Blue Suit Media LLC

Sometimes I think I am too “pro business blog.” What I mean by that is when I talk to potential clients, oftentimes my outspoken passion for blogging muddles the waters and gives them the feeling of being water-boarded. (yeah, I’m raw and blunt… but in a baby elephant sorta way) … But seriously ya’ll, if you are looking to make a big splash with your business online, you MUST have a blog… an active one!

I’m not the only one who believes this way…

I’ve been hangin’ out lately over at the Golden Tech Blog, having fun with my fellow NWI social media playa’s. We jack around on Twitter and such… ya know, just Tweetin’ and chillin’ — but it’s all for a purpose. That purpose is to draw folks back to our blogs where we have the title to the realestate… where we order the conversations …and where we can interact with potential clients without being “that guy” who hawk’s his wares at dinner parties. Your blog can be like that too ya know??

Along the lines of social media and blogging, Golden Tech has a little challenge going on right now… it’s their way of helping/encouraging businesses to “get it” when it comes to blogging. They call it “Inbound Marketing” and I think that’s cool.

Inbound Marketing — Push or Pull Marketing — Definition

If you have traditional, big corporate marketing experience as I do, you may have seen this referred to as “Push and Pull” marketing. Let’s look at that real quick… Here are my own loose definitions of these two styles:

Push marketing is when you toss out or ‘push’ your message in an attempt to get eyes on your shiz. The marketer is in control of what the message is, how it is seen, when and where. Some examples of push marketing are: direct mail, newspaper ads, billboards and TV commercials.

Push marketing does work, but it is quite like a “spray and pray” kinda strategy if you are new to a market. It’s also dang’d expensive and that’s why large corporations use it… cuz they got the money, and their egos require it be spent to look bigger! And just so you know, even the big companies don’t have a freaking clue about how to properly use push marketing… but they keep doing it because “that’s just how it’s done here.”

Now let’s talk about you, the NW Indiana small business owner looking to make your mark. What can you do to be agile and quick that ain’t gonna break your bank? Enter: Pull marketing, or as my friends at Golden call it, Inbound Marketing.

Pull marketing is all about building client relationships. Some would call it “fluff” and in many cases, it is, but it works! Pull marketing strategies involve blogging, video-casting, social media interaction and and other types of relationship networking (both on and offline).

Pull marketing exposes the human side of the business and draws people in to be a part of the “folks” behind the business. This way, when a potential customer needs your services, they turn TO you because they already “know” you. Cool right?… yeah it’s cool … and it is fun too!

People like to do business with people they know and pull marketing makes this possible. It’s also much less expensive IF, and only IF, you believe in it!

And herein folks, is the conclusion of this blog post:

YOU, the small or medium-sized business owner need to embrace the latest in pull marketing strategies and dedicate resources to them. These resources include business blogging, Facebook marketing, Twitter, YouTube and a few others. Now… I know you think you can’t do it, but the truth is, you can! You just need some help figuring it all out.

Small Business Social Media In NWI

I’ve said that small business social media is like running multiple marathons simultaneously on a 4-lane highway and trying to win all of them. If you are gonna do that, you need a chase vehicle to guide you, and that’s where we come in. Contact us … We love social media, but more importantly, we are outspoken advocates of NWI small biz!