines on the cover of any consumer-oriented magazine. They’re all written by pros who make good money getting people to pick up periodicals and drop them in the grocery basket.

I like Cosmo because the subject matter is so lurid, it makes things fun.

Clark also issued a challenge based on Details magazine.  I like how Clark offered "assignments" to various bloggers, based on actual headlines - he tailored each assignment to each blogger's niche, which will give you a little guidance in tailoring mag headlines for your own needs.

This tip can help you come up with not only great blog subject lines - use magazine cover headlines to help with newsletter subject lines, and even article/blog content ideas - especially if you scan scrapbooking/craft magazine covers.  If one of the mags is covering chipboard or ribbon or digital photography tips, you can bet that's what their readers are interested in.  And those readers are your customers - so give them what they want!

 

Women Who Blog: 2008 Social Media Benchmark Study

When considering any sort of marketing tool, statistics can be useful.  (Also when doing presentations about said marketing tools).  That's why I was pleased when the following announcement landed in my inbox: BlogHer | Compass Partners 2008 Social Media Benchmark Study: Blogging mainstream, "Reliable" for fun, advice and information.

This spring, BlogHer partnered with Compass Partners to do a sweeping social media benchmark study of more than 6,000 women. We surveyed 1,250 female Internet users via a nationally representative panel, and 5,000 visitors to BlogHer's network...

Some interesting results:

• 36.2 million women actively participate in the blogsophere every week (15.1 publishing, 21.1 reading and commenting)
• More than half of women maintain the original blog they started
• 24 percent of women surveyed say we watch less television because we're blogging
• More than half of women surveyed consider blogs a reliable source of advice and information
• Half of women surveyed say blogs influence their purchase decisions

Another useful site for Internet statistics and usage studies is the Pew/Internet & American Life Project.  I've referred to a number of their studies in my presentations on blogging as a marketing tool.

Shameless Self-Promotion in 10 Minutes or Less

Some great ideas posted in the comments of this post: Ten 10-minute self promotion activities.

Some suggestions include:

• read and comment on blogs in your niche
• send a "how are you doing" email or call to a non-active client/customer
• update your online portfolio
• leave promotional bookmarks and hand them out throughout the day

My answer/comment on Ilise's post was this:

...answer questions in your niche posted on LinkedIn's Answers. I've answered only three questions, but two of my answers were selected as "Best Answers", which shows up on my profile. Nice visibility, and increases exposure for my expertise.

I'd love to get some similar comments on this post - geared toward scrapbooking business self-promotion, of course.  What can you, and *have* you, done to promote your business in 10-minute blocks?

Networking Tips: Your Personal Know, Like, & Trust Factor

Via Ilise Benun's Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor newsletter, a link to an article by Social Media Marketing Coach, Zita Gustin on one's "Know, Like, & Trust Factor".  Basically it offers thoughts on two styles of networking - the hunter and the gardener.

The hunter approaches networking (meeting/collaborating/referring people for mutually beneficial business alliances) as "going in the for kill (the sale)".  Gustin doesn't think of that approach as networking, but rather "salesmaking".

So what is networking?  It's about establishing a relationship with others based on your/their Know, Like, and Trust Factor - the idea that people do business with people they know, like & trust.  Gustin has this to say on that topic:

And yet, so many people want to skip past the parts about the knowing and liking ... they want to go straight to the part about getting referrals or sales without building to and through the trusting part.

She suggests that to earn trust in a relationship (networking or otherwise), "you must show your character, your integrity, your ability, and your kindness and concern for others."  Then she offers 12 thought-provoking tips on how to inspire trust by revealing your character.  Worth a read.