Why the Chamber Started a Blog & Why You Should Too!
by Mary Clymer on November 13, 2020Why the Chamber started a Blog and Why You Should Too!
A Story from a Failed Business Model.
One of the most powerful ways to stay connected to your ideal customer is through the world wide web. A blog is your gateway to keeping a constant conversation going with potential customers from all parts of the globe.
Being a small business owner takes a lot of time and energy. I should know, I ran a successful artist gallery in Downtown Renton for five years.Opening my doors in the fall of 2008 (just as the market was taking a huge downturn) and closing it in the fall of 2013 (just as the market was gaining speed).
This is an experience I wouldn’t change for the world. However, it came with some serious life lessons. Lessons that in hind-sight I could have improved to save my business.
I was working long hours. When I wasn’t in my shop I was at meetings, finding ways to connect with the community of artists I was seeking. I found myself flipping over backward to help my artists succeed at my own financial expense instead of using that energy to seek out more online opportunities.
I realized then that my online presence was lacking, and I knew that as brick-and-mortar retail stores were disappearing that if I wanted to stay in business I needed to connect with more people globally.
This was and still is overwhelming. I had no energy to put towards something that seemed like a huge learning curve. So I marched on in the same fashion and ended up having to close my doors.
As hard as this was I knew that wherever life took me that community building and entrepreneurship were in my future.
I started asking myself what steps I could have taken to stay open. Again and again, I came back to being online. Getting my message in front of a larger audience.
When you’re balancing everything yourself the idea of spending more money seems like death. In reality not spending that money became my death.
I started investing my time and energy into understanding how online sales and marketing worked. It’s a huge industry and finding your voice in it seemed impossible.
That is until I started looking into blogs.
One of the most underrated forms of marketing, yet one of the more effective ways to stay in contact.
Why? Because it’s personal. It’s a way to connect weekly with messages that lead your audience to more revenue and sales.
Yes, Facebook and Instagram are great at this too. Fast, caughty, and on your feed, but they’re here today, gone tomorrow. Where a blog is continually building your presence. Google loves this. The longer and more consistent your blog is the more google has opportunities to link back to you and all you’ve said throughout the years.
With an estimated 500 million blogs in circulation, blogs have gone from personal journals to huge financial moneymakers.
What started as a hobby for many are now libraries of content designed for a specific audience to consume.
Advertisers have caught on and often work with bloggers to help reach their audience through an individual or company blog.
The biggest issue with blogs is that it takes time and consistency to make it work for you. But the payoffs of doing so make it worth the weekly writing habit.
Adding another thing to your to-do list might not sound romantic, but there are thousands of content marketers out there in your field who could write something amazing for you or with you.
Enter the Chamber Blog, The Renton Junction
This is 100% the reason I started writing for the Renton Chamber of Commerce last Spring.
As a content marketer, my goal was to give back to this community. To be a business owner once again in pursuit of helping other small businesses. What better place than through the Chamber website.
It allows the Chamber to highlight things that are going on in the community while giving people and community members a chance to be seen and share the blog with their network.
It’s created a consistent conversation with the Renton community.
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It’s also the reason why advertising your business on the blog is a great idea.
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It’s a driving force for Renton businesses.
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It’s a place where the community goes to find out what’s happening in a time of covid. It’s a resource guide, and
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It’s a community-building block.
Just like the chamber itself, it’s here to help spread the word about why you should “go Renton”.
If a blog is updated regularly then your audience knows they can rely on you for new content and information.
I’m sure you’ve looked up a recipe and when you got to the page it first has a story about a cold winter's day before giving you the pie baking details. That’s because they are building their food market through that blog.
Blogs might not be the road for you, but they are a fun way to stay active. They’re meant to be informative in a non-formal way. More like a conversation meant to attract a certain crowd. For instance, the Chamber blog is for the Renton Community.
Selling your product or service is about building trust and loyalty with your audience. You may be here in Renton, but your reach can go much further. You just need to tap into the power of the internet.
Find a way that resonates with you and commit to it. Consumers are attached to blogs. It’s relationship building. It's the smart way to share your message with the world while guiding them back to your website, service, or product.
If you are in the position I found myself seven years ago, wondering how to connect with your audience, I encourage you to look into the powerful tool that is a blog.
I am local, I understand small business and I am happy to chat with anyone on how blogs can help your business succeed, even in a time of Covid.