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Gift Basket Business World Newsletter
Roadmap to Tips, Resources and Tools That Increase Your Profits
~The shortest distance between you and your success~
May 15, 2007--Issue 144
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Today's Tip: Three Reasons Gift Basket Retailers Should Read Blogs
When television was invented, many people believed it would be the death of radio. But it wasn't.
When computers became popular, critics predicted it would be the end of books and reading. But it wasn't.
Each new advance in technology adds to and enhances the ones before, causing them to reshape and reflect the changing needs and times.
So, what does this have to do with you and blogs?
But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. I hear some of you asking "What is a blog?"
A blog is similar to a website, except you can interact with a blog posting your own comments and speaking your mind about what the blog owner has said.
Blog comes from putting the words "web" and "log" together. Blogs are more personal, more informal and a place where the blog owner can express views that are too relaxed and anecdotal for the website.
When you go to Marriott's website, for example, you'll get all the information you need about the hotels, airlines, rental cars and be able to make reservations. When you go to Bill Marriott's blog, however, you'll read stories about his upbringing (with pictures of his childhood home) that lead to his view on customer service, or he may dispel the rumor that hotel key cards contain all your personal information.
A website is to a blog like a business suit is to jeans. It gives a friendly, human face to your business.
Now here are 3 reasons you should read blogs:
- By reading blogs on business and other topics you can learn about trends, strategies and techniques for growing your business. On Shirley Frazier's blog www.laughingchow.com , for example, I have learned many easy-to-do techniques for improving my photography. That's important to me since I shoot many pictues of my designs.
- When you can ask questions and post comments on others' blogs you get visibility and can establish credibility for your business. You can give a gift retailer's perspective to the issue, but don't post blatant ads. I like geting a wholesaler's perspective from Lorie Obernauer, Vice President of Apex Gift Foods, on her blog at Apex Gift Pros, where she recently shared a great idea for real estate baskets.
- Each time you post a comment you leave a link to your website so visitors to the blog can become potential customers for you. What's better than getting visitors to your site without having to spend advertising dollars?
- To discover many interesting blogs, see the list on the right column of my blog at www.giftbasketbusinessworld.com/blog. If you're also interested in learning about creating your own blog, download the free e-book from the left column of the blog, Deep Secrets of Successful Blogging.
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Copyright©2007 Flora Brown Associates. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted from "Gift Basket Business World Newsletter," a free ezine
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