how blogging adds value to your business
DESCRIPTION
How Blogging Adds Value to Your Business by Angel M. Babbitt, The Bridal BFF. Presented 8/31/2010 at Entrepreneurs of Color Helping OthersTRANSCRIPT
HOW BLOGGING ADDS VALUE TO YOUR
BUSINESS
Angel M. Babbitt, Bridal BFF EventsThe Bridal BFFAugust 31, 2010
Allow Me to Introduce Myself…
www.thebridalbff.blogspot.comTwitter.com/BostonBridalBFF
Our Journey…
What is a blog? The History of Blogs
How Did it All Begin? Where are We Now: Blogging in 2010
Business Blogging – Why Consider it? Revealing Why Businesses Blog How to Leverage the Value of Your Blog Where Do You Start?
A Great Case Study A Chance To Win a Fabulous Prize Q&A
What is a BLOG?
A blog is a type of website. It is a short
form of the word weblog which is anonline journal of ideas and content
that isupdated on a routine basis and
accessible toanyone that has access to the
internet.
The power of blogging is that ANYONE CAN DO IT!
Many blogging platforms exist that allow the blogger to update
content effortlessly with having little to no knowledge of HTML!
How Did It All Begin?Let’s take a walk down ‘blogging’ memory lane…
1997 - 1999Legend has it that the words ‘weblog’ and ‘blog’ were coined by two men; Jorn Barger (www.robotwisdom.com) and Peter Merholz (cofounder of Adaptive Path)
1999Some of the first online tools to help people build blogs were launched. Among them were
nowdefunct Groksoup, Pitas.com and Pyra (which later changed it’s name to Blogger)
2001September 11th – Many attribute the surge in blog popularity to this grave day in our history.
Manypeople took to the internet to express their emotions and to provide their commentary on thepolitical climate of our nation, hence the birth of more bloggers!
2004 - 2005Blogs became of part of social media mainstream where stats show that in 2005, 70 mill
blogsexisted and a new blog was being created EVERY 5.8 seconds…
Today…
In 2010
More than 133,000,000 blogs have been indexed in Technorati*
Over 77% of Internet users read blogs
Two-thirds of blogger are male! (C’mon ladies…get to blogging!)
86% have been blogging for at least a year
53% of professional bloggers are interested in attracting new clients
58% say that they are better-known in their industry because of their blog
*Technorati is an internet search engine used for searching blogs
To Blog or Not To Blog?
A successful blog can boost customer and
vendor relationships!
As a business blogger, you will
exceed your reach!
We are all in business to see
results!
A successful blog can boost
SALES!
Top Reasons Why Businesses Blog
To Build Brand Awareness
To Network with Other Businesses
To Communicate Marketing Messages
To Build Relationships with Existing or Potential Customers
To Share Knowledge and Passion about Your Industry
To Manage Your Reputation in Industry
To Seem Real/Human in The Consumers’ Eyes
$$$ To Boost Sales $$$
Does it Make Dollars? Does it Make Sense?
Gary Vaynerchuk Winelibrary.com
• Started as a cashier in family owned liquor store
• A self-taught sommelier, he took his passion for
wine tasting to the web and started a blog• His blog on wine translated to a HUGE profit• He grew his family business $4 mill to $45
mill within the first two years of blogging!
Blogger and WordPress and Typepad Oh My!
Hosted: Blogger Typepad
Non-Hosted: WordPress Moveable Type
Others: Squarespace, Tumblr, Posterous…
The Bridal BFF Loves Giveaways!
Attention August ECHO meeting attendees:My BRIDAL BESTIES love when I host giveaways on my
blog! Here’s a chance for each of you to join in on all the fun!
It’s The Bridal BFF blog scavenger hunt! The first meeting attendee to follow the clue that will lead you to
a very special blog post will win a $25 gift card to PF Changs!
Participants must leave a comment on the blog post…first person to leave a comment WINS!
Good Luck!
Here’s The Clue…
Find The Bridal BFF blog post that features
two of our very ownECHO members…
(Hint: She looked amazing on her big day…and he didn’t look too shabby either… )
