Bird Watchers Buy Binoculars
AOL Small Business: Startup Business - Blogging for Business
As a follow-up to my previous post, this is a real-life example of a company that is using a Blog to build relationships and to strengthen their business model.
Rememebr my analogy?
Well these guys are selling binoculars, but they have built a community around bird-watching. Similiar principal as I mentioned in my last post about the analogy of selling boards online by building a community around site-plans, building tips, etc.
Snipplets~
Daniel Thralow, founder and president of Thralow Inc., believes in the effectiveness of blogs. His Duluth, Minnesota, company operates more than 20 e-tailing sites and expects sales of $21 million this year. One of his websites, Binoculars.com, which sells binoculars and related accessories, started a blog in January called Birderblog.com. Targeted at bird-watchers, the blog was designed and programmed in-house. Well-known ornithologist Laura Erickson writes a daily entry about birds, bird-watching and tools of the trade--including binoculars.
Thralow uses the blog to direct people to Binoculars.com (and vice versa). When binoculars are mentioned in the blog's text, the reference is hyperlinked to a page featuring the product on Binoculars.com. The blog also includes banner ads promoting Binoculars.com.
So far, Thralow has spent $60,000 on Birderblog.com. With additional development costs, he anticipates spending another $50,000 on the blog during its second year. Costs include the salaries of the blogger and tech staff to create and maintain the site, hosting costs for the site and ancillary costs. While Thralow--who doesn't expect a return on his investment for at least a year--chose to spend thousands of dollars on his blog, it can be done for less money.
"If the passionate blogger is also the business owner, the labor could be free," says Thralow, 40. And community blogs, which have free or practically free hosting and software, are a popular and cheap option to consider. The trade-off, though, is not being able to control the advertising.
Susannah Gardner, author of Buzz Marketing With Blogs for Dummies, agrees that businesses should install solid blogging solutions on their own servers: "Hosted blog software is an easy way to get started, but independent blog software gives much better flexibility in branding, design and functionality customization."
As a follow-up to my previous post, this is a real-life example of a company that is using a Blog to build relationships and to strengthen their business model.
Rememebr my analogy?
Well these guys are selling binoculars, but they have built a community around bird-watching. Similiar principal as I mentioned in my last post about the analogy of selling boards online by building a community around site-plans, building tips, etc.
Snipplets~
Daniel Thralow, founder and president of Thralow Inc., believes in the effectiveness of blogs. His Duluth, Minnesota, company operates more than 20 e-tailing sites and expects sales of $21 million this year. One of his websites, Binoculars.com, which sells binoculars and related accessories, started a blog in January called Birderblog.com. Targeted at bird-watchers, the blog was designed and programmed in-house. Well-known ornithologist Laura Erickson writes a daily entry about birds, bird-watching and tools of the trade--including binoculars.
Thralow uses the blog to direct people to Binoculars.com (and vice versa). When binoculars are mentioned in the blog's text, the reference is hyperlinked to a page featuring the product on Binoculars.com. The blog also includes banner ads promoting Binoculars.com.
So far, Thralow has spent $60,000 on Birderblog.com. With additional development costs, he anticipates spending another $50,000 on the blog during its second year. Costs include the salaries of the blogger and tech staff to create and maintain the site, hosting costs for the site and ancillary costs. While Thralow--who doesn't expect a return on his investment for at least a year--chose to spend thousands of dollars on his blog, it can be done for less money.
"If the passionate blogger is also the business owner, the labor could be free," says Thralow, 40. And community blogs, which have free or practically free hosting and software, are a popular and cheap option to consider. The trade-off, though, is not being able to control the advertising.
Susannah Gardner, author of Buzz Marketing With Blogs for Dummies, agrees that businesses should install solid blogging solutions on their own servers: "Hosted blog software is an easy way to get started, but independent blog software gives much better flexibility in branding, design and functionality customization."
posted by Jerry Giebeig at 11:40 PM
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