Hello,
With a fresh term at school and business back to a more
regular routine, I’d like to introduce a new ‘mini’ series to run each week here
on my blog. A mid week tea break refresher
to help share some insider business and marketing tips with the help of a PR
expert friend of mine.
Regular blog followers may be aware that I spend some of
my time visiting a local PR Agency because they have an in-house photography
studio which helps capture lots of my product images (particularly the full
range images that I’d find impossible to shoot at home). As well as being their client, Porcupine PR
are frequently a client of mine as I’ve also worked on many graphic design
briefs from them over the past year and a bit.
I must confess, I enjoy my visits to their agency as it’s a very
familiar environment to me having spent many years working in advertising
agencies - and they are a very warm and friendly team...
One of the main benefits I find of spending time there is
having relaxed chats over tea and biscuits about all sorts of business and
marketing matters, swapping tips and things we’ve learnt. Most of the time, I find myself having very
some inspiring conversations with the Agency’s Managing Director, Rachel
Burks. So, I had an idea and have asked
Rachel if she’d be happy for me to share some of the key tips and advice she’s
kindly shared with me in those conversations, here on my blog so that those of
you with small home based businesses (like mine) can also benefit from some professional
marketing know-how.
Lucky for me, she said yes and I am delighted to be able
to introduce my new ‘Tea & Tips’ series which will be posted here around
the middle of the week, for the new few weeks.
First up, Rachel shares some advice about blogging...
Rachel: “Blogging is big business at the
moment and having a blog gives you the perfect platform to show your customers
the personality behind your brand name. As all sales are based on a personal
connection, using social media and blogging are vital tools in any successful
PR and marketing campaign. Having a blog
is a great promotional tool as you can reach a huge audience of hundreds,
thousands, even millions of people. It is one of the quickest ways to spread
the word about your business and once you have an established online presence
people will keep coming back.
Potential customers want to know about the
people behind the business they’re buying from, what they are like, what they
do in their spare time and what they look like. They want to hear
behind-the-scenes stories, see photographs of you and your team and generally
know just what is going on in your business. A blog can allow you to reveal this sort of
information in an informal way, while still maintaining a professional
image. It is a great way to feature your products
and let your readers know more about them, leading to more sales and potential
new custom.
Keeping your blog up-to-date is extremely
important as people want to find out as much information about you as they can
and there is nothing worse than discovering a blog that hasn't been updated in
months. People think that you have closed down and this does not generate a
positive feeling towards your business. Therefore if you’re unable to maintain
it on a weekly basis then it’s always good idea to get an external expert
involved rather than risk your company’s reputation.”
Angie: “Ahh, but if you are a small home
based start-up and your budget doesn't stretch that far, then I find it helps
if you take some time and try creating a blog plan. Rather than creating individual posts as and
when, make a plan and create a number of posts in one go then schedule them - there are some great scheduling tools on
most blogs that help ensure you have posts ready and lined up ready to automatically post on a given date. That way,
you can be assured that your blog is kept regularly updated, especially during
times when you know you will be busy and unable to keep on top of things”.
Rachel: “It is also important to make your
blog as unique and interesting for people to read. Use good quality pictures
(they are just as important as the words) with your text, link back to your
business’ official website so people can discover what you’re all about and use
keywords in your blog posts to keep your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) high.
Unique and ever changing/updated content is also good for SEO, however it is
important not to be too wordy as these days people have small attention spans
and little time to read long posts.
The better your SEO, the higher your blog
will appear in Google search rankings and the more visitors and future
customers will discover your blog. After
social media, blogs are one of the fastest ways you can communicate with your
existing and potential customers too. They
allow you to gather vital information through competitions and surveys, which
can then be used to tailor products and services.”
Angie: “Used with social media to reach a wider audience, I find it’s
not only a great way to go into more depth about a product or project (which a
string of hashtags or 140 characters on their own can never do). Blogging is also a great way to discover
exciting new designers, gather inspiration, advice and learn some great tips.”
Thank you Rachel – some sound advice there,
especially the tips on SEO.
If you are interested in finding out more
about social media, a little while ago posted my findings following some
research I did about social media to create a brief guide to each of the top
sites (I basically did the hard work so you don’t have to). You can read those findings here:
Next week, Rachel will be sharing some Tea
and Tips with me about how to get your Press Release noticed, I hope you can
join us.
Best wishes
Angie
