Make Blogs Work for Your Small Business

A recent Fast Company magazine article noted that the significant return from social media marketing like blogs does so much more than just get your company’s name out on to the Internet landscape and potentially in front of your target audience.

Social media tactics like blogs offers small business a competitive advantage that can even tackle the big box brands that dominate the brick-and-mortar environment. It evens the playing field by giving small businesses a voice and way to help their customers get information and engage them in a two-way dialogue.   

The Proof is in the Pudding…Err, I Mean, in the Results

Our firm’s clients, such as Carithers Flowers, Pete’s Plumbing, and TAB all based in and around the Atlanta, Georgia area, have been using their blog to accomplish these objectives with incredible results. Each client is a small business that had previously only used traditional and local channels for their marketing efforts.

With the blogs and other social media marketing tactics, each has noted a strong uptick in new clients and booked business. Many new customers and returning clientele have mentioned how much they like the blogs and believed the information provided them with helpful advice. In their mind, the blogs also established a stronger sense of credibility and reputation about the companies behind the blog in terms of what they would get in the way of service.

Blogging Tips for Success: Generating Social Media Buzz

In looking at these three blogs as examples of what a small business can do, there are some top tips that are easy to employ:

• Write about what you know: Each of the three blogs focus on their core business and what they are good at. Numerous small businesses can gain a real advantage with blog visitors by offering them tips on making their life easier around the house, saving money, and other value-oriented content.
• Focus on quality and unique content: This doesn’t mean that the content of another plumber or florist is simply repurposed or even copied. All content must be fresh and unique to the firm. Very often, a search engine will quickly reveal when a company has simply copied content from another site. This is the fastest way to diminish a firm in the mind of a customer because they will not be able to see them as honest.
• Don’t forget that quantity helps too: Usually, quantity is not as good as quality but, in the case of blogging, posting weekly or even more frequently garners more attention than what becomes a hit and miss strategy when done once a month or what may end up being months. The more often you do it, the more likely you’ll get some attention.
• Use pictures, videos, and illustrations: Visual images reinforce the messages and offer another way to entertain and engage the blog visitor. They also help add more information to what you are trying to convey or help show a reader how to complete a task like flower arranging or plumbing repair.
• Create links: Connecting your post through hyperlinks to articles that reinforce the topics or provide additional information let readers know you have researched your topic. However, it also is a way to get more attention from search engines to drive traffic.
• Make it readable and easy to digest: Don’t try to be the Moby Dick of blog writers. Keep the content within reason and break it up visually with bullets, numbering, and lists.
• Invite participation: Blogs are a social media tool and all thrive on interaction and dialogue. Always be sure to include a space for comments and invite feedback or questions.

Your Take

How has a blog worked for your small business or how has it helped you as a consumer or business be able to learn something new from a preferred company? Do you have questions about how to get started with a blog? Flyline Search Marketing can provide assistance to you. We offer a turn-key blogging solution that our clients find extremely beneficial to their Internet Marketing efforts. Call us at 1-866-258-5511.

Internet Marketing Partnerships Fuel Small Business Growth

Internet marketing strategies and success just isn’t for global companies or national brands; if anything, it has opened up growth opportunities for many small business owners who can take advantage of some of the same marketing tools as larger companies without needing the powerhouse marketing budget to go with it.

Case Study: Carithers Flowers

Take Carithers Flowers, for example, an award-winning, 37-year old family-owned business with retail headquarters at Powers Ferry in Georgia. They are a full-service florist offering same-day delivery to Acworth, Alpharetta, Buckhead, Canton, Decatur, Duluth, Kennesaw, Marietta, Sandy Springs, Smyrna, Tucker and Woodstock. Not only does Carithers Flowers offer a beautiful selection of floral arrangements and gifts both online and at retail locations, but the company also works with environmentally sustainable farms and gives extensively to charity and community programs.

 Being voted the Number One Florist in Atlanta did not just happen by chance for Carithers Flowers. The local florist has been working for years to nurture its relationships with customers and offers a friendly and knowledgeable place to shop for flowers. Although a lot of great word-of-mouth marketing has helped grow the company, Carithers realized that the Internet could become an excellent way to fertilize its business for long-term growth.

The comprehensive marketing approach employed by Flyline Search Marketing is an invaluable asset, allowing Carithers Flowers to reach the broadest possible audience and, as a result, give back even more to the community. The Internet Marketing program for Carithers consists of a turn-key solution that has helped deliver a number of benefits for a minimal marketing investment, including blogging, social media, online advertising, search engine optimization, and more. The results have achieved the program’s main goals:

·        Generate more sales revenue;

·        Increase the flow of customer leads;

·        Improve organic placement opportunities on the major search engines;

·        Create natural in-bound links to their website; and

·        Enhance their brand image online and offline.

Lessons Learned

A small business owner like Carithers Flowers has learned the advantages of forming an alliance with an Internet Marketing specialist like Flyline, which can provide good lessons for other small business owners out there who are currently considering if they should try an Internet Marketing program:

• Develop an approach that addresses both short-term objectives and long-term results.
• Focus on Internet marketing objectives that are targeted to each customer segment. 
• Combine numerous Internet marketing channels, including social media, online advertising, fresh content, and ongoing press releases and publicity for online and offline audiences.
• Evolve strategies as customers change their interests to keep them interested and loyal. 

Finally, look for a partner who wants to establish lasting, mutually beneficial relationships versus one that just wants to offer a quick campaign that doesn’t build marketing or brand momentum. Having an expert who understands Internet Marketing and who can combine the best strategies is worth their weight in gold. Before you know it, you’ll have more customers in bloom just like Carithers Flowers.

Send us your questions on how your small business might use Internet Marketing or share your success stories with our readers by providing your comments below.