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greenoak
07-08-2011, 09:40 AM
just got my giftbeat..an important retail publication....it had a big article on social media...and talked a lot about facebook ,then went on to groupon, qr codes, mobile marketing and game applications...like farmvill[???]
and said social media was as big as websites were 10 yrs ago and as email marketing was 5 yrs ago....it didnt mention blogs ...which i was glad to see since that reflects my blog decision...it did mention smart phones a lot.... it said if you arent doing social media you should just jump in and get started.... lots of good details too...like one encouraging stores to at least getting the emails of the groupon users.... like most stores they have mixed reports on groupon...
it gave the same mobile and qr info that we have shared here....and elaborated on some fun possibilities for the qr codes...
the paper is major...i actually pay 120$$ a yr to read it...its really the pulse of retail...
not saying that their conclusions would be right for a plumber or a web worker...but it is nice to be able to read more user details about social media, .... its so new and has such a huge array of possibilities .

vangogh
07-08-2011, 10:48 AM
Blogs are included as part of social media.

greenoak
07-08-2011, 01:19 PM
i know ...but not mentioned in the article....

vangogh
07-08-2011, 01:53 PM
I understand. I just don't think it's fair to draw the conclusion that your decision not to blog is correct because one article didn't specifically mention blogging. I'm not saying you should blog by the way. That's a decision that's up to you and a lot goes into making that decision. Blogs are one way you can market your business online, but there are many others and you certainly don't need to use all of them. When I say that I think blogs are a great way to market yourself I don't specifically mean you or anyone has to blog. I'm only trying to point out that done well blogs are a very effective way to market your site and business. It takes a lot of work to do them well though.

Blogs are no longer the sexy social media so they don't get mentioned any more in articles like this one. Same is true for forums. They don't get mentioned as much now because they don't draw as many eyeballs to the page. That doesn't mean either is any less valuable than they used to be.

All the other things mentioned can also be great ways to market your business, though again you don't need to do any one of them. I know you've been seeing success with Facebook, which is great. Naturally you should continue to market via Facebook. I'm not sure if you've tried some of the other things though it would probably be a good idea to pick one and give it a try.

It's interesting they have mixed reviews of Groupon. I forget where, but recently I was reading that Groupon is losing a lot of money right now without any real idea how to reverse that. I think the same article mentioned that most businesses using Groupon have seen hit or miss results.

greenoak
07-08-2011, 03:23 PM
i was kind of talking about the consensus in the retail world.. where i am....blogs are ok , just not major and not even mentioned in the giftbeat article...im sure they are still suggested some places.....but the talk isnt about them when interenet marketing comes up with the shops i know...and now in giftbeat...i have had my blog for quite a few years. .
im not saying they are over...but from what i see they never really caught on for small retail...expecially now that facebook is working so well for so many stores...thats where the customers are and its so easy...easy is such a biggie....after liking you the customer doesnt have to do anything....but read your messages....if she feels like it...
i wonder what i havent tried? im pretty experimental.... ive wasted tons of time on all kinds of things...but always learned something...hopefully ive saved time by spending time on research before jumping in to some things..
groupon is kind of a menace imho....but its so dang popular..... i know it can really work for some...the main idea i would have is that its for people who wouldnt become loyal customers and are just out there having fun and getting stuff at half price....but then there is our dog guy on here!! who did great with it..... its not in our town or i would at least try it....i dont see how they could lose money either..i read that too...

vangogh
07-10-2011, 09:37 PM
To each his or her own. I'm not going to try to convince you that you should blog. It's clear you don't think it can help you and that's fine.


i wonder what i havent tried?

I gave you a half dozen ideas for what you could blog about not too long ago. Did you try any of them?

greenoak
07-11-2011, 05:47 PM
oh i hear you now ...i thought you were talking about other interenet ideas....not the blog...
youre right,,, im not interested in working on my blog......imho, its not worth the effort for my store...im not dumping it completley but its for sure on the back burner.....
but i am working as hard as i can on facebook and learning as much as i can..its pretty complicated...and ours is still growing...about 1640 likes now.... ..its where my customers are...

vangogh
07-12-2011, 11:04 AM
Nothing wrong with that either. There are so many ways any of us can market ourselves and businesses and realistically we don't have the time or energy for all of them. I've usually tried one marketing channel and learn to work with it as best as I can and work it into my routine. Then I'll add another channel to the mix. You're doing well with Facebook so you should continue using Facebook. The article you mentioned at the start of this thread had suggestions for other marketing channels so when it's time to pick another you can try one of those and add it to all the things you do now.

My point about blogging is that it can help when done right. If you aren't interested in blogging right now then you shouldn't be blogging right now. Again there's nothing wrong with that.