twobears Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 After years of thinking about it I have finally created a blog. So far all I've done is set up my profile but since I am pretty opinionated I'm sure my muse will visit me soon Nothing to read on my blog yet but I'd be interested in reading someone else's from the forum if you want to share and/or have any tips and hints? I am not going to allow comments to be posted on mine because every single site I see that allows comments seems to attract total ar$es with their moronic 'thoughts' and I really can't be doing with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranha Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 I'm guilty been running a company blog for couple of years now. A blog can be a good source of income once the visitors start flowing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevoD Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Plan on doing a vlog on YouTube when I can get my ass into gear to document and follow the stuff I get up to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I am not going to allow comments to be posted on mine because every single site I see that allows comments seems to attract total ar$es with their moronic 'thoughts' and I really can't be doing with that. Don't take this the wrong way, but then what makes you think that people want to hear your thoughts? Not a dig at all, I personally like reading your posts, but you need to figure out what you want to talk about. If it's general everything then I'm afraid you're on a loser there I suspect, as that's what social media is for these days. If it's a specific subject then great, but how are you going to attract visitors? If people can't feedback to you then they're going to find it hard to connect, and then no-one will bother viewing. If it's just to use as an online diary of sorts, where you can just chat about the day in general and you don't really care if any one reads it or not, then I agree that turning off comments is a good idea. Ultimately, if you want to engage your audience then you're going to have to engage with your audience. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I am not going to allow comments to be posted on mine because every single site I see that allows comments seems to attract total ar$es with their moronic 'thoughts' and I really can't be doing with that. Don't take this the wrong way, but then what makes you think that people want to hear your thoughts? Not a dig at all, I personally like reading your posts, but you need to figure out what you want to talk about. If it's general everything then I'm afraid you're on a loser there I suspect, as that's what social media is for these days. If it's a specific subject then great, but how are you going to attract visitors? If people can't feedback to you then they're going to find it hard to connect, and then no-one will bother viewing. If it's just to use as an online diary of sorts, where you can just chat about the day in general and you don't really care if any one reads it or not, then I agree that turning off comments is a good idea. Ultimately, if you want to engage your audience then you're going to have to engage with your audience. Also not a dig but it is really interesting to see how (if you're over a certain age) things have changed over the last twenty years in this respect. I think, because I'm basically an old fashioned git, the idea of publishing my daily musings and reporting my activities on a blog, Twitter etc would just seem really odd. I can't imagine anyone would be in the least bit interested - I'm not famous, I'm not an expert in anything, I don't have any particularly exceptional talents...I'd just be thinking....who would be interested in anything I have to say? Still, I guess it's not that different to posting on here.... Perhap it's a good thing that communication has been democratised in this way. I don't know.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Thanks everyone and don't worry, I'm not in the least offended by the constructive criticism as it is all perfectly valid What I am trying to achieve is to learn how to write a blog for my business web site once I relaunch it. I thought I would cut my teeth on a personal blog first and I don't want random strangers finding it and posting inane comments. I will, of course, need to make the business blog visible or there's not much point in writing the thing!! When I launched my first retail website back in 2002 everything was much simpler and getting your products noticed was far easier. Things have changed hugely since then and I really struggled to get anywhere on line with my current business, relying instead on an advertising board outside my workshop and word of mouth. That's fine up to a point but I really need to get orders through the website if I want to get enough work to make the business viable. I am not sure if a blog will help, I suspect not and that is why I never got round to doing it before but since everyone else has a blog and a Facebook page I think it may be a necessary evil these days? I was thinking that I should keep it factual and with maybe a little bit of personal detail? I quite like reading small business blogs where the owners talk about themselves but that may just be my nosey ( I prefer the word "enquiring" ) nature coming out? Like you, Sipar, I am not sure if giving everyone a voice is actually a good thing. It irritates me hugely when I read a piece by a writer whose work I enjoy only to find a plethora of stupid/offensive/threatening/moronic comments added underneath by members of the public. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I blog on cars (did have a football one but got bored and it expired) but really do it for just one persons benefit, me. I haven't done it for ages but at the time I did a lot it really was just a way of keeping the creative part of my brain in action whilst I was between jobs. Lots of people blog for different reasons, but I guess for it to really work for you it has to be done for a good reason. I see companies put blogs up and fill it with crap just so they can say they have a blog. Companies put up Facebook pages and put nothing on it. If I were running my own business I would seriously consider how I used social media but I would not just touch on every popular site just for the sake of it, I would suggest they understand what they want to get out of having it and what its ultimate aim is - any business communication should have a very well thought through objective and way of achieving it. For me, my blog was about just doing something I quite enjoyed, I really enjoyed the process of research, thinking and then converting that into something I could write (link on my signature by the way ) - if you want it to become something big then there are plenty of sites that you can pay to generate hits with relevant readers, me I occasionally share the link but really its just for me to be a bit creative when I want to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Annie, you might be better off checking out Linkedin and starting a company page. Just another alternative. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I am not going to allow comments to be posted on mine because every single site I see that allows comments seems to attract total ar$es with their moronic 'thoughts' and I really can't be doing with that. Don't take this the wrong way, but then what makes you think that people want to hear your thoughts? Not a dig at all, I personally like reading your posts, but you need to figure out what you want to talk about. If it's general everything then I'm afraid you're on a loser there I suspect, as that's what social media is for these days. If it's a specific subject then great, but how are you going to attract visitors? If people can't feedback to you then they're going to find it hard to connect, and then no-one will bother viewing. If it's just to use as an online diary of sorts, where you can just chat about the day in general and you don't really care if any one reads it or not, then I agree that turning off comments is a good idea. Ultimately, if you want to engage your audience then you're going to have to engage with your audience. Also not a dig but it is really interesting to see how (if you're over a certain age) things have changed over the last twenty years in this respect. I think, because I'm basically an old fashioned git, the idea of publishing my daily musings and reporting my activities on a blog, Twitter etc would just seem really odd. I can't imagine anyone would be in the least bit interested - I'm not famous, I'm not an expert in anything, I don't have any particularly exceptional talents...I'd just be thinking....who would be interested in anything I have to say? Still, I guess it's not that different to posting on here.... Perhap it's a good thing that communication has been democratised in this way. I don't know.... You would be surprised how many people might want to listen mate. I imagine anyone wanting to buy a 370z might be interested in comments you have on the subject, or your area of work, or countries you have visited, things you have done. Think about it, how many people before they book a holiday go to trip advisor and are very seriously led by what complete strangers have to say on a destination? People you have never met but you do to a very high degree trust their views. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 (edited) I think there is an illusion that generating awareness of brands nowadays is easier because of social media and the internet. Yes its easier nowadays to post on line to 'potentially' huge numbers of people, but equally you have a hugely higher chance of being lost in the mass of communication. You have a very tiny chance of something going a bit viral but generally you get out what you put in (just like the old days of tv/radio/poster advertising) even if it is the internet. A blog as you suggest which is of factual content will in all likelihood be something people who are already aware of your company read and re-enforce their commitment to your company, it won't suddenly bring in extra customers. As with the above, you need to nail down your business objectives, tot up your budget for it, look at the options and reach of those options, and put your efforts into that. I personally wouldn't just start a blog because everyone else is, it is actually something that takes up a lot of time getting right. Edited November 10, 2014 by coldel 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 coldel, you have hit the nail on the head there, I too have seen so many 'corporate blogs' that say nothing and are a complete and boring waste of time. I can't see how that sort of thing will help my business at all so I want to avoid it at all costs. Graham, is it wrong that I have to confess to not understanding the point of LinkedIn? I know that Mr TwoBears has a work profile on there and that people link to him but I have never really understood what it means? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Thanks again coldel. I don't feel confident about doing a business blog as you can probably tell so maybe I should practise on my personal blog to try to work out what type of content would be useful for my customers and encourage them to "engage with the brand", to lapse into corporate speak for a moment? Like you say, I can't imagine how it can really help me to gain new customers unless I turn out to be as entertaining as Stephen Fry or as controversial as, I don't know, Richard Dawkins? And even if I were, how would anyone actually find my blog? Do any SEO companies try to push traffic to your blog? Do SEO companies actually do a good job? I used one once and it was an expensive waste of time and I got better results doing the SEO work myself, although it is very time consuming and Google are always changing the rules, rules which, of course, you are never allowed to know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Personally as a consumer I just cant be bothered to follow any companies blogs. They are just a thinly veiled sales pitch for the company and rarely have anything of any interest on them. Very often they reblog other peoples articles etc etc. Its a bit liked on LinkedIn. Its funny seeing what stuff companies post in an attempt to get you to follow the links and hit their website etc. Having a blog though is a lot of hard work. Ive 2 personal blogs, just mainly for my own benefit really more than anyone elses as they make a handy place to keep notes etc kinda like a diary. Unfortunately ive so little spare time these days, ive not been able to keep them updated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Yes, I agree rabbitstew. Most of the corporate blogs I've seen are deadly dull but I do like some of the blogs I've read from smaller businesses. Have to confess I've never 'followed' any though. If the business does take off in the way that I would like, then blogging would be hard to fit in as I will be too busy making products but at the moment I have plenty of time on my hands to research and try various things out 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 You've also got to consider if a blog is appropriate for your business / customers. If it's car detailing, people (well, me at least) like to hear about new products, demos, techniques, etc... and I blog is a good way to show off your wares. If you're an assassin, details about the Joe you killed last Tuesday probably won't do much for your reputation about keeping secrets... You need to make sure you engage with the industry you're targeting in the right way, or there's no point. This is true for some of the other things mentioned earlier around company pages on LinkedIn, Facebook, etc... These are likely fine if you're developing a business-to-consumer model, but I doubt they'd be as successful in a business-to-business model, where getting advertising in trade magazines, participating in trade-shows, etc.. might be more appropriate. Horses for courses and all that. As I don't know what business you're looking at the next bit may / may not be useful at all, but a few of my friends run small businesses and they've just about stopped advertising entirely, instead they've partnered up with a few other (much bigger) business that offer 'complimentary' services and between them they share the work, up-sell the attributes of the other companies in the partnership, etc... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 (edited) Commander, thanks for that My business is garment decoration e.g. anything from industrial embroidery onto work polos to printing slogans onto hoodies via printing personalised mugs/keyrings and decorating things with diamantÄ—. Because the sector is very competitive with large corporate firms taking a large slice of the business I am thinking of moving upmarket and offering more exclusive and luxurious items rather than grubbing about at the lower end of the market with everyone else. Margins in this sector are pretty low and I can't compete with embroidery factories for obvious reasons. The quality of my work is much higher than the big firms but I can't produce nearly as many garments as they can because of their superior staffing levels and numbers (although not quality - we all use similar machines and all mine are top of the range) of embroidery machines. I am very interested in the partnership idea. I wonder if there would be anyone suitable to partner with? The problem that I might face is that a high quality embroidery machine only costs 12K so if firms need embroidered garments it wouldn't be difficult for them to get the machinery for themselves p.s. I tried being an assassain but, as you can see, I couldn't actually spell the word so my business cards were rubbish Edited November 10, 2014 by twobears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Let me prefix what I'm about to say with, "i don't run my own business", but I am involved 'in' business. For me, it you want to be successful it's about identifying, and exploiting, a USP. You already know where you can't compete which is a very good start, but nailing down where you can compete will be what wins it. One thing that's also apparent from my mates who run companies is that you have to be flexible - I think you'd be daft if you were so specialist that you couldn't take on the more random bits of work that turn up every now and then. I've no idea about the industry you're in at all, but here's some random ideas; Mega-high end luxury / bespoke goods - an ex-gf's dad used to design mega-yachts for a living - cheapest one he ever did was about £50m or something daft. Anyway, you can bet a naval engineering company just outsources everything, so what about approaching companies like these and offering personalised embroidery on towels, the captain's jacket, champagne glasses, etc? Have you been able to identify who your competitors are, and who their customers are? If you don't have / can't find any competitors, you need to find out why. Is there just no money in it? If you do have competitors, go after their customers, compete on price to get people's attention in the first instance and build from there. What about supporting people who are in similar industries? I know a couple of people who make dresses, corsets and bras for a living - they certainly don't have anything like 12k to spend on a sewing machine, but quality does matter to them. Strike up a partnership by providing quality embroidered labels for the garments they make? Or what about teaming up with a a wedding-organiser? I bet chavvy / posh brides would pay a fortune for customised stuff? Do you have an ability to to turn things around quickly? Could you take on rush jobs of some kind (prototyping? one-off pieces?) and guarantee a good job in short time scales, for a price? Perhaps investigate who your local same-day couriers are and what their rates are like? You're on a car forum! Any interest from people wanting customised stuff? I'm sure there's a guy on here re-trimming steering wheels and seats - could he use your services? (though probably not for the diamonte bit - not on a steering wheel anyway!) What about people in motor-sport series, offer to stitch things on to race-suits and gloves using NOMEX thread? Could you provide complimentary services yourself? Logo design, supplying the t-shirts/mugs/whatever (in addition to their customisation), provide things in nice decorative packaging so they can be mailed out direct to the recipients? I'm struggling for specific ideas around possible USPs really, but in a very busy market place and with just you doing the work, I think you'll have to be intelligent about the work you tout for, but versatile enough to take on the work that lands in your lap. You're clearly already thinking along the right lines about what you can/can't do, I think you just need to keep thinking until you really KNOW where you can make money. What about just going round some potential businesses, pitch something you can do, and have a conversation about their wider needs? That's the kind of thing our sales guys do and it turns up all sorts of interesting sales leads for us. It's more about the wider conversation that the initial bit of business really - the more we know our customers, the better we can pitch other ideas at them in the future... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Thank you again Commander Lots of very relevant things to think about there. I will read it again and have a good think about what I am trying to do with my business and the best way in which to do this. I have received a lot of help from Coldel too and I feel that maybe I can finally write a proper business plan which, in all honesty, I have never done for this business Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.