Business and Blogging

Blogging Can Save Your Business - Real-Life Example

by Liz Fuller on May 2nd, 2008

(www.businessandblogging.com) I don’t know about you, but whenever I pass a neighborhood restaurant or small business with an “Out of Business” sign I feel a small pang of regret.  I wonder whether there was something I could have done to keep the business alive.  It seems that I always meant to stop in to that store or restaurant, but was simply too busy and kept putting it off for next time.  Suddenly, there is no next time, and the business, and the business owner’s dreams are gone without a trace.  If I had known that they were in trouble, that my patronage might have made a difference to their ability to stay in business, I would have made the time to stop in.

Katie Novotny is one business owner who was not going to let her family-owned business go down quietly.  When faced with soaring ingredient prices and sluggish sales she posted the following post on her business blog,  St Paul Classic Cookie :

Help Keep St. Paul Classic Cookie Open, Support a Small, Family Owned Business

It is with a sad heart that I have to write this when we are so close to making it, but because of substantial price increases in our ingredients in recent weeks, we may be forced to close.

St. Paul Classic Cookie is a small, family owned bakery located in the heart of downtown St. Paul.

We make cookies, muffins, brownies, bars, cupcakes, cakes, and cookie cakes. Everything we make in our store is made from fresh ingredients and mixed from scratch and baked fresh daily.

We are trying to keep the cookie tradition going, but in order to do so we are reaching out to our loyal customers to help us get through this next week. We need to raise some extra money before the end of Wednesday to keep our doors open, so if you were thinking about buying cookies, bars or brownies, now is a great time!

Please come visit us Tuesday or Wednesday, between 7am and 4pm, if you live or work in downtown St. Paul, MN, or you can buy cookies, bars, or brownies from us through paypal and we can mail them out anywhere in the U.S.

Katie’s post was picked up by friends, acquaintances, customers, bloggers and fellow business owners in St Paul.  The response was more than Katie could have hoped for. Customers poured in, ordering a dozen cookies at a time - anxious to keep the Cookie Company in business.  One week later, Katie was able to post the following entry:

Thank You St. Paul!!!

You made this happen!

Well we made it through, Yippee! And we couldn’t have done it without the support of all those who work and live in downtown St. Paul.

Katie’s story is a heartwarming example of the power of community and connection that can be built through blogging.  Customers genuinely want to help your business and will reach out if they know you are in need.

This story has a happy ending because of all the things that Katie did right:

• She started her blog and built her community before she needed it.  (Her blog has been in existence since July 2006 using the Free blogspot service)
• She wrote a sincere post describing a real need and specific action that customers could take to help
• She used her network to get the word out, emailing a link to her post to her community
• She publicly thanked all the people and businesses that helped her get the word out
• She let the customers know how much they had helped and offered them a blog-based discount and a customer-appreciation day

If any of you are still questioning the ROI of blogging as a marketing tool, I invite you to look closely at the example set by St Paul Classic Cookie Company’s free blog.

And if this story has you craving a fresh baked goodie - don’t forget that Katie’s St Paul Classic Cookies  ships cookies by the dozen  and brownies by the half-dozen!

photo credit: phillie casablanca

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POSTED IN: Small Business