My own lack of entries here is an indication of why the question "What are you doing?" is relevant. What am I doing? Working - and, honestly, I was getting through the holidays and snow. (Unprecidented snow for Arkansas.) But the question is if I advocate doing a blog for my small business clients why do I have such a hard time keeping it up for my business?
Good question, right?
The truth is that I don't advocate small businesses have blogs in the first year of thier business and then only if they are able to dedicate at least an hour to it a week. The truth is that most small businesses are run by one or two people and they have so many hats to wear that they are losing track of which one to put on at which time.
I get it. I am right there with you.
So, what is the solution? How do we effectively reach our customers, share our unique stories and connect on a more personal level - all which blogs to rather effectively?
Reaching Your Customers:
- Email Newsletter: One option is to do a monthly email newsletter. Although this is difficult for most small businesses to maintain. Quarter could work - or even sporadically when you actually have new ideas, products or services to share with your list. (You can click the link to subscribe to mine.)
- Twitter: You can most often find me on Twitter. It is where I share a mix of small busines ideas, retween good ones I find (I actually read the links that I retweet), tell you about my new hair cut and get to know folks that interact with me.
- Facebook: My facebook page is where I most often share hints, tips or news I think is relevant to small businesses. What I like about it is that it is fast and easy. A good thing for a busy person. And I can interact immediately with folks that post questions or need more info.
For me I think that what my hopes for this blog is to share more about the work that I do - kind of a back stage pass. Let you know about ideas that I have for running your business more effectively and maybe even a peek into some of my personal life - it is sometimes a hoot to see who is behind the blog!
Whatever you choose - be gentle with yourself if it is hard to maintain. You have real things that you need to address - like getting paid, doing work, serving customers... that is your primary obligation. You'll get the online portion into your schedule... let's watch to see how well I do it! (Fingers crossed.)
Photo Credit: Kristina B Flickr
