A blog about blogs may seem a bit redundant, but in my several years of writing this one, it’s a subject I haven’t covered.  We don’t feature a blog on Orange Tree Imports’ web site, in part because it keeps me busy putting one together every week for you, my fellow business owners. But a blog can be a valuable tool for keeping in touch with your customers — and allowing them to get to know you, and your business, better.  People buy from people they know, especially in today’s “buy local” economy.

Another advantage of writing a blog for your customers is that it shows that you are an expert in your field.  Providing customers with interesting information about the products you carry, as well as insights into how your business is run, will help you stand out in the crowded retail arena.

If you decide to write a blog, you’ll want to link it to your store’s web site.  You may create your own blog (I use iWeb on my Mac), or use one of the commercial blog sites such as Blogger,  WordPress and TypePad.  These sites charge a fee to provide templates that makes it easy for you to put your thoughts and pictures together in an attractive format. 

Although a blog is defined as a web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections and comments (according to Merriam-Webster), today’s blogs almost always feature at least one picture, and they are often more like short magazine articles than journal entries.  Some of the best blogs, such as the one for Kerstin’s Chocolates from Edmonton, Canada  where today’s photo comes from, even include video.

The fact that a blog is no longer just a journal entry doesn’t mean that your blog can’t be very personal, of course. If you’ve just gotten back from a trade show, you could write about your experiences on the town and at show seminars as well as the new merchandise that you found for your store.

When you have a special event coming up, your store’s blog is the perfect place to share your excitement. A blog is also an easy way to provide customers with more information about your favorite products through hyperlinks to vendors’ web sites.

Don’t forget to tag your blog entries with words that will help it come up near the top in search engines, and to regularly include links to your blog in your e-mail blasts to customers.  You’ll want to link new postings to your Facebook page too.

You can also announce contests and surveys in order to make reading your blog an interactive activity.  I’d like to conduct a survey this week of your favorite retail store blogs. Please feel free to use the comment button below to share the names of business owners you think are doing a great job communicating through this medium. 

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder