The Buzz Bin

By Priya Ramesh

For the last seven years of my career as a Public Relations professional, I have had the tremendous opportunity to work very closely with CEOs of startup companies. I absolutely enjoy the “die-hard, let’s do it attitude” that epitomizes small businesses and I am very well aware of what a small business marketing budget looks like. So let me share with you some tips on what makes the most sense for you as an entrepreneur to engage in social media.

If you have been reading my blog posts every Mon here on Buzz Bin, you now know that I am a storyteller. So here I go…my journey in social media began at Approva Corporation, a mid-sized enterprise software developer that specializes in automated compliance and business process management. We were a small marketing team entrusted with the BIG responsibility to increase visibility for a company that competes with the 500 pound guerillas in enterprise software: SAP, Oracle and IBM. I clearly remember the brainstorm meeting when we as a team decided to convert almost 80% of our traditional marketing activities (tradeshows, seminars, press releases and the long list) into online engagement and YES we added a blog to the mix. Audit Trail became Approva’s corporate blog where we could sound off on industry hot topics, stir a conversation with our customers and have some fun in an otherwise not so exciting B2B environment. Within three months of the blog launch, our Google Analytics did all the talking for us in terms of justifying ROI for Approva’s blog. Even better, when we did a win/loss call with a new customer and asked him, “How did you hear about Approva?” The answer was, “Audit Trail, your blog. You come across as a company that knows all about business process monitoring and automated compliance, so we thought we would talk to you.” Hurrah! now lead generation through your blog might seem a little far fetched if you are still considering starting a blog but yes it is possible.

The 2009 State of the Blogosphere published by Technorati (via Search Engine Journal) has some interesting stats that pertain to you as a small business owner:

• 77% of Internet users read blogs according to Universal McCann
• 72% say they blog in order to share their expertise.
• 72% of those who are self-employed and blogging are interested in attracting new clients.

You probably have heard this a gazillion times but I need to re-emphasize one more time, a blog makes perfect sense for a growing company for three key reasons:

1. Low investment with High Rewards: Starting a blog on a WordPress or Blogger platform takes more time and effort in planning the look and feel and content than the actual investment in the platform. If you blog right and blog often, I guarantee your SEO rankings will go up. Check out my podcast with Progress DataDirect Software that shares more insight on how their blog got them into Top-10 Google search results. CRT/tanaka helped Progress DataDirect in content creation for their blog Data Connections and within six months of launch we started seeing an increase in site traffic to their main website plus a steady increase in readership for Data Connections.

2.       Launch pad for Thought Leadership: A blog is that informal, two-way street where you can have a meaningful DIALOGUE with your customers, prospects and industry peers. Traditional communication vehicles like press release, website, print ads etc. only push messages out. A blog can be your medium to share your expertise in a much more engaging and interactive way. Gary Vaynerchuk, a New York Times best selling author and American businessman is the poster child of a small business strategically using a blog for thought leadership.

3.       Real-time Feedback Mechanism: If you are a small company without the luxury of trial and error, you could use your blog to get some valuable feedback from your own community. Test try your new product or service on your blog and get instant feedback from your community. This also shows that you are a company that LISTENS and DELIVERS on what its customers truly need versus what you think is right for them.

Here are a few small business blogs that I think you would like to hear from:  

http://www.startupnation.com/blogs/

http://smallbiztrends.com/

http://www.allbusiness.com/business-planning-structures/starting-a-business/3882-1.html

http://blog.entrepreneur.com/

http://growsmartbusiness.com/

If you are free on June 24^th, 1-2:30PM (EST) and would like to hear first hand from top-50 female blogger, Beth Schillaci join us for a tweet chat on “How to effectively blog to market your small business.” You can register for free at http://smallvolution.eventbrite.com.

Do share any tips/success you have had with your small business blog. I heart you for daring to be your own boss!

Image courtesy: 

http://phillymarketing.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/blogosphere.jpg
http://nikkigsblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/rainy-days-and-mondays-always-get-me-delayed/