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Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue.
Speaker:And thanks for joining me for tips and talk day.
Speaker:These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions and
Speaker:things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small business.
Speaker:If you'd like to submit a topic,
Speaker:DME over on Instagram at gift biz unwrapped,
Speaker:before we get into the show today,
Speaker:I want to make sure that you know about the newest
Speaker:thing happening over here.
Speaker:It's called the gift biz bash a zoom party that turns
Speaker:into a podcast episode.
Speaker:Several weeks later,
Speaker:the party consists of a short training with Q and a,
Speaker:from yours truly.
Speaker:And then an opportunity for you to give a shout out
Speaker:about your business.
Speaker:You can tell us about a promotion you currently have going
Speaker:on or share a collaboration that you're considering so that you
Speaker:can find a perfect partner for the event.
Speaker:A little bit of learning and visibility for your business.
Speaker:What could be better?
Speaker:There is a catch though spots are limited to keep the
Speaker:party to about 45 minutes or so.
Speaker:That means you should grab your spot right away.
Speaker:It's totally free to make sure you're included.
Speaker:Why not do that right now?
Speaker:Pause this episode,
Speaker:go to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash bash to sign up and then come back
Speaker:and listen to the show.
Speaker:I'll see you at the bash.
Speaker:Maybe you're like most defaulting to the idea that blogs aren't
Speaker:meant for your handmade product based business.
Speaker:My aim in this episode is to help you see this
Speaker:differently. Am I here to convince you to start a blog
Speaker:tomorrow? No,
Speaker:but I want you to understand the many ways a blog
Speaker:can help your business.
Speaker:And then you can make your decision from there.
Speaker:Typically as it relates to business blogs,
Speaker:I'm not talking about those that are more like personal journals.
Speaker:Now we think of these blogs as being associated with service-based
Speaker:businesses. Those that have information to offer us on how to
Speaker:manage our money,
Speaker:lose weight,
Speaker:or find the perfect house,
Speaker:things like that.
Speaker:After all these industries lead to information sharing that is directly
Speaker:related to how they help their customers.
Speaker:And there's obviously information that can be shared.
Speaker:That connection to providing information may be less obvious for a
Speaker:product based business,
Speaker:but it's not really that different.
Speaker:If you think about it,
Speaker:there are lots of topics you could write about that.
Speaker:Have an association with the product that you make and can
Speaker:be interesting to your customer base.
Speaker:Let me give you some examples.
Speaker:If you make essential oils,
Speaker:you could write about how aroma therapy affects your mood,
Speaker:the proper way to store your oils.
Speaker:What's the best use of essential oils,
Speaker:how best to use essential oils,
Speaker:less known benefits that can boost your health with essential oils,
Speaker:why you're attracted to certain sense over others.
Speaker:And if you make custom tumblers,
Speaker:you could write about how you got into the business.
Speaker:You could share,
Speaker:drink recipes,
Speaker:why tumblers are good for the environment,
Speaker:what you need from a customer to create a personal product
Speaker:for them.
Speaker:Tumbler choices of the rich and famous.
Speaker:Okay. I'm getting a little carried away here with this last
Speaker:one. But my point is you can brainstorm a million topics
Speaker:that can relate back to your product.
Speaker:Don't know the health benefits of essential oils or how your
Speaker:tumblers help with protecting the world.
Speaker:Research has never been easier.
Speaker:Google it,
Speaker:and then create an article around the information you uncover adding
Speaker:in your own spin.
Speaker:Of course,
Speaker:these don't need to be long either.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you're not setting out to write a book here.
Speaker:I just did a Google search for this and find that
Speaker:for 2022,
Speaker:the best length of a blog is somewhere between 1,760
Speaker:and 2,400
Speaker:words. When you get rolling,
Speaker:that's not a lot at all,
Speaker:but you still have to do it.
Speaker:Pick your topics,
Speaker:find some facts and call upon your own experiences and write
Speaker:that article.
Speaker:Is it worth that energy and time?
Speaker:Let me present my reasoning on why I would say overwhelmingly.
Speaker:Yes, here are the five ways a blog can benefit your
Speaker:business first and most obvious.
Speaker:It's great for SEO search engine optimization.
Speaker:This is the one way people are going to find you
Speaker:online through your website,
Speaker:SEO, without getting into all the details here about being ranked
Speaker:in search.
Speaker:Let's start with,
Speaker:if you're not there,
Speaker:you won't be found at all.
Speaker:And it only makes sense that the more you put out
Speaker:online, the more chances you've created to be discovered,
Speaker:isn't this what we're always trying to get more visibility,
Speaker:more people to know your brand more,
Speaker:more, more,
Speaker:but you might say,
Speaker:I don't see very many other people doing this.
Speaker:Exactly. And this is my second reason why you should.
Speaker:Most people haven't gotten the memo,
Speaker:but you're here with me.
Speaker:So you get to be in the know who said,
Speaker:you need to always look at others for an example of
Speaker:what you should be doing with your business.
Speaker:And the fact that others are missing this valuable asset allows
Speaker:your content to rank higher.
Speaker:When a topic is searched,
Speaker:another plug for increased visibility.
Speaker:One that doesn't have a shelf life,
Speaker:either mind you.
Speaker:Okay. Number three.
Speaker:How about an answer to why someone should buy from you
Speaker:versus another maker who creates a similar product?
Speaker:When you have a blog and write about things in your
Speaker:industry, ways to use your product and any other number of
Speaker:topics you become the authority,
Speaker:credible, trustworthy,
Speaker:and knowledgeable,
Speaker:not just out there for the buck in the sale.
Speaker:You're helping your customers in a way most never will.
Speaker:Number four,
Speaker:adding personality to your brand.
Speaker:When you blog your voice comes out the way you word
Speaker:things, the topic and content of your articles.
Speaker:These all give insight into you as the maker,
Speaker:and finally rounding out.
Speaker:My five reasons to have a blog is for social media
Speaker:content. When you have a new article on your website,
Speaker:you can direct people to it,
Speaker:through your posts on Facebook,
Speaker:Instagram, or my newest favorite Pinterest.
Speaker:In fact,
Speaker:Pinterest will give your article long lasting play.
Speaker:In the recent past,
Speaker:there had been a trend of posting long form content in
Speaker:a social media post.
Speaker:I'm sure you've seen that.
Speaker:I'm going to suggest to you now that the time spent
Speaker:doing that for a post that either goes away or gets
Speaker:buried in the feed is nowhere near as good an option
Speaker:as writing something on a platform that can work for your
Speaker:business for years to come.
Speaker:It sounds kind of obvious when you hear it right.
Speaker:Okay. Here's a summary of my five top reasons to consider
Speaker:a blog for your product based business,
Speaker:increased SEO to establish credibility and a leadership role.
Speaker:It adds personality to your brand,
Speaker:making you more trustworthy and finally for fresh and new social
Speaker:media content.
Speaker:Let's talk about some businesses who have put blogging into action.
Speaker:One of the first people I know who started talking about
Speaker:this is Marcus Sheridan.
Speaker:He has since written a book all about it called they
Speaker:ask you answer.
Speaker:I read this book years ago when it first came out
Speaker:and it's since been updated.
Speaker:I highly recommend it.
Speaker:By the way,
Speaker:I'll give you some headlines here about Marcus's story.
Speaker:He owns a pool company in the south.
Speaker:He started writing a blog,
Speaker:covering the topics most frequently discussed when his salespeople would go
Speaker:out to homes for face-to-face estimates,
Speaker:things like why they use the materials that they do.
Speaker:Maintenance questions,
Speaker:pricing, you get the idea,
Speaker:want to know what this has done for his business because
Speaker:of the SEO.
Speaker:More people found him through search.
Speaker:Most of the questions that his customer support team would spend
Speaker:time answering was done independently through reading the articles that he
Speaker:had written.
Speaker:And when a sales person does go out for an estimate,
Speaker:the close rate goes through the roof.
Speaker:You see those who found that Marcus's pools weren't for them,
Speaker:filtered themselves out and never requested a meeting,
Speaker:more sales in and less cost to acquire each one,
Speaker:a winning strategy.
Speaker:If I've ever heard one,
Speaker:Anna from limbo imports is finding the same thing.
Speaker:One of the biggest objections she hears for her gorgeous hammock
Speaker:chairs is how difficult it seems to be,
Speaker:to find the right place,
Speaker:and then actually put in the hardware to hang it.
Speaker:One article to the rescue,
Speaker:addressing this issue resulted in sales,
Speaker:increasing without any additional effort on her part.
Speaker:You can read this one and all her product related blog
Speaker:articles over on her website,
Speaker:limbo imports.com.
Speaker:So have I met my goal,
Speaker:getting you to think about a blog for your business.
Speaker:The reasoning is pretty compelling.
Speaker:Find some time,
Speaker:pour yourself a cool drink and give it some thought or
Speaker:better yet brainstorm some possible topics.
Speaker:It may even lead to your first article.
Speaker:That's a wrap.
Speaker:I'm a get to the point kind of girl.
Speaker:And this is what you can expect from these quick midweek
Speaker:sessions. Now it's your turn go out and fulfill that dream
Speaker:of yours.
Speaker:Share your handmade products with us.
