March Extra Blog

This month, my research has been focused on the tech aspect of my project! I have learned quite a lot in the realm of online marketing and just how important visuals are. I just finished one of my books, called Visual Marketing, which set forth a ton of examples of businesses that communicate with customers using visuals. This has led me to do even more research on why visuals are so important.

If you think about it, many social media sites are based on pictures, rather than words. Instagram is the prime example, of course. But even sites like Facebook and Twitter use visual elements to create a website that is pleasing to the eye. This is crucial in portraying your brand, because our brains are drawn in by visuals, especially when they are aesthetically pleasing.

Pictures can be used for so many purposes. They help to create a story for you and your brand. It's also essential to have clear visuals to represent your products, as well as you as an individual. All of these aspects come together to form a cohesive appearance that looks professional and fun at the same time. I have started collecting a few pictures and infographics on the subject for my final presentation, since that is coming up so soon! What better way to talk about visual marketing than with some actual visuals?

After all of this researching on visual marketing, I've been able to apply these concepts on my own. In creating my blog for my second independent component, I have been looking into the specifics of the whole process. I could have just chosen a blogger template and left it at that. However, the goal here is to create a site that looks like a professional and trustable business. Thus, I jumped in to the world of HTML and CSS coding. Another option would have been to buy a pre-made blog/website template from an expert, but a) who wants to spend money on that? and b) I figured it would be valuable to learn a bit about coding for myself since it is such a key element in web design.

So, I googled my heart out, and figured out how to create toolbars, search boxes, and all sorts of other little widgets. It's actually pretty fun. The standard blog templates are quite limited in options, so I enjoyed designing every little aspect of my blog, and hope to learn even more in the near future.

*Also, as a side note, another tech-related focus of my research has been on bringing traffic to a website. There are many methods to do so, but you have to have a way to keep track, right? So, I've been looking into Google Analytics, which provides you as the website owner with information on who is visiting your site and how often. This is super helpful, as it lets you see what is going on, and who exactly you are bringing to your website.

Blog #18: Fourth Interview Prepararation

1. Is quality or quantity more important when it comes to posting online?
2. What websites are most effective?
3. How many websites should you use?
4. Is it important to have an actual website for your business?
5. What's the best way to engage customers?
6. What extra things to you do to pull in customers?
7. Is it good to interact with other businesses?
8. How should you collect customer feedback?
9. How can you make it fun for the customer?
10. Do you include many details about your personal life?
11. Do you use marketing differently for different customer groups?
12. What's the best way to get a customer to come back to your website?
13. Do you use sales/ promotional ads?
14. Is there a marketing strategy you don't suggest?
15. How often do you update online content?
16. What do you do if you run out of things to post?
17. How do you keep things fresh and exciting?
18. What is the hardest part about marketing online?
19. Do you incorporate your lifestyle into marketing/blogging?
20. How do you bring more people to your website/blog/etc?

Blog #17: Answer 3

EQ:

What is the most effective way for a small business to build an online web presence to promote their business?

Answer #3:

Small business owners should create a blog to promote their business.

3 supporting details:

• Incorporating "lifestyle blogging" into a small business's online presence makes everything more personal/relatable. If a business only talks business, customers will lose interest, and go elsewhere. People want to have fun while shopping, and if your business provides that enjoyment, you're one step ahead. A blog is a great way to engage and entertain potential customers.
• Blogs increase your credibility. They allow you to include a lot of information in one post (unlike Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram), so you can share your expertise and knowledge of your service/craft. For example, if someone is reading your blog on making candles, they will be more convinced that you are an expert candle maker, and therefore, will be more likely to buy your candles.
• The "blogosphere" makes it easy to connect/network with other businesses and customers. By having a blog, you can create a real community. When interacting with other bloggers, you can create business contacts and help promote each other by featuring each other on your blogs; it's give and take.

Research:

• The Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin
• Visual Marketing by David Langton

Conclusion: 

Having a business blog is super helpful, because it creates a solid online presence and allows you to create a community for customers and like-minded businesses/bloggers.