Promote your local business with a blog., Photo by tedhosmann.

Most every business can benefit from a blog or company website. Most companies will put up a small site that gives details about their business such as location and hours. But your company site could be doing far more to promote your business.

Let us look at a few specific examples of how brick and mortar business could be using a blog.

Promote Local Florist with a Blog

Most florists use a website to display examples of arrangements for sale, but few local florists use their sites to benefit their local businesses. A well-written blog with excellent photos could bring in a lot of business to a local florist.

When a teenager needs to order a corsage for prom, he will usually google for information. A local florist will come up high in the listings if there is an article available on the subject he is interested in. He wants to know the significance of each flower, how to match the flowers to the dress, which flowers are most popular today, and how much will it cost.  Well-written articles with lots of pictures that answer the question of teens ordering flowers for the first time will get noticed and bring buyers into your shop.

Promote Your Local Daycare Center With a Blog

A day care center can use a blog or website to keep parents up on what is going on in the classroom. What is the class studying this week, what is the lunch menu, when is the field trip? Post the qualifications of your teachers and information about the activities the kids will be doing.

These kinds of posts take a while to produce and must be kept updated, but they show parents the quality of your program and allow prospective parents to learn about your program without visiting. Articles about what to look for in a quality program, and how your program exceeds these requirements, will do most of the selling before prospective parents ever walk in the door.

Be careful never to post information about the kids or their names unless the area is behind a password protected area for the parents only.

How Could Your Business Use a Blog?

Write about the hottest trends and latest products in your industry and answer the questions that your customer might have.  I will give more specific examples tomorrow. Do you have a specific business you would like me to address? Leave a comment and I will try to answer you in a future post.

Be the News Expert, photo by captsolo

It is important for a business person to be an expert in his own field, and most people will accept you as an expert simply because you are in the business. But being accepted as an expert and being the recognized expert are two different things.

Why do certain business people always get mentioned in the media, when other more knowledgeable experts go without notice?  It is not because of their vast knowledge, but because they are recognized or known by the media.

Promote Your Business

A mention in the newspaper or on the local news is valuable to the promotion of your business. People will want to ask your opinion or hang around you because of your success in the media. They will want to give you their business because they perceive you as an expert and as a successful person.

So how can you get that valuable free publicity? How can you get your foot in that door? Begin a media campaign designed to get that recognition and become the go-to expert in your field.

Make Yourself Known

If you know any writers for the TV or the newspapers, you are probably already aware of their constant need for sources. You are doing them a favor by making yourself available when a quote is needed.

Introduce yourself to writers whenever you have the opportunity. Exchange business cards.  Let them know that you are available, but don’t blow your own horn. Instead, just be helpful.

Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Tell them about your business and let them know that you are available as an expert, if they might need you. Never waste their time, and don’t harass them. Just be quietly available.

Stay on top of business developments in your field. Whenever anything newsworthy crops up, give the reporter or editor a quick call. Leave a message letting them know about current developments and why it would make a good story. If it turns into a news report, you will be recognized as a source.

Be quick to return calls from reporters. The first person to answer the phone will likely be quoted.

If you have not already done so, sign up with HARO (Help a Reporter Out). See my recent post for more information on this free service.

Give back to the community:

Share your expertise with your church or community group. Become known for taking action and being a problem solver in your field.

Teach a class on your business or industry and give it your best effort. Teachers are recognized as experts, and the process of teaching requires you to explain your industry in a way that anyone can understand.  Make sure that your class is advertised and issue a press release about it from your business as well.

Be in the Business of Helping Others

Marketing your business is as simple as getting your name out there. Usually the best results are obtained when others recommend you or recognize you as an expert. Be in the business of helping others and let them toot your horn for you.

Need a Writer?

Do you need a writer to help promote your business online, put together that course or write a press release. I am available at very reasonable rates. Check out my resume and Hire Me page.

Have you ever wondered where journalists find the experts that they quote in the newspaper and magazine articles? One source reporters use is HARO- Help a Reporter Out. Sign up as a source on HARO and submit pitches to writers and reporters who are looking for sources in your area of expertise.

Whenever a query appears that matches your qualifications, you can submit information as a source. Make sure that you submit quote worthy information that is well written and concise. If the writer uses the information or quotes you, you get instant recognition as an expert and good PR for your business.

Write About Your Business

The articles should be related to your business and provide specific information for potential customers. If you run a nursery and garden supply business, write articles about how to grow and care for the plants that you sell. Lawn care companies can write articles about how to grow a green lawn and care for specific types of grass. A real estate agent might write articles that discuss the advantages of the different neighborhoods in her territory.

When deciding what to write about, think about the questions that you are asked regularly in your business. Write articles that answer these questions for your readers and provide them with valuable information.

Where to Publish Your Articles

The best place to publish your articles is on your own blog and on sites that point back to your blog. If you don’t have a blog, you can publish your articles for free on sites like EzineArticles. At the end of your article, use the bio to publicize yourself and your business. Sites like EzineArticles provide articles for use in newsletters and on sites across the web.

Write a Newspaper Column

If you have time to devote to regular article writing, offer your articles free to your local newspaper as a weekly column. Offering them free increases the chance of publication in newspapers. Your payment is the bio included with the article that publicizes your business.

Write 5 or 6 sample columns and submit them to the editor in charge of the appropriate section along with your column proposal.

Hire a Writer

I know it is self-serving to mention it, but you can hire a writer to produce these articles at a very reasonable rate. Hire a ghostwriter and publish the articles with your name on them. Be sure the information is accurate and represents you well, since your name will be on it. Then get back to work and enjoy the publicity benefits of your articles.

Need a good writer? Contact me at diane [at] diane-watkins.com.

The best way to promote your business online is with your own business website, but you do not need a website or blog to promote yourself online. In the coming months I will go into a number of ways to promote your real-world business online.

The first step is to be sure your business has a listing in the search engines. This is easy to do and can be updated regularly to keep the listing current.

Make Your Business Appear in Search Engines

When a client searches for “pizza” he is usually looking for a listing for a local pizza restaurant. If you operate such a business, you need your business to appear in the list, preferably at the top. One way to achieve this is to add your business to the Google Local Business Center. You will need a google account (free) to enter as much information about your business as possible, including a photo if possible. Once you have verified the information, your listing should appear in approximately 12 to 24 hours.

Don’t stop with the google pages. Enter your business with Yellow Pages and other similar directories. This first step may not bring you a lot of extra business, but it will make it easier for customers to find you and contact you for more information.