Craft Focus - Feb/Mar (Issue 65)

122 craft focus Every craft business needs a blog, and a carefully planned editorial calendar is the key to its success, says marketing expert, Michael O’Connor A company blog can be an extremely effective tool, and one that can help you to build a strong relationship with your customers. A regularly updated online journal can be used to announce new ranges, share projects with readers and provide handy tips and tricks to make the most of your products. It can set you up as a thought leader in your industry, get your name out to a new audience and, ultimately, increase your sales figures. It’s worth remembering, though, that the majority of blogs fail before their second birthday. The good news is, there are plenty of strategies you can use to avoid becoming a victim of this statistic, such as planning an advance editorial calendar. Why do most blogs fail? Everyone begins with the best intentions. Their head is full of ideas and they just can’t wait to get started, share and converse with their readers. But after a couple of months, the ideas begin to dry up, and blogging starts to take a backseat to other, more pressing matters. What once seemed easy turns out to be hard work that doesn’t pay off immediately. Prepare carefully to avoid falling into this trap. Get organised Planning an editorial calendar has many advantages. Firstly, it helps you set a defined making your blog work A company blog can be an extremely effective tool, and one that can help you to build a strong relationship with your customers.