If you’ve surfed over to the online companion to PRO magazine, www.promonthly.com, in the past few months, you’ve seen that I’ve added a new — more responsive — type of content that complements what we do here in the paper trade publication that’s dropped off in your mailbox every month. I’ve started a blog.
A blog, a contraction of the term Web log, refers to a series of online updates on a particular theme, posted at a Web site. You are likely familiar with personal blogs written by your friends or business contacts, meant to share their views on a host of topics.
Perhaps you write a personal blog to keep your friends and relatives posted on happenings in your life or customers. Or you write a business blog to keep customers or partner companies updated on changes and advances at your company.
It seems like I run into another business blog in the wastewater industry every week. The posts — usually written monthly, weekly, or even a few times a week — give customers or colleagues a reason to revisit a Web site routinely. It’s new content, and something you might be considering to add value to your portable sanitation Web site.
For some people, a weekly or daily blog isn’t even enough to remain in regular contact with customers and friends. Those who want to remain in constant contact start Facebook or Twitter accounts. These social media sites are shaping up to be the most popular on the Web. Both allow you to streamline networking among friends or a band of professional acquaintances.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Just the other day I tripped into two people in the portable sanitation industry posting brief Twitter updates on their thoughts about small business issues. While my social media efforts have not evolved to constant Twittering yet, I hope to use the editor’s blog at the PRO Web site to provide valued content in a number of ways.
In more than five years of publishing PRO, we’ve worked hard to provide valuable information to help you grow your businesses. Our goal is that every contractor profile feature and On Location story, as well as columns aimed at small business and equipment issues gives you at least one profit-building idea for the future. I want our online presence to have the same impact.
For several years, we’ve used the PRO Discussion Forum to provide a place where contractors can meet online, ask questions and share ideas on topics ranging from maintaining equipment, best practices in customer service and building businesses in a competitive marketplace. If you haven’t visited the forum, I invite you to go to our Web site, sign up and become part of a virtual roundtable discussion.
Here are several ways I hope to use the blog:
Follow breaking news
Publishing a monthly magazine, it’s sometimes difficult to address breaking news in an effective way. And in an ever-faster-paced world, you expect information to reach you immediately. So if we receive a press release on important product or industry news, we’ll post it on the blog first, then follow up with additional details — as they become available — in the magazine.
Throw out comments and questions from readers
A while back, I received a question from a reader asking fellow service technicians for advice on effective restroom cleaning. I threw the question onto the blog for the week and invited readers to send in their ideas. Here’s a standing invitation for you to send in your questions or comments for the blog. I will share your thoughts with visitors to the PRO Web site and may comment on your ideas myself. Just like our discussion forum can be used to share small business development ideas, I hope the blog will be a valuable tool for portable sanitation contractors.
Check the pulse of the industry through polls
How do you ramp up the workforce for the busy season? What size of vacuum tank do you prefer to run on your service rigs? How do you reach a certain segment of customers, for instance couples who are getting married at backyard weddings or their wedding planners? These are all examples of questions I might ask in upcoming blogs to stimulate a discussion. Your responses might help fellow PROs approach an issue that has stymied them in the past. Feel free to share questions you would like to ask by e-mailing me at editor@promonthly.com.
Share small business marketing ideas
I talk to portable sanitation contractors and related product manufacturers every day. And sometimes I take note of patterns and trends I’m hearing from multiple sources that could help contractors. For example, a few years ago there seemed to be a growing number of PROs adding shower trailer service for big summer festivals. Or, after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, I learned how several contractors approached government entities to offer relief services. Before the blog, I had to wait several weeks to deliver these marketing trend stories to you. Now I can alert you to these trends as they develop.
Deliver kudos or criticism
Sometimes I hear a positive story about someone in the industry and I’d like to share their good news in an informal way. Other times I might see a general media account that is unfairly critical of a contractor or portrays the industry in a derogatory way. The blog gives me an opportunity to share an “attaboy’’ or blow off some steam — whatever the issue calls for. My “thumbs up’’ or “thumbs down’’ posts may be meant as thought-provoking or humorous, or might just be my personal musings for the day.
YOU BE THE JUDGE
A blog is only effective if readers find it interesting enough to return and check it out regularly. So I need your input to help shape the content. Tell me what you’d like to see in the blog and on the Web site in general. Feel free to share your comments or questions anytime. Let’s get a spirited discussion going online.
