Blogging

[brian john]

I was just watching a small business show on TV. The host was interviewing a "IT Specialists" who stated if you are not blogging regularly to you customers and potential customers you are losing business to your competition.

Anyone blogging?

To me it seems

That one would need
Good writing skills (I am out).
Time to blog.
Something different regularly to blog.
Customers that read blogs.
A way to get you blog out in front of 1,000,000 other blogs (there are some ridiculous bloggers out there).

WHAT's A BLOG?

http://electricalcode.blogspot.com/

 

[Rewire]

People who tweet on twitter must be twerps,social networking sites are all the rage and many people are using them as a way to develope relationships with potential customers .

I think as a marketing tool I will leave it to my young sons to find its potential,the enternet is a vastly untapped resource.

 

[LarryFine]

Thoughts: You'd have to ask each customer for their email address. I'd find both the request and ensuing emails to be obtrusive coming from someone I hired.

 

[ceb58]

Thoughts: You'd have to ask each customer for their email address. I'd find both the request and ensuing emails to be obtrusive coming from someone I hired.

I agree with Larry (scary thought) if I hired some one for a job such as what we do or replace or repair plumbing, HVAC work or such and I started receiving unask for E-Mails that person would never get another call from me. If you do good work at a fair price, show up when you say you will and do your best to satisfie the customer then that is all that's needed. I keep a list of customers and send out Christmas cards about 4 weeks before wishing them Merry Christmas, thanks for their bussness and I am here to serve their needs. I dont feel that is to intrusive and the phone starts ringing to change that ugly light fixture before guest come or they need more outlets for decorations or there looking ahead to a remodel after the holidays.

 

[George Stolz]

I was just watching a small business show on TV. The host was interviewing a "IT Specialists" who stated if you are not blogging regularly to you customers and potential customers you are losing business to your competition.

Anyone blogging?

Nope. I am on myspace and Facebook, but rarely have time for even that.

I think perhaps the show was geared to a different realm of society, I can't think of anyone who would tune in regularly to an electrician's blog. To be blunt, quite often I see people in our trade as a sort of "second class citizen", in that people need our skills but don't need us in their lives in a personal sense.

IMO, we offer very little entertainment or informational value to the average consumer of our services.

Last week I was exposed to quite a range of clients, as far as income goes. From applying a band-aid to an old FPE service in a rundown apartment complex, to being a second electrician adding some frivolous decorative lighting in a decadent mansion. In both cases, the customer wanted what they wanted and didn't really care about anything ancillary from my mouth.

 

[Rockyd]

George,

I agree with you in the residential aspect, however, do you try to leave the door open for commercial businesses "opportunities to save money" by offering to do "a quick walk through", so that they may qualify for a green sticker for a few hundred extra? This is assuming that you have uncovered "hidden gems" that will actually do something for the clientele before making the offer.

Thinking energy saving lighting, soft starters for motors, etc. Not scamming, just that we are experts (if we do the due dilligence) in the best potential service to our customers - we want to be the "go to" guys, and network with plumbers, HVAC, and any other top notch companies in the neighborhood, so that we can cover their needs, if they need someone that is an expert in the field, even if it is not what we cover "but are in the know".

Just a random thought.

 

[bradleyelectric]

Nope. I am on myspace and Facebook, but rarely have time for even that.

I think perhaps the show was geared to a different realm of society, I can't think of anyone who would tune in regularly to an electrician's blog. To be blunt, quite often I see people in our trade as a sort of "second class citizen", in that people need our skills but don't need us in their lives in a personal sense.

IMO, we offer very little entertainment or informational value to the average consumer of our services.

Last week I was exposed to quite a range of clients, as far as income goes. From applying a band-aid to an old FPE service in a rundown apartment complex, to being a second electrician adding some frivolous decorative lighting in a decadent mansion. In both cases, the customer wanted what they wanted and didn't really care about anything ancillary from my mouth.

Just as a note, the more you drive people to your site for any reason, the higher you place in google. Another note. It's a good thing to be a source of information to your customers. It does seem if you say hi once a year and it triggers a favorable response from customers, might it be a good idea to try to trigger that response more often?

 

[Fulthrotl]

A way to get you blog out in front of 1,000,000 other blogs (there are some ridiculous bloggers out there).

Blogging, the Blogosphere, Blogoshagadeiciocity:

 

[Pierre C Belarge]

There are so many blogs out there, that the way people use blogs is the same way we use this site. The blog one looks at can be as short and specific as some of the different threads we have here on the forum.

Blogging is not much different than this site at all.


It is not any more rude to take a customers email address, than it is to take their phone number. They can ask you questions any time, without necessarily bothering you. You can send them an invoice or statement the same way. It can be a much less obtrusive way of communicating.

Emails and the internet are the way of the future/now, whether we like it or not.

 

[ptonsparky]

This discussion just changed my mind about print advertising that includes my business email. Yes, I have been justifiably accused of being slow.

 

[nakulak]

Blogging, the Blogosphere, Blogoshagadeiciocity:

if you think blogging will attract customers, go for it. I tend to agree with the above.

 

[LarryFine]

I agree with Larry (scary thought)

Hey! I resemble that remark!

 

[ceknight]

Blogging is not much different than this site at all.

Well, there is one critical difference: You can't lurk and learn on your own blog. If you aren't producing content yourself, then you won't have anything worth reading.

It is not any more rude to take a customers email address, than it is to take their phone number. They can ask you questions any time, without necessarily bothering you. You can send them an invoice or statement the same way. It can be a much less obtrusive way of communicating.

I fully agree. Email is my primary communication vehicle for over 90% of my customers. My phone only tends to ring when there's an emergency; routine inquiries, scheduling, billing, all that is done by email. Even my new customers come to me mostly via email referrals these days, so getting their email addresses requires only basic reading skills on my part.

The true advantage to using email for business communication is that you can be at your desk reading the Forum and have a work-related excuse. "I'm responding to a customer's email, dear...."

 

[JES2727]

Thoughts: You'd have to ask each customer for their email address. I'd find both the request and ensuing emails to be obtrusive coming from someone I hired.

You don't need someone's e-mail to read their blog, you could just include the url in your letterhead or business card. Of course, word of mouth works best:
"I've got this really cool blog about electrical stuff!!!"