Another great, first person testimony backed, business blogging case study today on my Google Alerts, which took me to a post by blogging expert Denise Wakeman on Build A Better Blog.
Denise tells of how, back in 2005, as a marketing consultant to LA gourmet bakery owner Larry Maiman, she “urged him to start a blog for his cafe”.
Now his Mäni’s Bakery Blog is featured in the April/May issue of MyBusinessMag.com (author Lena Basha) and in that piece Maiman acknowledges that when the idea was first put to him he was skeptical.
“I was skeptical at first, worried that we’d be sharing too much information,” says Maiman, who started the blog in 2005 at the urging of his marketing consultant. “But in retrospect I realize that the more customers know, the better. It’s a great tool to help us educate our customers about healthy eating and bring them stories related to what we do. It has really added value to who we are.”
His concern about sharing too much information is a commonly-held one, in my experience of speaking with people in businesses large and small.
Fortunately, he got over it.
He doesn’t provide a quantified ROI assessment, but there is no doubting his enthusiasm for what he has achieved with the blog:
“I don’t think small-business owners realize how easy blogging can be or what a valuable business tool it is,” Maiman says. “It drives new business, enables us to get customer feedback and allows us to involve our staff in a way that really brings them into the business. And I think that’s just the start of what we could do with it.”
And the article in MyBusinessMag.com has some thoughtful comments from Pajama Market small business expert Brian Brown.
Check out the cafe blog, if for no other reason than to just drool enjoy the pictures of the amazing, mouth-watering, diversely decorated concoctions of the bakery’s pastry chef, Kristina.
I know where I’ll be heading for a coffee (and cake) next time I’m in LA.
An interesting article, Des, on how a small business can use a blog to advantage and to educate their customers. I’m going to link to it in Home Biz Notes because I think my readers may find it very informative and helpful.
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Hi Des,
I linked to this post in my Home Biz Notes blog. I thought many home business owners can learn from this information and the business owner you refer to.
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I can not stop telling all the small businesses I meet about blogging, it really does make a difference. Blogging gives your company a larger voice on the internet – creating new connections with people browsing the web. It also gives the public a personal connection to you and your business – something that can form lifelong clients/customers.
I encourage the small businesses in our community at Ekaweeka.com to blog but I feel they need to understand the points you discuss here. Many people still are reluctant to share information online.
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