# what do you use your blog for? what's most effective?



## NigelT (Jul 25, 2009)

I have recently launched my t-shirt site and there haven't been any sales yet, but looking at other posts it seems that's not out of the ordinary (it's only been a few weeks).

We have a blog to go with the site and I am trying to think what kind of content to put on it.

My initial thought was to comment on latest news at our site (the obvious one) and also comment on other tshirt/clothing sites when we see something that interests us and/or fit in our brand. I also considered commenting on fashion/entertainment topics in general, again if something fits but I'm not sure if that casting the net too wide?

I want to ask what you guys on this forum use your blogs for and what you find to be the most effective kind of content?


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## EnMartian (Feb 14, 2008)

My company sells machine embroidery and sublimation supplies instead of t-shirts, but the aim behind our blog is, I suspect, much the same as yours. We want to sell product and connect with customers. 

On the blog, I talk about the company, why we do what we do, and how we do it. I talk about sales and specials and cool products. I also give hints and tips on how to use those products. It is definitely a good idea to share other sites or information that you think is cool or interesting. A blog is also a great place to ask questions of your customers so you can find out what they want and need. 

The content that seems to have gotten the most response for us has been the helpful posts, the ones that provide tips or ask customers what they would like to see from us. Making your customers feel a part of your company by asking them for their input can be a great function of a blog. It also provides you with great feedback.


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## lburton3 (Aug 14, 2008)

I have a small clothing company with a blog as well. You can check it out in my signature if you want. I tend to write about new t-shirts, company news, random thoughts, etc etc. Just write let it flow. Lots of people in the streetwear scene tend to post youtube videos and limited edition products from the bigger brands. Not my fling, but it seems to work out for them..


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## NigelT (Jul 25, 2009)

Ah yes, you wrote a post about packaging. I'm not in a position to do my own packaging, but it was a good read and will be useful when I am.

Thanks for the advice on the content. I think I'm on the right lines, I just need to get used to writing consistently. I always figured talking about the space and not just your own thing is a good idea too.

I also like the idea of getting customers involved. I'm just wary about doing that sort of post now since there's not much of a following. Something for the future hopefully.


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## Kapedano (Apr 2, 2008)

Stay consistent with it. We started ours a few months ago and we are always improving. 

It's important to develop a personality. It can take time, but eventually, it will be build. 

Some people are better at writing than others. For me, it's hard to write more than one or two full paragraphs. I am getting better at it. however, I know that it will never be the strength for me.


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## NigelT (Jul 25, 2009)

I think for me it's not so much about the writing. I write for another website I own but it's a totally different context. I just need to get confortable with it and as you say keep doing posts consistently.


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## Walkingartwork (Jul 27, 2009)

In my (new) blog i have written the story behind the artist (me  ), the story behind the Website/company, and my plan is to will write stories about every design.... 
My designs are collages of photos I've taken myself during journeys around the world, so I plan to make post with the original photos as well, maybe with a little story of my travels.....
My blog is in a way, kinda personal, but I think that is okay, as I more or less am the company....


sincerely Nicolas


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## NigelT (Jul 25, 2009)

I like that idea. The brand I'm working on is somewhat similar in that we are trying to make t-shirt collections that have a theme or story. Maybe we can use the blog to describe the story behind each collection.

Thanks.


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## Walkingartwork (Jul 27, 2009)

Glad to hear, that you could use some of my inspiration 
Good luck with your project ;-)

Btw - the link to my blog was removed.... just add "/blog/" to the link in my signature, if you want to see the blog.....

cheers


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## ScaredPanda (Dec 5, 2009)

Hey there, 

I'm sure what I'm about to say has probably already been said in a few different ways but here ya go; like you we are a very new t-shirt shop and this is how we try to utilize our blog. 

Our theme is local t-shirts for a good cause and we give 10% of the proceeds of our t-shirts to a local charity here in Chicago. Therefore, all our t-shirts are Chicago centric and we use/will be using our blog to blog about art, music and charities in Chicago. Especially those that we have some connection with. My main goal is to try to be connected to the community that influences us as much as possible.

Since I am very new at this I can only give you little advice, but I think that if you focus your blog postings on things that are relatively close to your product it should be an interest to your visitors and those who might be interested in your shirts.

Good luck!

- Clint


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## NigelT (Jul 25, 2009)

I like the idea of writing about something outside of t-shirts/clothing. I think it could get a bit predictable if you are only talking about yourself, although obvously this has to be a big part of the blog. But by providing info on other topics your expanding the audience and keeping things interesting, giving people another reason to come back.

Unfortunately I'm in the 'talking about yourself' mode at the moment, but am thinking of ways to expand out.


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## leapoffaith (Nov 8, 2009)

Okay, I'm still not really sure how writing a blog can increase my sales, but I realize that the posters here know a lot more about this than I do, so in another leap of faith, I just started a wordpress blog this morning. 
I figure that even if I don't ever have any readers, it will at least be a way for me to record this entry into a new business, right??


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

leapoffaith said:


> Okay, I'm still not really sure how writing a blog can increase my sales, but I realize that the posters here know a lot more about this than I do, so in another leap of faith, I just started a wordpress blog this morning.
> I figure that even if I don't ever have any readers, it will at least be a way for me to record this entry into a new business, right??


Documenting and recording your business steps (and sometimes mis steps) is a great use of a blog. Even if only you read, it can be interesting to look back on how far you've come.

When other people find it, you'd be surprised how your experiences can help someone else out there in the world


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## NigelT (Jul 25, 2009)

I'm not an expert in blogging either. I don't think it's about sales, directly anyway. If you have a blog that is updated regularly and is providing valuable content for your audience (this is the hard part) you can build up a following of people that are more likely to then buy your t-shirts as they would feel part of the community so to speak. At least that's the rationale I'm following.


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## lburton3 (Aug 14, 2008)

Rodney said:


> Documenting and recording your business steps (and sometimes mis steps) is a great use of a blog. Even if only you read, it can be interesting to look back on how far you've come.
> 
> When other people find it, you'd be surprised how your experiences can help someone else out there in the world


My thoughts exactly! Even if nobody does read my blog, I can always look back and quantify my progress 

... and if somebody does happen to read it, all the better!


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## mikelschwarz (Apr 12, 2008)

In addition to being a very useful medium to share the inspirations behind your designs, a blog is a great tool for communicating company updates or new product announcements. 

For those not familiar with working with blogging software like WordPress, the one thing we've learned over the last couple of years is that Google loves well tagged blog posts and as such, you can get a lot of "organic" search traffic from Google to your blog posts if done correctly. "Well tagged" means that you use appropriate key words or key phrases on your post that relate to the content of the post.

Of course, if people find your blog easily, the goal is to get them over to other parts of your website such as your web store/shopping cart. So, if you do want to use a blog, make sure you install the software under your main top level domain and that you have links back to your store or use the same navigation between your website and your blog so your visitors can easily go between them.


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## Steph (Jan 26, 2008)

Search engines like Google love fresh content, so if you aren't always adding new shirts or updating the copy on your site, a blog is a great way to achieve this.

I personally find it interesting to read blog posts about the site owners, how the product is made, company history etc. It makes me feel very connected to the product/site, and if its a smaller operation with a great product I feel like my purchase will actually make a difference to them


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## SHIROINEKO (Mar 31, 2010)

I used blog to update the news and for seo.


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## aminkarim (Mar 30, 2010)

just blog about anything and everything. It becomes a place to think outside the box and create something new


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## NigelT (Jul 25, 2009)

I'm slowly getting the hang of it, I think I have been overthinking what to write sometimes...which is strange as I write quite consistantly for another site I have.


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## EnMartian (Feb 14, 2008)

It is easy to get bogged down in the process sometimes. I still go back and tinker with old posts on occasion. Sometimes the trick is just to write and put it out there. You have to, of course, be aware of your company image and how what you're writing will impact that image, but you can't over think it too much. 

I also think the more you write the easier it gets. After a while your blog starts to develop a personality of its own and that starts to dictate, at least a bit, what you write.


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## Year of Thread (Apr 9, 2010)

Great reading, were just about to launch and the blog side of our site is one of the parts i feel will be the most challenging. I think a mixture of lyfestyle pieces, video links of things you dig, news about the company and news on things your friends might be up to like on the mayamada site is a good idea (and keeps your mates sweet!)


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## kungfukitty_oz (Feb 18, 2010)

The opportunity of a blog is massive, if done well many businesses find that the blog ends up being one of their main strategies for marketing their business. 

The best things about a blog are:

1. Regular new content for your website, means that your site will be crawled more frequently by Google, have more relevant keywords, and be noticed by more consumers/potential customers alike.
2. A reason for people to subscribe. If your blog is worth subscribing to you will collect valuable contacts in your database. These are people you can interact with (and sell to) over and over with as long as you don't get up their nose and have them unsubscribe!
3. Building credibility, if your blog focuses on hot design in the T-shirt space and people like your style and opinions, your label and designs will have more credibility with those consumers.

Here are some of the most important points:

1. Make sure people can easily subscribe to your blog/website and that the subscription link or button is in a prominent position (i.e. top right of the screen). Even though RSS seems to be more readily subscribed I still find my email database brings more traffic to my website. You can use services such as Email Marketing and Email List Manager | MailChimp for 500 subscribers free. Personally I think Mailchimp rocks! Collecting a database is the most important thing on your website, if you are not collecting peoples data somehow you are wasting an opportunity.

2. Keep your content valuable to the user... It should be interesting, informative or entertaining. If your whole blog is about you and what you are doing, make sure it is entertaining! Try and space out the content about your business with: Tips on the industry, Other things that you are passionate about, Design or Fashion related topics if you are a T-shirt business and things that relate to your business style whether it be music, skate/surf, adventure, comedy, lifestyle etc.

3. Be consistent, it's important when people subscribe that they know if you will be posting content weekly or monthly.

4. Treat your database like gold, they are your customers and potential customers. Don't SPAM them or send them crap!

5. Track your blog with google analytics so that you know what is popular and the behaviour of your readers.

6. Use SEO in the blog as you would your website. Wordpress.org has a brilliant free All In One SEO Pack Plugin, I am sure many of the other blogging apps would have the same.

7. If you can use lots of videos and images, they don't have to be amazing quality, just honest, and either interesting, informative or entertaining.

8. Set up your Facebook page to post your blogs, post them as well on Twitter and on Linked In. Get your blog out there as much as possible!

OK this reply was longer than I thought it would be! Ha! But it's because time and time again I have seen my clients get massive results from blogging for their small businesses, it's really exciting.

Have fun!

Serena


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## NigelT (Jul 25, 2009)

Thanks a lot Serena! That was very useful.

It's interesting you mention tips on the industry. I always thought that as I am quite new I couldn't give my opinion, but I'm now thinking it would be a good idea to write about things from a beginners perspective.

Thanks again


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## kungfukitty_oz (Feb 18, 2010)

NigelT said:


> but I'm now thinking it would be a good idea to write about things from a beginners perspective.


Yes definitely! It's a steep learning curve when you start out and so if you can share your experiences with other people who may be in the same position, you can help them avoid the same mistakes or find the great resources that you come across (and possibly entertain everyone as well!).


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## yeng (Apr 10, 2010)

I use the blog to increase my sales. At least first I'd to show it to my friends and later this began to work better.


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