This document discusses the importance and benefits of blogging for retailers and companies. It notes that blogging helps companies engage in online conversations about their brand, build community around their products/services, and share valuable content without overt selling. Successful company blogs discussed include those from Zappos and the 800-CEO-Read blog. The document encourages companies to adopt a new mindset for blogging, focusing on delivering value to readers rather than traditional marketing. Blogs are positioned as one tool for building social media presence and online communities around a brand.
14. Its the content (and the writing), stupid 1. Simplicity 2. Unexpectedness 3. Concreteness 4. Credibility 5. Emotion 6. Story - from Made to Stick
15. Good blogging is good writing and good writing is storytelling Read Andrew Sullivans essay, Why I Blog in Nov. 2008 issue of The Atlantic Monthly http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/andrew-sullivan-why-i-blog
16. To blog successfully, take off your marketing or PR hat and adopt a new mindset Deliver value without selling
17. Lets define community From Seth Godins new book, Tribes**: A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea. ** Highly recommended
18. Blogs are one piece of the social media puzzle How do you use these tools to create community?
19. Get to know the tools. Youll be ahead of the game.
20. - One in 5 U.S. adults has no landline - 49% of young adults (18 29) are cell phone only users Harris Poll April 4, 2008 Mobile
25. Walking the Talk How many of you have your own blogs? How many of you are Twittering?
26. Selected Resources Books Groundswell (Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff 2008) New Rules of Marketing & PR (David Meerman Scott 2007) The Corporate Blogging Book ( Debbie Weil 2006) Tribes (Seth Godin 2008) Blog / Social Media Tools www.blogpulse.com/trend (search/compare your brand) www.technorati.com (blog search engine) http://news.google.com (get email alerts for your name or brand) www.twitter.com (the new micro-blogging)
27. Thank you! Please visit me online www.debbieweil.com Subscribe to my blog at www.debbieweil.com/blog