Everyone’s Doing It
While the phrase “everyone’s doing it” often conveys negative connotation, in terms of blogging for business, I have learned that jumping on the bandwagon can in fact be a great idea! While the roadblock for many is the lack of writing confidence, the rest of us feel that we will run out of things to say (and other than grandma, who cares about what we have to say anyway?). I can relate – I was there. About a year ago, I decided to rid myself of any reservations and begin blogging for my company. Like all great marketing campaigns- I started with a plan: to blog once a week on a Point of Sale, Retail, Hospitality, or Grocery industry related topic. Sounds pretty vague, right? While it helped to start with a list of topics to choose from, I have allowed myself to stray from these ideas as much as I need. When I do, my posts tend to be the most original and intriguing – a clear direction is important, but it can’t stifle you.
It Feels Good to Be Recognized
This past week, Breanna Malles from APG Cash Drawer, sent me a congratulatory email after seeing our blog made the Top 10 list on The Point of Sale News. By my reaction, you would have thought I won the lottery! To me, this is a huge accomplishment and realization that our small Point of Sale Company is being recognized in the industry. If you would have told me our blog would be acknowledged as one of the Top 10 in the industry a year ago, I would have laughed! I would have also doubted that I had the capability to talk about 40 different topics in our industry. Despite all that, here I am, 40 topics later—some good, some bad, it doesn’t matter–I started.
How has this helped our Company?
Blogging is important from an online presence standpoint because you are updating the content for your website on a regular basis. Aside from this obvious benefit, I have noticed a few other things from my own experience. My post Tablets: Are they the future Point of Sale? is the second most visited page on our entire website (after the landing page, of course). Since I have started blogging, our website has almost doubled in visitors and my Point of Sale Blog is among the top pages visited. How does that sound for SEO?
Always Learning More
Do I think I have blogging all figured out? Of course not- far from it (what would be the fun in that anyway?)! While I may never be Seth Godin, I can be an industry thought leader on behalf of Retail Tech. I want our colleagues and customers to feel that we can provide worthy insight, and while it may be biased at times, to come to us for advice and current news.
I hope my story gives you inspiration to begin or continue blogging- whether you are a world renown department store, a 45 person Point of Sale Company, or a mom and pop shop, people care about what you have to say. Be interesting. Be authentic. Be courageous. You will see results!
Thank you to MerchantOS for developing this list of Top 10 Point of Sale Blogs. Make sure to check outthe MerchantOS blog!
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