12 CBA Retailers+Resources | 07.09

Best of the Blogs

Lauren Zaczek, contributing editor

why blogs still matter, Part 2 >_into>_bran> Last month, I touched on why bLogs remaIn crucial more than a decade after their inception. It’s a blog’s compelling content that continues to engage and influence people, converting readers d champions. It’s also through blogs that one can launch businesses into the many micro social media worlds where key customers converse. on her blog ( veryofficialblog.com), shannon Paul wrote, “…social media is not about how many networks you can list, nor is it about throwing up a profile on a social network like you did with your website twelve years ago. It’s not necessarily about building your own social network either. whether anyone likes it or not, social media engagement is really about blogs.” concurring with Paul is commenter Kostandinos who joined the conversation with, “If you want to find out about a new store or band or author, you want to find their website. when you search and don’t find one, they’ve lost credit with you right off the bat and you may never look for them again. now take all those stores, bands, and authors with websites… and compare them to those with websites and blogs. blogs are the heated seats to compliment websites.” micro social media sites like Facebook and twitter are indeed the current darlings of the larger media circuit, but their greatest weakness is a blog’s greatest strength. blogs grant space for opinions, explanations, developments, and explorations. when Thomas nelson corporately restructured recently, mike hyatt used his blog to dive deeper into the reasons behind the change. I’m quite sure twitter, with its 140-charac- ter limit, wouldn’t have been an effective place to begin explaining the why behind the how for nelson. This isn’t to discount twitter or Facebook—yet if you haven’t first built a trusted following through a blog, the cost of entry and success rises exponentially. so, if a blog represents unlimited online space to convert readers into loyal and educated customers, then what does this mean for cba members? suppliers: how can you provide the most help for your retail customers through a blog? does that help include discussing the top ways to merchandise some products from your latest line? what about opening up the dialogue to retailers to blog their success stories on selling your products? during bob elder’s presentation at gma this spring on improving a store’s home entertainment department, he noted that from the moment a film’s production is announced, retailers have the opportunity to market (and even pre-sell) the dVd. which of your products can you start casting a vision for retailers long before they hit the shelves?

retailers: you often represent the “softer” side of the retail food chain; you get to be the hands and feet of both the distribution chain and the ministry intentions. Think with me for a second here: what if in your community everyday things happened like the amish school shooting, or 9/11 for that matter. hopefully, those events don’t rip through your community on a daily basis, but what would happen if you started a dialogue through your blog with customers on how your store meets the emotional and physical needs of your community after a fallout such as those tragic events?

Industry Professionals: authors, artists, agents, consultants, people who know a lot about this industry—no limits remain when it comes to your ability to engage with readers. read seth godin’s post “when the writer becomes the publisher” from may 26, 2009. embrace those on the fringes and offer them your solutions.

The days of monologue marketing have disappeared, so choose to lead the dialogue. R+R

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