Big Business Sees the Power of the ‘Mom Blogger’

Mom Blogging is the ultimate in networking and community building. Corporations, and PR companies saw this rather quickly and swooped down.  Thus the mom ‘review’ blogger was born.

I am currently working with a PR firm that’s slogan is ‘Influencing the Influencers.’  That is what it is all about.  Mom bloggers and review bloggers have networks and communities of people who trust what they have to say.

Mommy Perks does an amazing job explaining the power of social media based on the these ‘influencers.’  Social Media is about finding your market and becoming PART of it.   Not preaching TO it.  Not SELLING to it…but making people aware enough in a positive way so that your brand name and product or service is what is forefront on their minds.

For example.  The other day my husband was upset that he had lost a coupon for Banana Republic…one of his favorite stores.  I went on Twitter and asked if anyone had any online coupons…and bingo…people on my Twitter Feed came forward with a variety of choices.   Social Networking helping out and making sure Banana Republic didn’t lose a customer and a sale.

Another great example of corporations using Twitter was when I was asking about the quickest place that I could get passport photos for my kids.   London Drugs tweeted me about their hours of service.  That was where I went.

Hallmark Canada is working with Crunchy Carpets at the moment in a purely brand awareness campaign.  I share my thoughts and the kids thoughts on the variety of Hallmark products, share links and the images.

The Disney Store asked some of us local bloggers to a sneak preview of the newly re-launched Disney Store at Metrotown in Burnaby.  I was told by readers of my blog that it was because of my post alone that they decided to go check it out.

Disney Cruise Lines has asked Crunchy Carpets to travel on the Disney Wonder on it’s journey from Vancouver to Alaska in May.   Again, to share my experiences with this incredible brand that from what I have seen is very conscious of building relationships with the influencer’s.

Brand awareness doesn’t have to include giveaways and reviews.  Advertising on blogs costs the fraction of the price it does in main stream media.

Because of the experience that both Crunchy Carpets and A Lot of Loves has with our blogs and social networking, we feel that we can truly help out any business – small or large – to build strong community and relationships online, through blogging, SEO, Twitter, etc.

 

SAHMedia’s First Workshop!

Once again, I LOVE how social networking allows you meet and work with amazing and inspiring people.   Social Networking is about meeting people and building relationships with people who can either inspire you, help you or vice versa.

Networking allows people like myself to take that leap and start businesses.  Perhaps you can too!

Andrea Coutu of Trustmode Marketing and the Consultant Journal has agreed to work with me and present this one day workshop on ‘Discovering YOUR Inner Consultant.’

Whether you’ve already started consulting, you’re just thinking about freelancing, or you’d like a “side job”, this seminar can help. Even if you like the idea of consulting but never pictured yourself as a “consultant”, you can learn how to turn your unique experience into rewarding, flexible paid work. Freelancing, gigging, temping – we’ll cover all that, along with non-traditional consulting roles.

Andréa Coutu, MBA, is the founder and director of Trustmode Marketing, a Vancouver marketing consulting firm. After more than 12 years as an independent marketing consultant, Andréa has a record of achievement in business retention, lead generation, communications and strategic analysis. She’s known for solving business problems, managing projects, developing relationships and improving processes. Drawing from a BA in English and an Executive MBA from Simon Fraser University, Andréa combines creative flair with solid business acumen.

I am thrilled to have a chance to work and be inspired with Andrea here at the beginning of my new venture.

I hope she can inspire others at this one day event.

 

 

Brand Building & Social Media

When I started blogging about 5 years ago, it was a dizzying world to enter.    There was finding the right platform to blog on, learning HTML (no matter what anyone says – you need some idea of how it works), learning about FTP, about Page Ranks, Unique Visitors, Page Views, Analytics, SEO, Key Words…the list goes on.

Some things you needed to learn to just get your blog off the ground (or get help from the ‘professionals’).  Others have shown up along the way.  Other things are more to do with getting people to visit your blog, which really is the whole purpose of a blog.   For some, it goes further still.  The term ‘monetize’ soon sprang into being.   Everyone was talking about whether to ‘monetize’ or not.  Ways to do this have ranged from advertising on the blogs, to pay-per-post, hidden links, sponsored posts, the list goes on.

Cyberspace was filled with people selling quick fix ways to ‘monetize’ or easy ways to drive traffic to your blog.   Most of this was technical. Most of it was to do with code and maximizing the system that Google basically controls when it comes to search engine rankings.

Nothing much was said about content.

So, the bloggers who blogged for the sheer love of writing.  The bloggers who were true writers plodded along and their popularity grew and so did their Page Ranks and their Page Views and so on.

Content.  Content was what drew the readers to these sites.  Good quality content.   There are no special codes to make a good writer.

The good writers of the blogging world have managed to control the quality of the content out there and the big push for cheap and easy monetization seems to have died down a bit.

This is partly due to the new(er) kids on the block.  Social Media platforms and what is now called microblogging.  This term comes from the fact that platforms like Twitter only give you 140 characters to use per post.

Twitter and Facebook have become the place where you build your brand.

A brand is more than your Nike’s or Coca Cola’s of the world.  Your social media presence is now your brand.  Or your brand is now your social media presence.

Case in point. Crunchy Carpets – my own blog – does not have HUGE stats.  My Page Rank is only a four.   But what IS big is my brand.

Crunchy Carpets is a fun and unique name.  It gets attention.   Anywhere the name is mentioned or listed…it makes people wonder, or chuckle.  On Twitter, this has been a big draw to getting new followers.

People know my brand.  People includes moms, marketers and corporations.  My brand is why people ask me to do reviews, work with them on blogger campaigns and pay for advertising.

Twitter helped people get to know the Crunchy Carpets brand.  Twitter also helps people find my blogs.

Social Media is Brand Building.

Platforms like Twitter allow you to reach out instead of just waiting for people to find you.    If you follow the right people….the right people will follow you and that means eyes on your brand, product or message.

Inc.com, my new favorite online magazine has great article on getting the most out of your social media and making it work for you.

Maximizing platforms like Twitter and Facebook do take a bit of effort.   There are lots of case studies on how NOT to use Twitter.  The best thing about social media is there are loads of people who will very quickly tell you if you are doing it wrong!

If you want to build your online brand, SAHMedia can help.   Myself and the many bloggers I work with are now old hands at social media. We keep up with the ever changing playing field.  We know how to reach out.  We know WHO to reach out to.

Let SAHMedia build your brand.

 

 

 

Welcome To SAHMedia

Hello….thank you visiting!

I am very excited about SAHMedia.

Blogging has allowed me to find and connect with amazing people…and because of my own ‘mom’ status, it has been mostly mom’s….those who work, those who work from home and those who are dedicated stay at home mom’s.  All amazing…all with incredible skill sets beyond their mom abilities.

For many, like myself, blogging has been a way to keep up with business and keep our skills sharp…because you never know right?

SAHMedia is my way of connecting you (the business owner) with those with the skills you may need.

The term ‘outsourcing’ gets bandied around a lot.    Call centers and manufacturing has been outsourced to many countries.   But the term can be used on a small scale and locally too.  For a business that needs extra hands for a project, outsourcing can be the simplest and most economical solution.

SAHMedia can help.

What can you outsource?

Well anything really.    From data processing projects, and contact management to developing a social media presence, marketing and branding.

Outsourcing simply means looking beyond your own staff for the skills and knowledge that you need.

Why use SAHMedia?

Apart from our myriad backgrounds in business AND our time and ability to get the work done when YOU need it….if you are a business that has a product or service that is geared to the women of the household….we are the people to talk to.

Mom bloggers have been heavily targeted by Marketing and PR firms representing a variety of products or services that they HOPE will appeal to the bloggers.  Why?  Because we are the online influencer’s when it comes to product endorsement.  Why? Because we have large online and offline social networks that we communicate with through our blogs and also through things like Twitter.

Simply put, social media moms talk to each other.  We talk about brands we love and brands we hate.  We advise and we look for advice.

Marketers have always known that the women of the household make the majority of purchasing decisions, hence the enthusiasm for approaching social media moms.

But there is a right way and a wrong way….and therefore why not speak directly to those very influencers yourself?

We ARE mom bloggers.  We ARE review bloggers.  We have been working with marketers for a long time now.  We know what works and what doesn’t.

SAHMedia can help you reach out to one of the most powerful markets on and offline.

Feel free to contact us at info@sahmedia.com for any questions about what we can do for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Do Businesses Need A Blog

As more and more people say goodbye to the giant Yellow and White Pages and rely more and more on the internet to find businesses or services, we rely on Google (mostly) to help us in our research.

As a mom, and a sometimes researcher for contact information, nothing is more frustrating when the only information available is a google map of where the business is, and a telephone number.

Why?  Because we live in an world that demands instant information.

We live by our smart phones and rarely – actually – to PHONE people,  but instead to look up information on what we need or want right there and then.   Even a phone call seems to much effort for those living in cyber space.  I also find it difficult to carry on conversations because I have noisy children at home.  If I am out and about and searching…. I want the information at my fingertips.

If I have to choose between businesses that sell the same thing…I will choose the one with a website.  Why? Because I want to know the basics right away.

I am looking at hours of operation, contact information, basic product or service information.  All the things people USED to phone about or look in the Yellow Pages.

Those days are done.   And if there is no email address!!!

People want to see a company that is reaching out to there customers and is aware of just how many potential customers are on the internet.    And reaching out is the key.   The more YOU give of your company…the more you represent yourselves as human beings behind a product or service….the more impressed your cyber customers will be.

It doesn’t matter what type of business you are…..you NEED a website to compete.

Small businesses worry about the cost of web development and can be overwhelmed with the whole ”let’s build you an online marketing plan.’  But it doesn’t HAVE to be expensive and it doesn’t HAVE to be complicated.   Blog platforms like WordPress are simple to set up with LOTS of help online and many many free themes to get you started.  There are also many talented blog designers out there who won’t cut too deeply into your bottom line either.

In fact, a blog platform is a great way to start out.  A blog filled with content that is not just a sales pitch is a great way to reach out to your customers.   A blog can cover all the basics and reach out to the community and be used to share information on sales, specials and related issues surrounding your industry.

Granted, blog writing takes time and some talent (we like to think so!) – but again…it doesn’t have to be big and difficult and complicated…..a blog or a website is what you make of it as long as you are covering those basics I already mentioned.