I have to say, I've been waiting for May 2010 for quite a long time. What's so special about this month? Those who know me well know that my husband has been in law school at the Maurer School of Law at IU-Bloomington, driving down from Indianapolis five days a week. This month (on May 8, to be exact) he's done. He graduates. It's over. Ok, not completely over, he still needs to study for and take the Indiana Bar Exam, but after three years of long, long days and hard work for both of us, we can relax, just a very little. Whew!
 Marketing 101-- Basic Blogging for Small Businesses
Last month I asked Amy Stark, the Twitter Queen, to write a guest column on why small business owners should tweet. This month, Erik Deckers, Blogger Extraordinaire and VP of Operations & Creative Services for Pro Blog Service, is writing about why it's so important for small business owners to blog. Yes, I have a blog. I don't write about graphic design so much, but about art and cultural topics in general, things that I like and feel like commentating on. And yes, I'm bad about doing it consistently so maybe I just needed to see Erik's column as a reminder to me to be more diligent about it. Take it away, Erik!
Blogging is no longer an option for companies in the 21st century. If a company wants to build their brand, be easily found on the search engines, and appeal to their customers, they have to blog. The same is true for small businesses. If you want to build your personal brand, be found on search engines, and appeal to potential customers, you have to blog.
Blogging is more than just an online diary that people write so their friends and family can read what they've been up to. I call these the "I had salad for lunch today" blogs. A lot of people think this is all there is to blogging, and compare them to a teenager's diary. These are people who think there's a Web site called FaceSpace, and believe that e-mail is just a fad. You can ignore these people.
Corporate, expert, and issue blogging has become more important in the last couple of years, as it's a way for companies to be found on search engines, communicate with customers, and improve their relationships with them.
You should write a blog if:
- You want to establish credibility.
- You want to be found on search engines.
- You want customers to see you as an expert in your field.
If you're trying to sell a product or service, focus on expert and issue blogging, rather than a "We sell this product" type of blog. Those get boring, and people don't read them.
Intrigued? Read the rest of the column here.
Cool Tool
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter. Do you find yourself drowning in social media? Try using a program that allows you to type a post once, and choose which accounts it goes to. I like to use TweetDeck, a free, simple-to-set up, simple-to-use program. You can even install it on your iPhone! You connect it to your various accounts, set up a column for each of them (you can even separate out a column for tweets that mention you) and follow all your accounts in one easy interface.
 Welcome New Clients!
AlephMEDIA welcomes Countryside Promotions, Scout & Zoe's Natural Antler Dog Chews and Indy Fit Seniors.
Countryside Promotions creates promotional products for businesses and organizes them into categories for "Brand Recognition," "Client Retention," Client Reactivation," etc. Scout & Zoe's Natural Antler Dog Chews makes chews out of 100% renewable, humanely-gathered deer and elk antlers, right here in Indiana. Perfect for dogs with food allergies. And Tod Esquivel is at it again with Indy Fit Seniors, encouraging seniors to exercise and stay in shape.
 AlephMEDIA Recommends...
...Vanessa Lammers and White Glove Boutique. White Glove provides home and commercial cleaning using all-natural, eco-friendly cleaning products, which are safer for your family, your pets and the environment. Vanessa is just amazing; she's detail-oriented, leaves no stone or (piece of furniture) unturned and can clean anything you need, even if it's out of the ordinary. I can't recommend her highly enough! Even if you do your own house, contact her for a once-a-month or seasonal deep cleaning. You'll be AMAZED at the difference! You can set up appointments via e-mail, phone at 410.0284 or connect with her on Facebook. White Glove takes ITEX, checks, credit cards and good old fashioned cashy money.
 Do Good...
Are you fed up with your cell phone service, ready for a new Blackberry, or just tired of corporate giants who keep getting richer? If you're a fan of progressive politics, try this. CREDO Mobile, a division of Working Assets, provides cell phone service using Sprint's network at the same rates as everyone else, but donates a portion of their fees to non-profits who work for social and environmental justice. They have a number of phones you can get with your plan including Blackberries, AND can give you a credit to buy you out of your current contract.
Upcoming Networking Events
- No upcoming events listed this month. I'll begin this again next month.
This is a far from exhaustive list of networking events in the area. If you'd like your organization's events listed, please send me an e-mail. |
