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Your Blog, Your Business
The Frugal Retailer's Guide to
Getting Customer Loyalty
and Sales,
Both In-Store and Online
The Third in the Survive and Thrive
Series
of HowToDoItFrugally
Books
for Retailers |
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What You'll
Find in
Carolyn's
Practical
Guide to
Your
Blog, Your
Business
The Frugal
Retailer's
Guide to
Getting
Customer
Loyalty
And Sales,
Both
In-Store and
Online
Blogging is
an essential
part of any
marketing
plan, yet many avoid
it because
they simply
don't know
how to use
it to their
advantage of
they fear
the time it
will take to maintain.
Your
Blog, Your Business
convinces
you of its
importance, shows you how to cut the time it will take, and how to make it even more powerful by integrating it into an online media campaign.
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Build a
blog in
five
easy
steps.
-
Minimize
the time
it takes
to
manage a
blog.
-
Know
what you
can blog
about.
-
Integrate
your
blog
with
other
social
media--easily!
-
Manage
your
blog
frugally
(read
that
"FREE,"
except
for your
time!)
“In
thirty-five
years in the
industry,
there are
only a
handful of
retailers I
have
observed
reach the
success
level of
Carolyn
Howard-Johnson. There
is only one
thing you
need to
learn from
her to
succeed . .
. everything
she says!”
~ Randy H.
Eller,
retail industry
speaker,
business
consultant,
and
President
Eller
Enterprises,
LLC
To order in
paperback
from
Amazon.
To Order for
Kindle. |
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 Your
Blog, Your Business
was launched at the National
Stationery Show along with
Frugal and Focused Tweeting..
Each was given as a handout to
those who attended seminars
conducted by Patricia Norins, editor
and publisher of Gift Shop
magazine. The magazine is also
featuring these books in the summer
issues of Gift Shop along
with its sister older sister, A
Retailer's Guide to Frugal In-Store
Promotions.
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What People
Are Saying
about
Your
Blog, Your
Business |
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“Experts say
that when
business is
slow, the
last budget
one should
trim is
advertising.
Your
Blog, Your
Business
lets a
retailer
have their
promotions
online and
do it very
nearly
free.”
~
Robert
Ricciardi,
President of
About Face
~~~
“As a
columnist
for Home
Décor Buyer,
Carolyn’s
no-nonsense
approach to
retailing
and her
easy-to-read
writing
style made
her a coach
to thousands
of
retailers.”
~ Jim
Carper,
founding
editor of
Home Décor
Buyer
~~~
"Your Blog,
Your
Business is
a
mini-marketing
course on
retail
blogging!"
~Kristin
Johnson,
editor,
ghostwriter
and author
of business
books
~~~
“Carolyn's
online
marketing
strategies
make readers
feel as if
they are
getting an
inside tip
from a good
friend, not
being sold
on a
product.”
~
MaAnna
Stephenson,
Web site
training and
designs and
author of
Blogaid's
book on
using
Wordpress.
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Why this
Book Is
Better,
Different
From Other
Books on
Blogging |
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You
benefit
from
Carolyn
Howard-Johnson's
vast
retail,
publishing,
and
practical
(not
necessarily
techy!)
online
experience.
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She has
the
marketing
experience
inherent
in
founding
and
owning
her own
chain of
stores.
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Because
she
worked
as a New
York
publicist,
she
knows
the
publicity
side of
marketing;
that
transfers
easily
to
blogging.
-
She
consults
in both
retailing
and
publishing.
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Because
she was
a
journalist,
she
understands
both
publicity
and
promotion
from
their
viewpoint.
-
She
manages
several
blogs of
her own
and has
contributed
to
countless
others.
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Contents
Your Blog,
Your
Business
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My first
Survive and
Thrive
book, A
Retailer’s
Guide to
Frugal
In-Store
Promotions,
was
designed to
position any
independent
retailer as
the
go-to store
for the
products or
services it
sells. That
book was
based on my
experience
as founder
and operator
of
independent
gift shops
serving
several
different
clienteles.
The second,
Frugal
and Focused
Tweeting for
Retailers,
is based on
my
experience
as a
tweeter—from
the
beginning of
Tweetdom—for
retailers
and my
fellow
authors.
This book is
a little
down-and-dirty
compilation
of my
experience
with my own
blogs and my
experience
contributing
to
uncountable
others.
You’ll
notice I
don’t
inundate you
with lots of
techy words.
In most
cases we can
get by just
fine with
plain
English.
When I need
some
jargon—or
think it
important
for you to
know the
terms—I’ve
put them in
bold
typeface to
cue you to
turn to
their
definitions
in the
glossary of
this
booklet. It
wouldn’t
hurt for
readers new
to blogging
to peruse
that section
early on,
especially
if they are
also new to
much on the
Web beyond
e-mail.
Blogging is
sometimes
thought of
as
journaling—creative
but far
removed from
the world of
business.
Don’t you
believe it!
That doesn’t
mean that
blogging for
your
business
can’t be
creative and
fun. Like a
journal, it
can (and
possibly
should)
include
anecdotes
from your
life,
especially
those
related to
your store.
I can’t
possibly
cover all
the possible
places you
might set up
your blog.
Rather, I
give the
simplest way
to do it. If
you are
already an
experienced
blogger, you
will still
find much in
this book
for you.
Practical
suggestions
of topics to
blog about,
as an
example. Or
ways to
promote your
blog so it
will find
readers and
continue to
attract more
and more of
them.
I want my
books to be
quick
studies for
retailers
like you who
want to
focus on
specific
aspects of
their
marketing
campaigns,
in this case
blogging and
connecting
that blog
with your
other online
and in-store
promotion. I
hope this
one boosts
your
entrepreneurial
spirit and
provides
enough
detail to
take the
fear (or
dread!) out
of doing
what you
must to
carve your
niche in the
blogging
world and
attract
those
interested
in stores,
shopping,
and the
retail
industry.
I also want
to encourage
brand-spanking
new bloggers
to go to
Blogger (the
service I
recommend
for easy
blogging) as
directed and
take the
first steps
I describe
to set up a
blog. Do it
as you read.
My setup
suggestions
aren’t
fragile nor
is the easy,
schmeazy
service I
suggest. The
basics of
blogging are
so simple
you can
hardly go
wrong, but
if you do
(or just
want to
start over),
your
beginning
efforts can
be deleted.
A caveat
here. I do
not
apologize
for
recommending
resources I
know and
have used. I
could take
others’
words for
expertise,
but
firsthand
knowledge is
always
better.
After a bit
of playing
and
practice, I
trust you
will be so
infatuated
with the
ease of the
blogging
process
you’ll move
ahead with
your
new-found
expertise.
All to
benefit your
online
marketing
campaign . .
. and, yes,
your store.
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About the
Author
Of
Your
Blog, Your
Business |
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Carolyn
Howard-Johnson
puts nearly
three
decades of
retail
experience
plus oodles
more in the
fields of
journalism,
public
relations,
publishing,
and
marketing
into her
Survive and
Thrive
series of
books. She
consults in
the three
Ps,
publishing,
promotion,
and
publicity,
and
 is
the author
of the multi
award-winning
HowToDoItFrugally
series of
books for
writers and
several
award-winning
books of
fiction and
poetry.
Howard-Johnson
founded and
operated
stores
ranging from
home décor
to gifts to
antiques and
other
collectibles.
She also
owned and
operated the
souvenir
shop at the
world
renowned
Santa Anita
Race Track.
She served
on the
boards of
directors of
periodicals
like Gift
Beat, of
the malls
where her
stores were
located, and
on the
boards of
cooperative
catalogs her
stores
utilized.
She also
served on
the
California
Gift Show
board of
directors.
She has
written for
assorted
industry
periodicals
including
Home Décor
Buyer
and LA
Mart.
She puts
this world
of
experience
in retailing
to work for
you with
this series
of
Survive and
Thrive
books and in
private
consultations.
Howard-Johnson
was named
Woman of the
Year in Arts
and
Entertainment
by members
of the
California
Legislature.
American
Business
Women’s
Association
Impact
Council also
named her
Woman of the
Year and
Pasadena
Weekly
honored her
for literary
activism.
Her Web site
is
HowToDoItFrugally.com.
She blogs at
www.frugalretailing.blogspot.com.
Here she is
pictured
with Frugal
and Focused
Tweeting for
Retailers.
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Review
for
Your Blog,
Your
Business
by Joyce
White |
Carolyn Howard-Johnson's nearly three decades experience as founder and manager of her own chain of stores, a stint as a New York publicist, and as a retail consultant and journalist has laid the ground work for her award-winning, How To Do It Frugally Series; as well as this gem of a study guide, Your Blog, Your Business.
No matter whether you are an independent entrepreneur working out of a store or writer managing your own website, social networking and blogging can leave your competitors in the dust. We are no longer depending on money exchanging hand-by-hand; and even big business is now participating in networking, which is one of the most effective means of communicating with large numbers of eager customers.
Besides tips on retailing and getting and keeping customers, Carolyn hits on spicy bits about Google’s free blog, Blogger. Like people, Blogger has as many voices as there are brands of commodities needing to be sold and bought. But, if you’re new to blogging and worried about writer’s block, don’t be. Blogging is just like journaling. Journaling is like talking without being interrupted. If you can journal, you can blog. If you blog, you are a writer. You don’t have to carry the conversation all by yourself. Try some of the ideas below:
· Use guest bloggers with similar focus
· Get partners for your blog, try out permission gadgets
on Blogger to let others post at their convenience
· Recycle old articles, bits and pieces, into new docs
· Use the carnival concept – of providing live links
for your readers to visit (Only get the best with the same focus as yours!)
· Outsource your blogging – trade off with other bloggers
· Suggest readers subscribe, teasing them with whitepapers and regular gratuities
It helps businesses large or small, online or off, to set up a blog, integrate it with their other social networks like your own website, Twitter and/or Facebook. I think her most important lesson is to keep your focus on what you can do for others. Offer incentives for subscribing like white papers or eBooks, present or old.
Recycle the past into the present and give your readers a taste of what it is your selling. Even though it is human nature to want free stuff, it is important to remember, free is the gift that keeps giving back. I highly recommend this book for store retailers, beginning or experienced bloggers and anyone interested in becoming their own boss.
Five Stars for Amazon.com
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Buy Links for
Carolyn's Books |
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"Careers
that are not fed die as
readily as any living organism
given no sustenance."
~
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Studio photography by
Uriah Carr
Logo by
Lloyd King
All Carolyn's Frugal Books Are
Available on Kindle as well as paperback:
To
subscribe to Carolyn's FREE online newsletter send an
e-mail.
Learn more about Carolyn's
newsletter and blog.
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Carolyn's Blogs |
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Sharing with Writers
All things publishing with
an emphasis on book
promotion. Named to
Writer's Digest
101 Best Website list.
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The New Book Review
Great way for readers, authors, reviewers and publicists to get more
mileage out of
a great review.
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The Frugal Editor Blog
This is the Frugal, Smart
and Tuned-In Editor blog.
Covers editing, grammar, formatting and more.
Get the answers you need.
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Carolyn's Shopping Plaza |
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Please visit Carolyn's
Shopping Plaza
for autographed copies and occasional special offers.
Order two or more books and get Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips for Writers free!
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Carolyn's Awards |
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Awards for Carolyn's Books, Blogs and More
The New Book Review
Named to
Online Universities'
101 Book Blogs
You Need to Read
Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites
for Sharing with Writers blog.
Best Book Award for The Frugal Book Promoter (2004) and The Frugal Editor (2008).
Reader Views Literary Award for The Frugal Editor
New Generation Award for Marketing and Finalist for The Frugal Editor
Book Publicists of Southern California's Irwin Award
Military Writers Award of Excellence for
Tracings, A Chapbook of Poetry.
A Retailer's Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotion wins author Military
Writers Society of America's Author of the Month award for March, 2010
Gold Medal
Award from Military Writers Society of America, 2010 for
A Retailer's Guide to In_Store
Promotion. MWSA also gave a nod to She
Wore Emerald Then,
a chapbook of poetry honoring mothers.
And more than a dozen other awards for Carolyn's novel, short story collection and poetry.
See the awards page on this site.
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Tip |
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Tip
Don't let
anyone convince you that blogging is too big to handle. You
recycle, you cross promote, you network to keep blogging
time within reason. Besides, you find time to do all
the old media essentials like advertising, right? Well, new
media is even more powerful and lots more frugal--of both
time and money. It can't be neglected.
Find tips on writing, promotion, or
tech on every page of this Web site.
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Profit
Boosting Tip |
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For information about making retailing work in a down
economy and how authors can make their case to retailers
for letting them host book signings or workshops (and
how retailers can boost profits by partnering with
authors) check Paul Bruno's Career Czar® radio program.
The show is available for
download. In the meantime,
listen to his other shows at
careerczar.com or at
the
show's blog
at E-mail Paul at
careerczar@cs.com and ask
to be on the show's notification list for free podcasts..
Find at least one tip on writing,
promotion or tech
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Video
Trailer |
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Click on the logo below to see an example of Reno Lovison's trailer for
my Survive and Thrive Series of books.
Authors
Broadcast for reasonably priced and thoroughly professional
video book trailers. |
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