Dude, Blog Your Business!

How many small businesses have you heard say something like “I only operate locally, social media wouldn’t really benefit me”. Having been to many small business networking events I can tell you that this is an attitude you often hear. No matter how you explain to people that social media is a way to start conversations with their customers, where ever they are – which is why they go to networking groups in the first place, afterall – many don’t see social media as relevant to them.

If any require an example of a small, very localized business that is using social media to increase the number of customers coming to their shop it is Pizza Party in Santa Clara, California.  I commend you click on the link and watch the video that is on their site – a news item on their local ABC 7 News.  (Note: the fact that a local pizza shop is using social media to increase their business is worthy of local TV news!)  26 year old co-owner, Bear Silber, uses Facebook and Twitter to promote specials and offers, and even has a webcam so you can watch your pizza being made!  He also has his own iPhone app!  How cool is that?

Although his pizza shop has been around a long time, Bear makes it clear that if it is going to remain around in the future then the old methods of advertising, like Yellow Pages and door-hangers, are no longer going to cut it.  He uses the internet everyday anyway – utilizing social media is a natural move for someone like him, and it is obviously paying off – his business is increasing because of it.  It is a great example to other small businesses with a local market – social media can work for you to.  And if you are not as web savvy as Bear, then we are here to help.  All you have to do is ask.

We had one of the best sessions we have ever had at our 3000 Club networking meeting on Friday morning. Tom Hinchey was filling in for group organizer Jimmy Sadre and, fresh with his copy of World Wide Rave, decided that instead of the usual 30 second elevator pitches we would try to get our fellow members more focused on some ‘new marketing‘ approaches using those all important ‘buyer personas‘.

I have to say, I think everyone really learned something from the exercise – so much so in fact that Tom and I are planning to do some seminars on the topic in the near future. We started with David Meerman Scott’s premise that “no-one is interested in your products except you” and tried to come up with an idea of who each person’s ideal buyer persona is and how they can help them. It is surprising how simple a concept and exercise this is and, perhaps, unsurprising how new a concept this is to a lot of small business owners.

As we worked through each person’s attempts my critiques earned me a new nickname – “Simon” – after Simon Cowell of American Idol fame – the British accent must have been a factor in this I suspect (although they did say that I was a lot nicer with my comments than Simon Cowell is!).

It is powerful stuff for those that have struggled along with the old methods of marketing and Tom and I are most grateful to David Meerman Scott for giving us the tools to help our fellow small business. The sheer power of the ‘buyer persona’ stories that were coming out, compared to the old 30 second elevator pitch, was something to behold. What a difference!

A video not made by Tom Hinchey! That’s a first for this blog!  This is actually a video that appeared on Hubspot’s blog and I thought it so pertinent to a lot of what we have been doing with groups like The 3000 Club here locally in Phoenix, for instance, that I wanted to share it here as well for the benefit of our audience.

The video is an interview with a business owner, Lewis Weinstein, who built an online referral network on the back of his family’s accounting business, which relied on referrals.  The point being made by Hubspot is that although much of the technology, like blogging and search engine optimization*, associated with the new ‘inbound marketing’ trend may be new, inbound marketing, in the form of things like referrals, has been going on forever.
*(As a Brit I still have a problem with using a ‘z’ here!)

The important conclusion Weinstein offers in this interview is what we all, as small business owners – and non-profits (most of their goals are the same in terms of attracting interest) – need to understand. No spoiler alerts here though – check it out for yourselves!

The 3000 Club Blog is now online – click here to check it out! This blog is going to be a truly excellent example for other businesses and non-profits to get an idea of just how powerful a marketing medium blogging can be. We very much designed the blog to open up aspects of the 3000 Club project that are hard to present in a traditional website format. The 3000 Club is a fairly new business networking club, the membership fees all going to support the food rescue and distribution work of the Feed My People Children’s Charity, and many new things are happening on an almost weekly basis. The blog gives members, and potential members alike, the opportunity to keep up with everything that is going on, and see in detail the kind of contribution that members are making to the Club, the charity, and to the business community.

The 3000 Club, like almost any non-profit, has a great story to tell and a blog is the perfect medium to tell that story. People will be able to tell their stories, of their involvement, at every stage of the food rescue and distribution process. Not only that, but we also wanted to offer business members a further opportunity to promote their businesses, not in an advertising way like they can on the website, but more how their experience of being a member of the 3000 Club has benefited them, both personally and professionally. That may consist of them talking of their experiences in hands-on volunteering at Nogales, or one of the foodbanks, or even just the friendships and business partnerships they have made as a result of becoming a member of the Club.

Ultimately, the aim of the blog is to inspire other businesses to get involved, helping themselves by expanding their business network, but at the same time helping to save and distribute millions of tons of fruit and vegetables that would otherwise by thrown away. Video is going to play a great part in the telling of that story. Video is probably the most powerful way to get that story seen. We are working closely with Tom Hinchey of Hinchey Studios to show everyone the power of using video in a blog, and how businesses and non-profits can very easily maintain a video blog for themselves. Combining the power of social media and video is the online marketing future. For us, The Dudes, we can’t think of a better example of how great a difference a blog and video can make in helping to tell that story and to help expand the awareness and participation in such a great group!
Click here to visit the blog.