Five Great Business Blogging Ideas
April 28, 2009 by Melissa Donovan · Leave a Comment
Have you ever thought about adding a blog to your business website? The benefits of business blogging can be great, but there are obstacles that you must overcome, problems you must solve, and challenges you must face before you can launch a business blog.
For starters, you need to have a solid content development plan. What topics will your blog cover? Just news and announcements about your business or industry? What else could you possibly write about on a business blog?
Fortunately, there are plenty of areas to explore in terms of topic. The main ingredient you need for any blog is a good writer – someone who can produce compelling content. A clever and talented writer can make the dryest subject in the world juicy and interesting.
Business Blogging
Business blogging is really no different than most other blogging endeavors. Business bloggers are often working to grow their subscriber base, readership, and traffic. Businesses are looking for ways to grow their customer base and doing so through an effective online presence can be highly beneficial.
Business blogging provides a number of opportunities for improving your online presence and increasing your online success. You can grow traffic to your site, gain rank on search engines, and publish quality content that other websites will link to.
But how can you also leverage your blog to grow your business, increase sales, and connect with your customers?
Five Business Blogging Ideas
From lengthy blog posts that feature your products and services and describe them in great detail to shorter posts that showcase photos or videos that depict your merchandise in action, business blogging offers ample opportunites for sharing news and information about your business offerings. Here are just a few ideas for how to use your blog to promote your business:
1. Products and Services
Write posts with images and descriptions of your products and services to help people better understand what you offer. Be sure to include a mix of newly launched products along with your core or staple products. And don’t forget to highlight the benefits of your offerings!
2. Customer Service
Every business has tons of stories about customer service. Good service, bad customers, and vice versa. Use business blogging as showcase to demonstrate how your business has helped customers. Offer a question-and-answer format that invites customers to send in questions, which you then answer on your blog. Or, encourage customers to send in brief letters or testimonials and post these on your blog.
3. Specials and Discounts
A blog is one of the best places to inform customers about specials or discounts that you’re offering. You can design promotions especially for your blog readers or subscribers, or you can offer open specials and simply promote them on your blog.
4. Features and Benefits
Do more than describe your products and services. Explain the features they boast and the benefits they offer for those who use them. A business blog is a great place to go into greater detail regarding how your product or service will improve people’s lives and solve their problems. Use examples. Tell stories. Compel people to buy.
5. Multimedia
You can post a wide range of media on your blog – images, audio, video, and text. This means there’s no limit to the content you can create and share on your blog. Did you recently do a radio spot or TV commercial? Make sure you post it on your blog. Have you run an ad in the local paper? Post it.
Blogging for Business
Once you sit down and start brainstorming the material you can share through business blogging, you’ll be surprised at just how much fodder for blogging a business actually provides. There are great benefits to be had through a business blog, so what are you waiting for?
Not sure where to start? Need to hire a professional blogger? Scribizzy offers a full suite of blog services, including business blogging. You can even get a quote online!
12 Website Design Tips for Small Businesses
April 21, 2009 by Melissa Donovan · 1 Comment
If you’re running a small business, you’re probably pretty busy. You’re managing a team of employees, generating leads, balancing the books, or simply doing whatever it is that you do best.
Maybe you’re a plumber. Or a piano teacher. Maybe you run a boutique or a roller skating rink. Whatever it is that you do, you know your field of expertise, and website design is not it.
But you have to hire someone to design your site, right? How can you make smart decisions about your website design if you’re not an expert in websites or design?
If you’re a small business owner, it pays to learn a little about the inner workings of the web. If you understand a few basics about website design and online marketing, it will be much easier for you to choose a website designer and work with your designer to build a site that will achieve your business objectives.
Website Design Tips
This guide provides website design tips for small businesses that need to establish a web presence and launch an online marketing campaign but have no background in online marketing or website design. Always remember this: Your website should be designed to further the progress of all these aspects of your business:
1. Define your business
When you started your business, did you write a business plan? If you did, then you have already defined your business. But many people who are self-employed have never bothered to write a business plan because they never required a loan or any type of financing. They just hung up their sign and started selling their wares. Here are a few points you need to clarify before getting a website:
- Company Mission – What is your primary purpose?
- Business Philosophy – What is your business approach?
- History – What are your credentials and how did you get started in this business?
- Products and Services – What are you selling?
- Features and Benefits – How do your offerings improve customers’ lives?
- Customers – Who are your customers?
- Image and Branding – What image do you want to project and what tone do you want to convey?
A website designer can use this information to create a site that accurately reflects your business. Some of this information will be used directly, but mostly it will inform the sensibility that your site conveys. All of it’s helpful — for you, your website designer, and any other web content services provider that you work with.
2. Build Your Brand
A website is really an extension of your brand, especially when we’re talking specifically about website design. Your brand is your image, the tone and flavor of your business. It has a distinct attitude and a message. It’s memorable and catchy. Think about the GE light bulb and the slogan “We bring good things to life” or the Apple brand, which communicates a tone of elegant but functional simplicity and minimalism. You need to define your business personality for a website to be truly effective.
3. Develop an Online Marketing Strategy
Once you finish building your website, what are you going to do with it? You’d be surprised how many abandoned websites are collecting dust all over the Internet. People keep paying their annual domain registration and hosting fees, but their websites have zero visitors on any given day. Why even bother? The goal of your website is to attract traffic and then convert that traffic into paying customers. How are you going to get people to come to your site? That is the question that all good online marketing strategies answer.
4. Create a Content Development Plan
Let’s face it — getting your first website is cool. It’s super cool. Even your second and third websites are exciting. Each redesign is an opportunity to make your business stand out. I myself have been seduced by the awesomeness that is slick website design. The first few websites I designed had absolutely no written content. But I was just trying to learn how to make a website. I didn’t have a business back then.
Every website needs a comprehensive content development plan. On more than one occasion, I’ve been hired to write website copy for a client only to find out that the site design was already commissioned and imposed strict limitations on the copy. “We need a 50-word blurb here, and about 250 words there, a ten-line something or other across the top.” That’s all fine when design is your priority, but as you delve deeper into the project, there are pages where 250 words may not be enough (like on a terms and conditions page).
The written content and the design must work together toward a common purpose: to market your business. All the fancy schmancy designing in the world is meaningless if it can’t hold the message that you want to share.
5. Identify Your Web Content Needs
Speaking of web content development, who’s going to be providing the website copywriting for your site? Have you thought about hiring an online marketing expert to help you draw traffic? Do you have time to manage the site and track its performance or will you be hiring that out as well? Lots of small business owners do nothing more than hire a website designer and then forget about the rest, creating a wide gap between their business’s online performance and potential. If you thought this through while you were writing your business and marketing plans, then great. You’re golden. If not, then now is the time to think beyond the design.
6. Establish Your Budget
You can spend a few dollars on a website or you can spend thousands of dollars. And everything in between. Spend some time researching website designers. Get a few quotes, and then set a realistic budget. Don’t be so cheap that you end up with an amateurish website, but don’t get too extravagant either. If you’re a small business just starting out or trying to grow into your next phase, know that you can find excellent website designers who offer affordable rates and turnkey solutions. You might not be able to get all the bells and whistles, but you should be able to get a solid, functional, and aesthetic design. And remember, you can always rehire your website designer later to make changes.
7. Find the Right Website Designer
If you’re going to hire a website designer, make sure you look at their portfolio before you sign the quote or issue your deposit. Design can be highly stylistic, and if your designer’s style doesn’t align with the style you want for your business, then the project is doomed. This is especially true if your design project will include creating a logo or any kind of illustration. The more complex and involved the design, the more essential it is that you find a designer whose work you like.
8. Understand Your Web Designer’s Services
Website designers often offer services exclusively in design. Website design is a specialty, not an all-inclusive online marketing service. Do you need written content or help with online marketing? Your website designer may offer these complementary services or may be able to refer you to other service providers. You might luck out and find yourself at a one-stop shop that provides the whole kit and caboodle. But do understand that website design is just one of the many services you may need to launch your site.
9. Let The Designer Do The Designing
There’s nothing wrong with injecting a little personality into your site, but overrunning your business site with photos of your pets, your kids, and your car is both unprofessional and distracting. Sure, it’s acceptable to mention a few of your hobbies. Use a family photo in your bio. Customers like knowing there are real people behind a small business. But remember that your website is not the place to hawk your coin collection (unless your business is a coin agency). The same goes for color schemes and other design elements. Florescent pink and lime green may look hip to you, but that doesn’t mean they are ideal colors for your law firm’s website (although there are always exceptions!). When in doubt, consult your designer, and trust their professional opinion since that’s exactly why you hired them in the first place.
10. Promote and Market Your Site
Once your site is done, you’re ready to start promoting it. Make sure you add your website URL to your business cards and other stationary. Add a signature to the bottom of your email with a link to your site. Put links in your social media profiles. Start publishing a newsletter or a blog. Purchase ad space on relevant sites. And launch a full-blown online marketing campaign to start driving targeted traffic to your website.
11. Track Your Website Performance
Once your site is live and your marketing campaign is underway, you should start actively monitoring your website performance. This can be done weekly, monthly, or even quarterly. Website performance reports will tell you whether your site is doing its job well. How many visitors are coming to your site? Where are they coming from? How long are they staying? Are they taking the desired actions? These are just a few of the questions that a website performance report will answer.
12. Perform Regular Website Maintenance
A website is like a car. It needs regular maintenance. Some websites run on a content management system, and when the software updates, so must your website. Browsers also get updated, providing new functionality and sometimes rendering old designs obsolete. Try to keep your site fresh and all software current. This is especially true for sites with a lot of written content. Check regularly to make sure the text on your site is still valid and current.
Summary
These days, a website is essential for any small business that wants to make its products and services accessible and available to more customers. So take your time and take these website design tips to heart. With proper planning, your website will be a smart investment that promotes and grows your business.
Find out how Scribizzy can help you build a more effective website by visiting our services page, or if you know exactly what you need, go ahead and get a quote online.
Website Copywriting: How to Get a Killer Home Page
April 14, 2009 by Melissa Donovan · 1 Comment
You can write your own home page. After all, how hard could it be?
You can also hire a website copywriter like me to write it for you. Either way, you should know exactly what goes into crafting a home page that is both effective and purposeful.
Think for a moment about the role your website has in contributing to the success of your business. Think about how your site works toward helping you achieve your goals. Your home page is your store front, your magazine cover, business card, brochure, and television commercial all rolled into one. It is your number one marketing tool, and it has an enormous job to do.
The Purpose of a Home Page
The visitors that come to your site are like window shoppers. They’re standing there for just a moment, checking out your sign, peeking at your inventory, and wondering if they should step through the door. You have that one moment to capture their attention and convince them to come inside.
Each home page is unique but they all have one common purpose: convert visitors into customers. A customer can be defined in many different ways — someone who subscribes to a newsletter, a person who purchases a product or service, or anyone who signs up as a registered user — these are just a few examples of someone who is considered a customer.
A website copywriter has to understand how to dress up that window so people want to come in and become customers. If you can do that, convert visitors to customers, then you’ve written a killer home page.
The Four Cornerstones of a Killer Home Page:
So how do you get passersby to come in? Start by applying the four following website copywriting techniques:
- Define your Offer – Tell people what you offer on your website by clearly describing your product or service.
- Identify a Need – Explain why visitors need your product or service. Tell them how it solves a problem or fulfills one of their desires.
- Make a Promise - It’s not enough to tell people what you’re selling and why they should buy it. You have to give them a reason to buy it from you. In this step, make a promise that makes your offer the most attractive one on the market.
- Issue a Call to Action - Lead the visitor to the next step using links, buttons, or clickable images. Take them to a registration page, catalog, or to the online store. Direct that traffic! This is where the conversion from visitor to customer happens.
To put it simply, you tell people what you’re offering and why it will make their lives better. Then, you explain why yours is the best place to get it and nudge them toward the cash register.
Website Copywriting That Makes People Want to Come Inside and Buy
Once you’ve established your four cornerstones, you’ve got the foundation for your home page, and all you need to do is develop the structure. Laying the groundwork is as easy as pouring cement, but building rooms and hallways, putting up windows and doors — doors that customers will want to walk through — that’s the tricky part.
Good website copywriting is a specialty all its own. There are specific techniques for writing a killer home page, an intriguing About page, or a compelling Product or Services page. And then there are skills that apply to all of the written content on a website.
Truly great website copywriting achieves the following:
- It is clear, concise, and compelling
- It speaks to customers in a language they can understand
- It incites visitors to take some action so they become customers
- It focuses on benefits for the customer rather than features of the product
- Good website copywriting always maintains the company brand and image and adheres to the company mission and philosophy
There are plenty of other factors too, like search engine optimization (SEO) keywords, which draws visitors to a site organically through search engines. When keywords become part of the equation, website copywriting becomes SEO copywriting, and that requires even more skills, because specific words and phrases have to worked into the text and formatted accordingly.
Finally, truly excellent website copywriting always looks good on the screen. It’s aesthetically pleasing. This is particularly significant on a home page because it’s more than likely that’s the first page a visitor will see, and we all know how crucial first impressions are.
A website copywriter has a job that combines the skills of writing, marketing, and design with an understanding of how people use the internet and respond to web content. Anyone can write a home page, that’s the truth. But writing a killer home page, that just might require a specialist.
Scribizzy offers a full suite of website copywriting services, and you can even get a quote online!
Doing Business Online with Niche Marketing
April 7, 2009 by Melissa Donovan · 1 Comment
Today’s businesses are learning to harness the power of niche marketing, and many modern small businesses are being built entirely around niches.
This smart strategy puts small businesses in a position to target a smaller and more well-defined pool of customers.
Niches are effective for business models in the brick and mortar world, but they’re even more effective when you’re doing business online.
Niche Businesses
You can be a florist. Or, you can be a wedding florist. As a general florist, you are looking at a huge range of customers – people who buy flowers for anniversaries, funerals, Valentine’s Day, and a host of other occasions, celebrations, and holidays.
As a wedding florist, all you have to think about are customers who are getting married.
In fact, your entire business is built around people who are getting married, so your entire business model shifts and becomes a lot more focused. You don’t need a shop because you’ll be doing most of your work on location. You don’t need to worry about having enough red roses on hand around Valentine’s Day. You can focus on a single service for a very particular type of client, and in that niche, you can quickly and easily become an expert.
Niche Marketing
As a wedding florist, you can market exclusively to your target customer. You’ll go after features in bridal magazines, set up booths at bridal fairs, and build your entire marketing campaign around a single event: your client’s wedding.
You’ll team up with other wedding professionals and offer packaged services. Connect with bands and DJs, makeup artists and event planners. Develop cross-promotions, referral programs, and venture partnerships with wedding service providers.
And remember, whether you offer your products and services to the public at large (anyone who needs flowers) or just a small segment of the population (people who are betrothed), you can always use niche marketing to promote your business, especially when you’re doing business online.
Doing Business Online in the Niche Marketplace
The Internet provides a venue in which you can take full advantage of niche marketing.
For example, you don’t have to limit yourself to one website. The Friendly Florist may have a shop on the corner that carries a wide variety of flowers for sale. There’s probably a Friendly Florist website that features seasonal arrangements, provides options for ordering bouquets online, and lists the shop’s location and hours of operation.
But the Friendly Florist can also launch a second (niche marketing) website: Friendly Florist Weddings. The entire website can focus on services that are designed especially for weddings and bridal parties, thus drawing very specific visitors to the site (ideal for SEO) and providing information that is more relevant to those visitors.
When doing business online with niche marketing, venture partnerships are also easy and effective. Exchange links and referrals with other wedding professionals. It doesn’t cost either partner a dime and has the potential to double all partners’ business.
You can run special promotions online with other businesses in your niche, and you can build an entire team of professionals for a special promotion or for an entire website. Get the DJ, makeup artist, wedding planner, and caterer all on board. Call it Friendly Weddings. Split the cost of the website and the advertising, and then everyone can enjoy greater revenues by doing business online.
The Benefits of Niche Marketing
Nothing compels a perspective customer more than feeling like the business she is patronizing caters exclusively to her needs. A young bride has a problem. She’s getting married in six months and she’s going to need flowers, and lots of them. You might have a flower shop, but she’s going to take greater notice if you’re a wedding florist, because what you’re offering is a direct solution to her particular problem.
Niche marketing also make it easier to identify target customers and then send them a message that is appropriate and relevant. Compare a slogan like “flowers for all occasions” to one such as “perfect flowers for your perfect wedding day.” If you’re about to walk down the aisle, which business would you choose?
There are lots of businesses that offer a wide range of general services, and niche marketing may seem too small or limiting at first. But it’s much easier to identify and market to small groups of customers than to try to appeal to everybody. Remember, a business can launch as many niche marketing campaigns as it wants and with the affordable cost of web hosting, doing business online with multiple websites is more effective and more cost efficient than ever.
When it’s time to put together your next marketing plan, take some time to consider the benefits of niche marketing for doing business online. You may have to divide your customers up into smaller groups and pay more for branding, advertising, and other promotions, but doing so could have a positively exponential impact on your bottom line.
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