I just got done flipping through fashion “look” book produced by a local traditional media outlet. In my opinion, the tabloid is filled with mediocre photography, mediocre image advertising and absolutely no education, information or explanation as to what I’m looking at, what or where to wear the “looks” or how much said looks might cost me at the various stores. In short, the entire tabloid lured dozens of premium retailers into spending their hard-earned marketing dollars to advertise. I bet they said something like, “if you advertise, I’ll guarantee that your competition won’t be allowed to advertise” or “you have to be in this issue because your competition will all be there.” Then, each business fell into rank and file… paid their money and submitted to the “look” that a traditional media publisher suggested for their ads. So, they all look the same, no one stands out, there is NO message or value to the publication, and the only one smiling is the media outlet because they cashed out.

Now, that’s just my perception and opinion. But I just wonder what would happen if a great retail shop broke status quo and did something different…valuable…memorable with their advertising? Or what if a few retailers weren’t scared to be left out of the popularity contests that media run – and instead made decisions based on data and smart strategy?

What have you done lately that was truly different, valuable or memorable? What have you done lately that was based on data and/or smart strategy? We want to hear your story!

Photo credit: stevendepolo

When Andy and Marianna asked me to be a guest blogger on Results Revolution I was super psyched, but also a little nervous! I’m just a small business owner that likes to blog – not an expert on blogging! But then I think that was the point – right guys? If I can do it, you can definitely do it!

First, let me introduce myself. My name is Mandy, and I own Swagger Gifts in Cary, NC. I have been blogging for my gift shop since February 2008. I love to blog, and I do the best I can. But I KNOW I’m not the best blogger out there. I think when I finally realized that, I actually became a better blogger! The fear of “am I doing this right?” is gone, because there is no right or wrong! I know there are a bunch of people out there giving advice on blogging – and I try really hard to follow some of it – but the best advice I received was – JUST DO IT! And in turn it is the advice I am handing out to you today!

Creating your blog (which you can do for FREE – just Google “free blogs”) and then writing a post are the first two steps. I promise it is easy and basically painless! Then commit yourself to the blog. It only works if you are consistent!

Marianna asked me to answer two questions for you:

1. How often do I blog? Of course my goal is to blog every day, but sometimes I can only make it happen twice a week (you know all the other stuff that comes with owning a small business gets “in the way”). However I do strive for twice a week – remember consistency is key – it gets your readers in the habit of coming to see what is going on at your business and the search engines love it!
2. What type of content do I put on my blog? I guess “a little bit of everything” would be the answer here!

One thing that we do to get people visiting the Swagger Gifts’ blog on a regular basis is to do a weekly giveaway. It is a lot of fun to interact with our customers in this way and it showcases a specific item that generally customers come in and purchase (which of course is the goal!). Our blog also feeds into our Facebook page, so people will share the giveaway on their pages which also increases our “fan” numbers (more people to market to – yeah!). The weekly giveaway has been very beneficial financially for Swagger Gifts!

I also blog about “new stuff” that has come into the store. I have done posts on 23 boxes just arrived to Hot New Trends to Baby Gifts under $40. I think pictures are worth a thousands words, so I always attach a picture to our posts! One of our most popular posts was about how a new oversized flower could be used in the Front Door Idea blog post. I know it was popular because the flowers sold out almost immediately, and we had a “people to call” list waiting when our next shipment came in. Most people said they saw it on Facebook!

Blogging about community events and charity events that we are doing in the store or ones that our customers are involved in is great for goodwill! It also shows that you are involved with the local community!

A while ago, Marianna wrote a blog post about sharing “Behind the Scenes” info with your customers. I have posted Behind the Scenes info a couple times and our customers seem to love it! We live in such a “social” society that people love reading about what your life as a business owner is really like! I should do this more often – thanks Marianna for the tip!

This also leads me to writing about going to tradeshows or other places you visit for your type of business. I have been writing about our market trips for two years now and our “sneak peak” blog posts get customers excited and coming into the store asking “when is so and so going to arrive!”

There are so many other things to post about, and I would love to hear what you do on your blog to generate traffic for your business! Please comment below – I’m sure all of us who read the Results Revolution blog would love some new ideas!

For those of you who don’t have a blog (yet) – go out there and start one! Then come back here and comment on how easy it was!

Thanks for reading and for sharing your tips below!

Mandy