New List of Small Businesses with Blogs
Janesville, WI, September 24, 2006 --(PR.com)-- Blogs for businesses are popping up all over the place and it’s not just large businesses that are benefiting from the technology. Small businesses are starting to tap into the marketing power that blogs offer and one website is taking notice.
Pajama Market (www.pajamamarket.com) currently lists more than 80 small businesses who are taking the time to write a blog about their company, or their industry. The website’s main feature, the Small Business Blog of the Day, reviews the blog a company has created, evaluating its effectiveness as a marketing tool.
“It seems every business blogging book I picked up talks about the same ten blogs, and they’re all big business blogs,” said Brian Brown, owner of Pajama Market. “Blogs are perfect vehicles for small businesses to sell themselves to the global market, I wanted to highlight those who were discovering that.”
In addition to reviewing blogs, Brown also interviews the author of the blog, often the owner of the company, to find their motivations, the hurdles they had to climb over, and the results the blog has had on the bottom line. To date, Brown has compiled over 40 interviews.
“Not everyone reports a growth in business as a result of having a blog,” Brown said, “but it’s surprising how many are getting results. From companies that have picked up a client here or there, to companies that are doing all of their business from their blog. More than a few have completely rethought their marketing strategy as a result of starting a blog.”
The advantages of having a blog are beginning to change a lot of business owners’ minds. Blogs are often credited with a sharp rise in search engine rankings, greater links from other websites, and creating a lasting relationship with customers, an important factor in gaining trust and producing sales.
“The comment feature of blogs creates a conversation rather than a one-way lecture,” said Brown. “This two-way interaction has a profound change on the dynamic of reading a website. If you don’t like something that you read, you can say something about it. More often though, comments are a place where readers provide encouragement, references to other websites with further information, or even suggestions on how to make a product better, or for a new product.”
Brown says there are some basic guidelines to ensure you have an effective business blog:
Write a post at least three times a week. The absence of activity indicates to readers that you are not committed to them, and they will punish you by not returning to the blog.
Use the comment feature. Some blogs turn the comments off, but this is a big mistake. Comments provide invaluable customer feedback that can’t be obtained cheaply by any other method.
Provide easy navigation. Every blog should have an archives-by-month and archives-by-category section, as well as a search box, a link to the company’s store, and a link to an ‘about’ page. Finding things easily makes the reader experience pleasurable and that’s the feeling you want when they visit.
Good headlines. Bloggers tend to be “cute” with their headlines and that’s a mistake. You want headlines that tell the reader what the post is about with as few words as possible… like a newspaper. This will increase readership of that post and attract search engines to rank that post higher.
Add photos. Other than the headline, a photo will get visitors to read a post more than anything else.
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Pajama Market (www.pajamamarket.com) currently lists more than 80 small businesses who are taking the time to write a blog about their company, or their industry. The website’s main feature, the Small Business Blog of the Day, reviews the blog a company has created, evaluating its effectiveness as a marketing tool.
“It seems every business blogging book I picked up talks about the same ten blogs, and they’re all big business blogs,” said Brian Brown, owner of Pajama Market. “Blogs are perfect vehicles for small businesses to sell themselves to the global market, I wanted to highlight those who were discovering that.”
In addition to reviewing blogs, Brown also interviews the author of the blog, often the owner of the company, to find their motivations, the hurdles they had to climb over, and the results the blog has had on the bottom line. To date, Brown has compiled over 40 interviews.
“Not everyone reports a growth in business as a result of having a blog,” Brown said, “but it’s surprising how many are getting results. From companies that have picked up a client here or there, to companies that are doing all of their business from their blog. More than a few have completely rethought their marketing strategy as a result of starting a blog.”
The advantages of having a blog are beginning to change a lot of business owners’ minds. Blogs are often credited with a sharp rise in search engine rankings, greater links from other websites, and creating a lasting relationship with customers, an important factor in gaining trust and producing sales.
“The comment feature of blogs creates a conversation rather than a one-way lecture,” said Brown. “This two-way interaction has a profound change on the dynamic of reading a website. If you don’t like something that you read, you can say something about it. More often though, comments are a place where readers provide encouragement, references to other websites with further information, or even suggestions on how to make a product better, or for a new product.”
Brown says there are some basic guidelines to ensure you have an effective business blog:
Write a post at least three times a week. The absence of activity indicates to readers that you are not committed to them, and they will punish you by not returning to the blog.
Use the comment feature. Some blogs turn the comments off, but this is a big mistake. Comments provide invaluable customer feedback that can’t be obtained cheaply by any other method.
Provide easy navigation. Every blog should have an archives-by-month and archives-by-category section, as well as a search box, a link to the company’s store, and a link to an ‘about’ page. Finding things easily makes the reader experience pleasurable and that’s the feeling you want when they visit.
Good headlines. Bloggers tend to be “cute” with their headlines and that’s a mistake. You want headlines that tell the reader what the post is about with as few words as possible… like a newspaper. This will increase readership of that post and attract search engines to rank that post higher.
Add photos. Other than the headline, a photo will get visitors to read a post more than anything else.
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Contact
Pajama Market
Brian Brown
(608) 531-1951
www.pajamamarket.com
Brian Brown
(608) 531-1951
www.pajamamarket.com
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