Am I allowed to link and rant while on “hiatus?” (which is turning out to be the worst hiatus evah.) Because, I am.
As I think about what it is that I want to “be” or “do” as it relates to blogging, writing, social media consulting, I keep going back to being local. I know local people, I am a patron of local products and businesses. I like helping out the neighborhood and the small shops.
So I was very interested to read what Cassie Boorn (thanks, Kim) had to say about marketing your small business online in response to Jessica Gottleib’s thoughtful post about why small businesses should not engage bloggers. In Jessica’s mind, it all comes back to providing customers with the best product or service you can give them. If those suck, well, no good blog campaign can fix it. And Cassie gives some good tips in her post like having customers review your business. While I don’t necessarily agree that customers should be given discounts just for reviewing on Yelp (it may look like they’re being “paid” for a positive review), I think that third-party validation like Yelp always helps when making decisions about what service or business to use or shop at.
IMHO and from limited experience, at least locally here in Chicago, I think there are four keys to local social media outreach:
- Make genuine online conversation with your customers. I love, love what The Bleeding Heart Bakery (also a neighbor of mine) has done with their Twitter feed. It’s not sales-y. Rather their banter is light, funny and to the point. And always responsive to people’s opinions and thoughts. Sunda does the same thing. It has the benefit of local celeb Billy Dec to Tweet about, but when I replied to one of their Tweets, they responded immediately and genuinely.
- Tie in-store promotions and events with an online presence. Whether it’s a post offering an in-store discount to Facebook “fans” or mention a Twitter update for a free soda with your purchase of a sandwich, there has to be a connection between the bricks to the clicks. Not all people are on Twitter and Facebook all day long, but most people have an account to either service and would more than happy to check online for an in-store deal.
- Be an online personality. Most of the local small business people I’ve chatted with are terrific personalities in and of themselves. Cassie rightly says that small business owners should start a blog to talk about news, specials, post links, and have a conversation. But it’s more. Blogs are a showcase for the unique and individual nature of a small store owner’s personality and interests. And it’s a great way to get a niche following of other like-minded and interested bloggers and potential customers. (Hello, Krista K?? Why isn’t your blog updated!?)
- It’s not one size fits all. I agree with Jessica that blogger outreach isn’t for everyone or every store. I’m finding the more I talk about the topic, the more I find that the blog world in a lot of ways is a small, insular place. Every mom blogger event I’ve been to in Chicago has the same 75 person target list. Not all of those moms (many of whom I know and love) are going to all want to blog about the same thing. Some of my friends who are avid Facebook updaters don’t even have blogs. But they have a great audience on Facebook. There’s something to that as well. I think good marketing is an integrated mix of social media, traditional online media, print and good (emphasis on GOOD) PR. Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, foursquare, etc., are all good to have on the roster, but not necessarily all good to use in every situation.
So what are your keys? What am I missing here?
See, I wasn’t gone that long, was I? Truth be told, I took a huuuuuge break from my Second City Baby blog, so I really had to post there! Read what I wrote about my experience with Illinois Early Intervention. Anyone else have a positive experience like I did?
This inevitably happens every summer, but on the heels of finishing a big article, a semi-big event and a scathing Red Eye article I think I need a bit of a blog breather. At least until after the July 4 holiday.
I won’t go far, though, because I also, inevitably, will get bored of my self-imposed blog break and want to get back on track with my ramblings.
But, until then, I’m going to enjoy my delicious baby, ensure that my eldest is well-fed and clothed for camp, try to cook a few dinners, and help my parents relocate (!) their lives to be closer to mine. That alone should prompt me to get back to my vents and rants.
Anyone else feel like summer blog breaking too? The weather just seems too darn nice to be twittering the day away…
I’m not one to get too self-promote-y, but I couldn’t resist commenting for this RedEye Chicago story about allowing your kids in public places. Do you take your kids out and about? Or do you hide away in only kid-friendly places?
Apparently my last post with the link to all the bad ingredients in sunscreen hit home with y’all. My friends have been calling and emailing about it, and I’ve been proselytizing chemical-free sunscreen like Heidi does her plastic surgery. So, because you didn’t asked I’m using Badger for my husband and I and California Baby for the kids (it made my husband’s face way too zinc-oxide white to use on me.) I’m happy I found sunscreen that doesn’t have the dreaded Oxybenzone in it, and to be honest, these brands work way better than the spray-on cancer crap that I used last year. I have this love-hate thing with chemicals in beauty products, you see.
Moving on, earlier today, my friend and I had a thrilling discussion about how far we are taking our chemical-free romances. You know I have green guilt. I’m never as green as I should be. Same goes for my love of chemical-free beauty products. Because you can’t take the paraben out of the concealer and still think it’s going to conceal.
So because again, you didn’t asked, I’ll tell you what I’m doing to ensure that my skin is as pure and sweet as the Diet Coke I had this afternoon.
- I stopped using soaps and body lotions with artificial ingredients and artificial fragrances. I switched to Burt’s Bees, but apparently that, too, has some question about the fragrances they use, but it says 99 gazillion percent natural and I’m pretty impressed with their voluminous FAQ pages. Plus, my husband thinks this whole thing is so crazy and if I spend any more money on body wash I’m a dead woman.
- I switched my lip gloss. I’m obsessed with lip balm and gloss, especially ones that have SPF. I was using Neutrogena MoistureShine Lip Soother which I loved almost as much as my Diet Coke and slathered on my lips 50 times a day, but then found out that it had the dreaded Oxybenzone, and I was basically eating it all day long and I decided that was probably not so great for my health. So I went to Whole Foods and found Hemp Organic Lip Tint which has sun protection in it. It also has something called carmine, which some people freak out about, but I was just glad I wasn’t ingesting the dreaded Oxybenzone. And, I actually like the consistency of it (but I do miss my Neutrogena poison.)
- As for my face, I really really am addicted to my Bobbi Brown foundation stick. Concealer is pretty much the one thing I don’t leave the house without. But, Alison told me all these great things about Jane Iredale makeup and how it’s all natural and they sell it at Pure Beauty so I thought I would try her concealer. But it really sucked, I’m sorry to say. It didn’t cover up jack sh**. I’m sure there are other amazing natural concealers out there, but I draw the line when it comes to zits.
- And, I draw the line when it comes to deodorant. I know aluminum may cause alzheimers and I’m probably spreading cancer around my body every day by using it, but I cannot go au natural with the deo for the B.O. Again, I tried. I really did. With Aubrey Organics. But people, I need an anti-perspirant like the Queen needs her tiara. Do you love me for trying?
(Btw, for more organic beauty tips, check out Robin’s great organic beauty blog.)
So that being said, I’ve happily made the switch to more natural lotions and creams, but I’m still going to be the lovely blemish-free, sweet-smelling friend you all know me as.
Oh, and if this hasn’t made you crazy enough already did you hear about the lead in our kid’s juice boxes? I may have to start growing grapes on my roofdeck and do the Lucy dance.
I’m gearing up for my first-ever coordinated blogger event at Frankie’s on the Park this Sunday (also a sponsor of this blog) and I’m nervous not only as an event planner (the kind folks at Frankie’s are doing all the logistics), but because while I love my blog life, it rarely intersects with my IRL life. But I do believe, (and why I’m going through the effort of coordinating this event) that I can bring a unique perspective of my blog life to local IRL companies and that my local IRL life can help bloggers. We all always have a lot to learn from each other and I’m excited about growing these opportunities.
I’m also very excited to meet new bloggers like West of the Loop, Little Tech Girl and Mashuga Mom and see my old IRL and blog friends Alma, Steph, Carrie, Meredith, and Jessica. I’m excited to meet their kids, call them by their IRL names (not their website monikers), meet their friends and most of all HAVE FUN. Because as I try to mix business with pleasure, I stiill believe that’s the most important thing we can do in this crazy new social media world. That’s where it all started for me and I’d hate to lose that along the way.
