The slide show presentation from trade show presentations about blogging for the retail industry.

1. BloggingWhy You Should Be Blogging: And How You Can Use it to Increase Sales Presented by Brian Linton Founder Sand Shack LLC Brianlinton.com Unitedbyblue.com July, 2010 © 2010 Brian Linton

2. My Background Grew up in Singapore and Japan Founded Sand Shack while in college in 2006 Also while in college, founded a coffee company – and failed Launched United By Blue May 1st 2010 Live and work in Philadelphia Girlfriend’s name is Joanna and Dog’s name is Zoey Speak Chinese, love to travel, write, and scuba dive

3. What is a Blog Combination of the term “Web Log” – Blog 126 Million Blogs A blog is basically a collection of articles online, blogging is the act of updating it, and a blogger is someone who writes for a blog. Bloggingas a news source in the 21st Century Professional vs Personal Makes sharing news easy

4. What is a Blog …continued Give normal people the power of the media No technical expertise required Easy to use and often free A blog is often in the form of website Can be added to existing website

5. How are Small Businesses Using It Low cost, effective way to have a web presence static vs. dynamic websites Informal and easy way to communicate with customers Share news about your company Market products and build brand Build trust and authority for your business and you, the small business owner.

6. Some Ways Retail Stores Use Blogs Announce new product lines Write product reviews Solicit customer feedback and suggestions Share customer product reviews Discuss hot industry topics Tie in products with topical news Promote special store events Write ‘how-to’ articles for product use Post open retail positions and corporate career opportunities Allow retail staff contributions Spotlight individual employees

7. Brianlinton.com

8. United By Blue’s Blog

9. Choosing a Topic Is this group a viable target market online? Is it large enough? Are there any competing blogs? Relates to your business Is something you are passionate about Choose something bigger than your company Target potential customers Create residual marketing that drives traffic to your website and store

10. Example: Sweet Marias Coffee

11. Sweet Maria’s Blog

13. Unique content is a must

14. Give away your secrets

15. Mix company related posts with non-company related postsTips

16. Post Example Post Title Quantify what you are going to talk about Be specific – don’t get too fancy Vary text size Bold out main points Add pictures to break up text Link to previous posts when relevant Ask a question at the end to encourage comments “If you have a business, what have you learned recently about social media for business?”

17. Finding Free Images via Flickr.com Give credit where due

18. Getting Videos From YouTube

19. Comments

21. Cross-promote

22. Link post content outside of your blog

23. Comment on other blogsComments make blogging a two way conversation Promote with Twitter tweets and Facebook status updates Host a competition on your blog Make your posts “sharable” ie: WordpressAddtoAnyplugin

24. Guest Blogging Guest Blogging builds authority for you and your blog about a certain topic Finding a blog Google search Facebook search Twitter search Technorati.com search Follow comment links Tips for Guest Blogging -Connect with other blogs first -Have an established blog -Send them a summary or outline of what you will write about

26. Network

27. Become part of a community

29. Setting up Your Blog – Or More Than a Blog

30. Plugins

31. Summary Choose something your customers care about Provide free material that is not a sales-pitch Go above and beyond your reader’s expectations Encourage your readers to leave comments -respond to comments Promote your Blog to market your company Use plugins to better interact with your readers – Wordpress

32. Contact Information Contact Brian: Tel: 508-292-9427 or brian@sandshack.com