Why I'd Make Every E-Merchant Become A Blogger

  99 cent experiment 
  Originally uploaded by smalldogs.

Brandon asked in the comments to my Adding Some Flare post:

Thanks for bringing my attention to "flare". Do you believe that it is applicable to a e-Commerce website?

Hell yes.

Everything that works for bloggers will work even better for e-commerce merchants.

That's why I would make anyone who is an e-merchant maintain a blog where they'd learn about search optimization, link tracking, social media optimization, word of mouth marketing, buzz tracking, feeds, flares, mybloglog, and a host of other important stuff that doesn't cost a dime to do and brings traffic.

The sad thing (but also a fact of life on the Internet) is that the spammers have all figured this stuff out and the services like Google, FeedBurner, Technorati, Delicious, Digg, MyBlogLog, and others now spend a good deal of time thinking about how to keep the spammers out (or at least minimize their impact).

The web is a vast network that is driven by links. You can buy traffic for sure. And most merchants do that. But the free links you can get by participating in the social web can be just as powerful and they cost nothing other than time and energy. And they sustain themselves without additional investment and their power grows without additional effort.

So the next time you hire an e-merchant, the first thing you should do is tell them to start blogging. It will pay off I am sure.

Comments

[Andi]

>>> and they cost nothing other than time and energy.

Not a coincidence that these two things are among the few that are more valuable and usually more scarce than cash itself.

Buy traffic with money, buy credibility with time and energy, spend them well by communicating. But oh jeez, that mean you've gotta think and define yourself too, life is so unfair.

[Matthew Roche]

Check out www.designpublic.com. They have a great combo of blog and etailing and I think they are smart guys.

I would extend your comment to all execs that have an online component of their business. If you want to really know how excited the public is about your brilliant company messaging, put it on a blog and learn the crushing reality.

Blogs are a great way of investigating the reality that you are not your customer.

note: I have no stake or interest in design public other than a desire to promote the work of smart people.

[Kevin Hillstrom]

When my career (catalog marketing) was steamrolled by the online channel, it was difficult to have the experiences that others were gaining in online marketing.

Since starting my blog, I've learned how to write copy that is recognized by Google. I've learned more about how to get inbound links (sort of like affiliate marketing). I've learned how to build an ecosystem that benefits others, while helping me get traffic as well.

All of these things are important to e-commerce. I recommend blogging to the writing-oriented person who has missed out on e-commerce. In many ways, this blogging stuff could be the future of e-commerce.

[Drew Meyers]

Couldn't agree more -- anyone operating a business online is missing out on a ton of free traffic if they are engaged in blogging. Blogging is definitely a time commitment, but I think it will pay off for the vast majority of companies in the long run.

[galin]

ok, i read it... i understand what you're all saying... but what's with the 99 cent experiment!?
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