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Many small business owners still think they can take a pass on the power of online social media tools, particularly if they reside in seemingly low-tech industries like plumbing, fishing, or lawyering. I want to share a quick interview I did with Jason Brown, 23 year old co-founder of Brown Lures. That’s right, they sell fishing lures to guys and gals that probably don’t call hanging out at Web2.0 conferences a good time. (I’m just guessing on that though.)
Brown credits his blog with changing the way people find him, he created a podcast that gives him great “fishing stories” and loyalty from guides up and down the Gulf coast, he uses RSS and content tagging to automatically produce fresh blog content, and email marketing to blow his competition away at trade shows.
Using social media in industries that are still slow to adopt it is the killer competitive advantage.
In Brown’s words:
“We have been running waiting lists for products for about a year now, and no one has any clue how we are doing it without spending big advertising money. I love this stuff . . .”
Alas, I can still here the cries from the cynics - We don’t need no stinkin social media, we just need more sales.
Care to share your “social media in a low-tech” industry success stories.
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at May 07, 08 | 10:05 am and is filed under Blogging, Mobile Post, Podcasting, RSS, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Hi John
We managed to persuade a local hardwood furniture maker, Peter Fox, to start blogging - purely for the SEO benefits.
Not only is he really enjoying blogging and improving his search rankings, but sales are up too!
Check out his hardwood furniture site.
An inspiring post for both small businesses and small business marketers.
In my experience working with small businesses, the problem often comes from terminology and the preconceptions that this post addresses.
However, if you ask any small business owner would they like to find better ways to relate and connect with their customers the answer is ‘yes’.
Likewise if you ask whether or not their personality plays a role in attracting and keeping customers the answer is also a resounding ‘yes’. This is even more vital for the very smallest of businesses.
And that’s what social media should be for small businesses - better tools for doing what small businesses have always done; building relationships with their customers.
It’s also a great way to differentiate yourself from the multinationals and big box retailers.
Blogging and posting articles has worked wonders for me. I still have to get the really social things like MySpace, LinkedIn and FaceBook figured out, as well as doing a podcast. Blogging has made a believer, so now it’s get to work!
Hi John,
We have a small client, Greenfield Liquors. basically a small liquor store in a small town in Indiana. They have a customer who loves wine write posts on wine as well as solicit drink recipes from customers on the blog directly.
They try to target content based on other publications write ups. For example if the Wine Speculator reviews a product they will make sure that they have a post on that product too. That way when a potential customer reads the review and then goes to google to find who locally carries the product they are standing there waiting
Try it: type - Svedka Vodka, Greenfield - into Google.
Social Smocial… The two number one activities online are email and search. Both great tools within the reach of even the smallest businesses.
Chris Baggott
CEO
Compendium Blogware
http://www.compendiumblogware.com
John-
I’m trying to heavily use social media to (1) build our CPA’s exposure regionally and (2) offer great business content to our readers weekly.
And we’re spreading out! We started in Greenville, SC 10 years ago and are moving into Atlanta, GA (two hours away).
Learning social media is fun, but it can also add great immediate business content for our readers and encourage them and help their businesses grow.
<a href=”Check out the description of our Thriveal Theory on our site”http://www.blumercpas.com/ThrivealTheory.pdf
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer
Oops. Here is the link I was trying to pass on (I’m new to this html stuff):
http://www.blumercpas.com/ThrivealTheory.pdf
Sorry about that.
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer
Hi John:
We’re using video, podcasts, e-learning, blogging, you name it at RentalMetrics where we target “Heavy Equipment Rental and Construction” businesses which tend to be very old school. Part of our content teaches businesses in this sector to embrace the “web 2.0″ stuff to be different, memorable, and findable. Sometimes its like dragging a 500lb sled behind a rented mule…but this is a huge advantage waiting for the taking.
Hi John, All the way from australia. I am a cosmetic doctor and started a new practice just over 12 months ago in a highly competitive business area. We built our hands and mortar business mostly using a cosmetic medicine blog and social media. Something I could not have achieved with conventional advertising (I could not have afforded the exsposure through conventional means). I had no idea what a blog was 14 months ago, but took the advice of my webdesiger…you need a blog. We have very stringent rules about advertising things like botox and fillers in Australia, and a blogsite has helped me sidestep some of this by focussing on long tail key word searches. I have not used my wordpress blog in a conventional manner, something people just do not seem to get. I have since dabbled in Myspace, advertised on Facebook and currently planning videos for UTube and email marketing strategy. I am not an expert at this, but I know I have left so many of my competitors scratching their heads. Whats more, it is fun and interesting and so much less stressful than dealing with print advertisers. I only hope no one catches on too soon.
Dr Jo Turner
Many of our clients are in low-tech industries, industries where one might not think SEO and online marketing would really be necessary or effective, and that really is the advantage of them using us to take care of their marketing needs… Their opposition isn’t using the Web to full advantage.. These guys are finding that online marketing and advertising really is more cost-effective, with a further-reaching, quality grasp, than traditional marketing..
Very enlightening. Definitely good advice.
I learned a great deal about/ and made some greats contacts in the social media community at Inc. Magazine’s annual Inc. 5000 conference. I’m heading back this year. I highly recommend. Check it out. Anyone can attend.
http://secure.lenos.com/lenos/inc/Inc500WashingtonDC/home.htm.asp
Great post. WineLibrary is doing amazing things with blogging and social networks. It is attracting a whole new audience to the wine world and driving a ton of commerce.
John, this stuff actually works! I love it! I think we always knew it would/could and it’s nice to see it come to fruition, especially where small business is concerned.
Let’s face it. Social Media is still a new and growing platform for business, and it’s only going to get better. ANY business can benefit from utilizing some form of social media. It’s very inexpensive, or usually free, and you are reaching out to millions of potential customers.
I think the real question lies in how can we make social media more personal? What can we do to take away all the smoke and mirrors that discourage people from using forms of social media? Answer that question, and there really is no reason for many contemporary forms of media.
great story - I can believe it helped him, but its very cool to hear that someone who runs a fishing lure business has benefited from social media.
I work at a plumbing wholesaler, and we’re currently dabbling with a blog format for our year long travel incentive program. However, I wouldn’t say we’re using the medium as part of a long term strategy to better connect with our customers.
The Lures podcast is a great example of how low tech can successfully use social media. Thanks for sharing it.
By the way, earlier today I stumbled across the website of Greenwerks, a Chicago contractor. Their niche is green construction and retrofitting. Plus they are using social media, specifically a blog on their website.
Includes a lot of great examples of how they run their business so it’s friendly for the environment, and how you can do simple things to lessen your impact.
Compared to other contractors, this one is ahead on the curve.
I’m really shocked at the amount of feedback on here. I never really thought what we were doing was that unique until I looked around at the rest of the industry… I hope my case helped at least one of you get some ideas for your own business.
JB
I read your article and decided to set up my blog on wordpress. It is still under construction, but I plan on incorporating it into my website and hopefully getting some traffic. It seems like a natural progression to make my current and future customers happy and comfortable during the remodeling process. And maybe I could make a few extra bucks at it. We have a remodeling firm and the blog will feature mostly remodeling tips for people undergoing a home renovation.
Thanks!