Author Archive

Rebuild Customer Relationships with Business Blogs

Monday, July 21st, 2008

How are you going to keep your current customer relationships when they are tempted by your competitors low price offers?

We are starting to hear the Recession word coming from the administration.  As a smart business person,  you’ve already been positioning yourself to weather the storm.  Cutting costs, trimming back the staff…  As you make recession preparations, you are also keeping a keen eye on the concept of “service is king”.  What is your plan to keep delivering first rate service to your existing client base?

A business blog, when written currently, is a dual purpose communication tool.  First, it tells your current customer based that you are still a live and well.  Second, it also entices your competitor’s customers to give your company a look over.

In addition to a great product or service at a fair price, your customers (and future customers) want to know that they are working with someone who cares.  The old adage is “they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  Your business blog needs to be a personal perspective on how you are running your business.  Don’t use the blog as a sales pitch tool, us it as a relationship builder.  Tell stories about your life, your business, your plans even your family.

What does talking about your family have to do with delivering better service to my customers?

Don’t forget that in addition to seeing you as a service provider, your customers see you as a person.  They like you.  Sharing personal information about “how” your life and family is affected by your devotion to the business can give you a leg up when it counts the most.  We would never call a customer and tell them about the bring your dog to work policy you’ve just instituted, but your customers would be interested if the reason for doing so made business sense.  Go with me for a moment.

You’ve just cut your staff by 20%, you only had ten people to begin with, but you now just have eight.  Your workers just lost two of their friends and they are going to be uneasy with your decision (no matter how sound the justification.)  While they are happy to have survived the layoff, their personal view of you has changed for the worse and if left unchecked, they could take their frustrations out on your customers in the way of poor customer relations.  Being the savvy “out-of-the-box” thinker you are, you decided to implement a bring your pet to work policy.  You goal is to improve the mental well being of your workers and keep them from turning against you and your customers.  Your employees know you are doing this to keep them happy, there is no need to hide your motivations–instead celebrate your motives and tell the world.

What you are doing to continue delivering first class service is great marketing information just the same as WHY you make the business decisions you make.  Giving the internet access to your inner “personal” thoughts (as they relate to your business) will bring the human element out for all to see.  When considering jumping ship in favor of a few penny’s saved, your customers will value your openness and think twice.

Ed Bejarana

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Definition of insanity…

Tuesday, July 15th, 2008

Doing the same things the same way and expecting different results.

Ok, maybe that is not the official definition of insanity, but it best describes how most business owners operate. More often than not, to reach new customers, a business owner must step out on a limb and try a new marketing method. One such brave soul was a fellow East Portland Chamber Member, Roland Morris from QuickSilver Delivery.

As the editor of the Chamber Blog, my job is to keep our promise with the readers while giving chamber members an opportunity to explore marketing with the blog medium. More often than not, when asked to write something about their business, a business owner will write like they would for a classified section of the news paper. The trick to business blogging is, instead of writing for the classified section of the newspaper, write as if your story is going on the front page of the business section.

Subtle different to most, but important distinction to understand. In the classified section, we write about our products and/or services and how they will help solve a need. In the news section, we write about how our life affected someone else’s.

The obvious question is “how does that help me sell my stuff?”

Great question. In any transaction there must be at least two emotional elements; desire for the product or service and trust in the product/service provider. There may be other emotional elements, but those two MUST be there.

Writing for a classified section of your newspaper is taking care of the desire emotion. We use pretty pictures, catchy slogans, features and benefits statements, and price incentives.

When selling in the business section of your newspaper, you are addressing the trust emotion.

Next obvious question, “if a prospect has a desire why not deal with the trust when they call me?”

Another great question. Because in today’s economy where there are a thousand buying opportunities for exactly what you sell, are you going to trust your business to a price point differentiation? If evaluating a product or service solely on desire, price becomes the top concern. That is not to say that any particular consume may want to buy local, American of from a member of the East Portland Chamber of Commerce (shameless plug). But if not other elements of differentiation exist, then it is logical to assume the consume will lean towards price factors over features and benefits–especially when faced with identical product offerings.

The idea of a business blog is one of expanding your marketing reach, NOT replacing traditional advertising methods.

Last obvious question, “I am already tapped for time, how do you expect me to take on another marketing method?”

Simple, if you already have enough business to support your desires, then don’t. You could go out and hire a publicist to write for you, but it will more than likely fail in the end, because no matter how good the writer, they are not you. Consumers will be doing business with YOU, putting your worlds out for everyone to read is better than putting someone else’s interpretation of what you would say.

To get started with your own business blog, please call Ed Bejarana at (503) 709-1454 or eMail me with your questions.

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Why business blogging is better than bulk eMail

Friday, July 11th, 2008

The East Portland Chamber of Commerce offers business blogging opportunities to all of its’ members. Business blogging, using a pull marketing strategy, yield higher click returns and more qualified prospects than traditional bulk eMail blasts (otherwise known as SPAM).

I ask all my clients the same question when describing business blogging…if given enough time to build a relationship (even a friendship) with a prospect would you have a greater chance of earning their business? The answer is always of course; but why then do we turn to blind eMail blasts that clog people’s eMail boxes and frustrate the consumer?

E-Blasts do have a positive return otherwise millions of companies wouldn’t do it, but it uses a less effective marketing strategy. Business blogging is all about introducing the reader to YOU. Not your company, not your great products or services, but consumers today are more interested in who YOU are, what you stand for or believe in. Consumers want proof that you are worth their time and investment. Currently there is no better way to tell your story than business blogging.

Why does business blogging work?

Without getting too technical, search engines love blog site posting structure; but not all blog articles are a like. Search engines are in the business is giving searchers what they are searching for. If a searcher can not find what they want on the first page with-in a few searches, they will move to another search engine. In the internet world, there is no such thing as brand loyalty.

From a product or service based search, blogs are NOT a good vehicle for advertising. Search engines already filter out sales pitches int he blog world. Blogging is about news or stories of interest to the reader. Here is the technical part… Associating “you” with a “topic” (i.e. why you do what you do) will cross reference your “website” and “what you do”. Using keyword placement with-in your story and correct website linking in your article, the search engines will build a link profile for the relevancy of select key words. Put another way, the search engines will see both your main website and the article and see if the article is a duplication of the website or new information that adds to the value of the original keyword.

With a higher value placed on the keyword combination, search engines will rank the blog article higher than your main website because the information contained with-in the article is back ground information supporting your authority on the key word combination. For search engines, the more important the data is rank, the higher on the search result list the link will be placed.

So how is this better than sending out a million eMails on a daily bases?

Because fewer consumers looking specifically for your keywords will translate into higher click over percentages and fewer SPAM complaints. Put another way, business blogging becomes the equivalent of relationship based selling.

For more information about how to participate in the East Portland Chamber blog, please visit one of our Chamber events or you can eMail me directly.

Ed Bejarana
East Portland Chamber of Commerce Blog Editor

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Using Business Blogging to increase Internet Marketing

Friday, July 11th, 2008

Business Blogging is a relatively new term, but the concept has been around for more than a few years. Write blog articles about subjects consumers would be interested in reading and search engines will give you good page listings. What isn’t clear is how to build your article and how comment on articles already online to maximize search engine marketing for your own website.

The East Portland Chamber of Commerce has embraced Business Blogging as a benefit of membership in the chamber, but the publication schedule is limited. How do you get blog articles posted if the schedule is already full? Simple, write constructive comments to an already existing article and make sure to include a link back to your website.

When commenting on an article already posted on this blog site, you must follow the same guidelines for the creation of any article, with one additional requirement. When commenting, you must keep the same subject matter and add to the story with relevant input. Adding “me too” or “great idea” to the comments of an article will NOT help your internet marketing.

Focus on one aspect of the blog article when commenting and build or expand on the theme. If you have a different conclusion than the original author, remember to be clear and concise and refrain from making the correction feel like a personal attack. The best general rule for commenting is, “if you don’t have something good to say, it may be better to not say anything.”

In order to comment on our site, you must register as a user on the blog site as well as be a member of the East Portland Chamber of Commerce. If you have any questions about the registration process, please eMail me directly.

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Building Your Own Business Blog

Friday, July 11th, 2008

A friend of mine at the East Portland Chamber of Commerce, after learning of my techno-savvy nature, asked if I would take a look at his business (Center for Environmental Medicine) and make some recommendations. In the process of helping John Wade, I discovered a new business service for Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

What is the service?

We help you create a business blog and teach you how to use it to improve your website marketing.

What do we do?

  • create a blog for you on Wordpress.com and teach you how to use it.
  • configure the site to protect you from spam.
  • review you existing website, do a keyword analysis and create article categories to maximize search engine placement.
  • teach you how to find your business blog voice and work with you to create a manageable blog schedule.

How much does it cost?

The basic service is a one time charge of $79.95 and that includes a blog on Wordpress.com (a free blog hosting service), configuration using one of the many standard templates, along with all the above listed services.

If you are looking for a plan that includes your own blog web address, we have a service that includes the domain name, one year of web hosting, and creation of the blog using one of many standard templates. Annual service charge is $199.

What are the benefits?

Higher search engine rankings with out having to pay expensive web design service fees. Search engines like text based web pages because they can index the page in their database and list for someone who types a similar search string. As a result of the search engine’s fondness towards blogs, your blog articles can achieve first page rankings on google in just a few hours.

Couldn’t someone do this with out help?

Absolutely. You could also paint your house, do all of your own plumbing and change the oil in your car. The only part of our process that might be considered “rocket science” is the evaluation of your keywords and how to translate those keywords into articles your customers would read.

Our service is mix of technical savvy and business marketing know-how. The hard part of the process is getting you on a regular writing schedule.

Why so inexpensive?

Web design companies charge several hundreds to several thousands of dollars to design and build a new website and for your main web page you should have it professionally designed; but blogs are different from a company web site. Blogs are not about the flashy layout or lots of cool pictures, none of that formatting helps with your search engine marketing. Search engines are all about text and using one of the standard blog templates is fancy enough for getting better rankings on Google and Yahoo. So we are able to simplify the process and do much of the work for you, in face we don’t even have to sit down and meet face to face, all of our work can be done via eMail, the internet and the telephone.

That means our basic business blog package does not include any web page formatting beyond teaching you how to select from the many templates available and putting your company name in the top prominent position. If you need a professionally designed blog site, then we have business partners we can recommend.

But I am a horrible writer, can I really have an effective blog?

Yes. Good spelling and grammar is important, but it is not the be all and end of of business blogging. An interested reader, if reading something that interests them, will ignore (and possibility not even notice) typos or an incorrect comma. The goal is to get more visitors to your main website. Poor grammar will cost you some business, but if you can increase the number of eyes coming into contact with your message by ten of one hundred fold, it will not matter if a few chose to go else where. Unless of course your business has something to do with publishing or writing, having perfect grammar is not a requirement.

How do I get started?

Easy, call or eMail me.

Ed Bejarana
Zenith Exhibits, Inc.
(503) 709-1454
ed@zenithexhibits.com

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What is Business Blogging

Friday, July 11th, 2008

It is easier to describe business blogging by what it is not…

  • It is not social blogging, the act of sharing personal information
  • It is not political blogging, taking a position on a political event or subject and writing your opinion
  • It is not spam blogging, posting mindless product/service pitches.

Business Blogging is building a database of business conversations and articles that serve to help others.

Business blogging is NOT selling your goods or services, rather business blogging is a way for consumers to get an insight into the way you think and operate.

Testimonials are the primary method used for sharing positive stories with the public. A business blog allows interaction between you, your customers and potential customers. Consumers have so many choices of where they invest their money, no longer can you put an add in the yellow pages and get all the business you need. In today’s business climate, consumers are demanding more information about you and your business upfront.

Search engines have millions of websites they can link consumers with when they search for information so gaining a first page ranking can mean the difference between business success or failure. Blogs, being text based communication mediums, are loved by search engines because they contain lots of information that can be indexed and used when consumers search for resources.

The value of the information you give dictates the number of people who will click over and read what you have to day. If it doesn’t help someone or provide educational entertainment, don’t write it.

Save your 30 elevator speeches for your local networking events. Use your business blog as a way to have detailed conversations with your consumer based about what you have done why you have done it. You can pur your 30 second elevator speech on your “About Us” web page.

Most importantly, a business blog is a window into your soul. All things being equal, people do business with people they like. Allow yourself to share who “you” are and why you do what you do. Consider your business blog a daily journal you write in and share your success stories and ideas.

Ed Bejarana
Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

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