Local Blogs and Blogging

Local businesses can certainly benefit from blogging -- just like national and international businesses.

All the benefits of blogging apply to local businesses as well, but I'll focus on why blogging is especially good for local businesses.

Most Websites, in my experience especially local business Web sites, are "brochure-wear." They act like a paper brochure or catalog, and like one, no one ever looks at them unless they make a point of it. The search engines usually send them close to zero traffic.

Why does this matter? Well, web searches are slowly complementing and even replacing local telephone yellow pages look ups. In the last couple of weeks I've looked up local printers, local lawyers, and local electricians using Google.

Search engines love blogs, and can quickly help catapult a local website in the rankings, sending them more potential customers. They can also help turn "dull" into "dynamic" (or at least less dull!) and encourage repeat visitors.

Many local businesses are relationship based, even more so than Internet and 1-800 businesses, and the personal nature of blogs can help increase the feeling of knowing Joe Blow @ Seacoast Tub and Tile, even if we've never met him. This increases the likelihood that people will stop by and make a purchase.

Blogs will bring in lots of local Internet traffic (some details of how to do it right in a later post) as well as national/international traffic. This can help a business expand beyond local - don't laugh, it applies more often than you'd guess. A couple of examples:

• A friend flew from Boston to Texas to buy a car -- who says car dealers are local?
• How about the hotdog vendor who expanded nationally - he wrote an ebook on running hotdog stands and supposedly makes major money selling it ,

Any readers with local blogs or advice/comments?

Comments

[Tamara]

Very good advice. Particularily the "brochure-wear". I've had a local service business in the past and a blog would have done wonders (I'm sure!). Now my business is national and I'm just getting started with one. I'll be following along for future advice on marketing both locally and nationally. Thanks!

[Scott_S.]

Local businesses could benefit from well managed blogs. But do they have the time and/or content?

A better solution might be a local aggregator. Perhaps a local blog that can focus on community websites, businesses and human interest stories would be enough. I've heard most of these don't do well financially but I'm still considering it.

Looking forward to your next post on it.

[Paul Chaney]

I was sold on the notion of local businesses using blogs ever since I met a fellow by the name of J.D. Iles, who owns the Lincoln Sign Shop in New Hampshire. His blog is SignsNeverSleep.com and it is a model all local businesses can follow.

[Ted Demopoulos, Blogging for Business]

Tamara - good luck! Will be writing more about local blogs and blogging for sure.

Scott, many businesses may have trouble finding content and/or time to blog, but in any field that changes regularly, people are regularly learning new things, doing research, etc. - and that's fodder for blogging.

If you find any community blogs/aggregators or websites you think are great, pass them along. I like the idea.

Paul, SignsNeverSleep.com is a great local blog, as well as local to me -- I'm in New Hamshire. Recently mentioned it as a great example of a local blog to business reporter for a local paper.

[Kathy Brady]

I am a real estate agent in Dutchess County NY and am interested in marketing myself through a web site or blog or both. I know absolutely nothing about how to do this or if this is the way to go to get more leads of buyers and sellers. Who can I talk with locally or in NYC to help me figure out the best way for me to go?
Thanks

[Ted Demopoulos, Blogging for Business]

Hi Kathy,

I don't know anyone in NYC who could help, or if I do I don't know they are there. I work with many people whose locations are unknown to me!

You could use a blog to market "indirectly" - kind of like giving free talks to local groups on real estate.

Positives:
Blogs allow real estate agents and agencies to demonstrate their expertise by posting hints and tips about real estate as well information about current events and trends.

Because blogs are personal, readers can more easily come to feel they know (and hopefully like and trust) the bloggers and be comfortable doing business with them.

A blog can make a real estate website come alive, sending it increased traffic because search engines love blogs (search engines drive most of the traffic on the internet, and blogs are search engine friendly by nature, unlike Web sites which often need expert tweaking)

Negatives:
Like all marketing, blogging takes resources - especially time

Writing a blog is difficult for many real estate agents - they are often not as accustomed to writing in such a personal style

Here is a directory of real estate blogs http://www.real-estate-blogs.com/blogs/

There are certainly plenty of people who can start a blog for you, myself included, and possibly others who know real estate far better than me listening - feel free to speak up!