Blog Case Studies

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Winning Clients Through Great Blogs

Can blogs help you bring in business?  Sure they can.

Franki's blog on style and fashion is called LifeInAVentiCup.  In addition to getting her interviews and products from nationally known luxury brands, LifeInAVenticup has made a major impact on our business.  The design and writing are first class, and a recent client told us the reason they hired us was because our personal blog proved we "got it" when it came to luxury products.

That client doubled our revenues for the year in just three months.

Note this was not a business blog, but just a labor of love that yields business results.  Franki worked on that blog for two years as a hobby, but this year, it paid off in a way that would have justified full time labor on the project.

It's a lesson.

Case Studies For Advertising Agencies

I was down at an REBUS event in St Louis, attending at the NGage headquarters, and was happily surprised with some excellent examples of digital agencies using social media to help their clients.  I tend to make fun of agencies that try social media, but in this case, I had to eat my words.  NGage not only did exactly what I would have done - they did it better.  So I figured an interview was a good way to show my humility.

Q)The case studies you showed at the REBUS event were pretty sophisticated - I’d call them best practice for the advertising industry's use of social media.  Did you create these from internal staff, or did you hire someone from outside to build the strategy?

A: All of our strategy is developed in-house. This is a core competency and we consider this perhaps our greatest strength. We are, however learning every day from both personal experience and so much of the great work going on all over the web. That's what's so wonderful about working in the social media space. It's such an open exchange of ideas and strategies.

Q) Is there someone on staff with a job title dealing just with social media?  Do you think there will be, or will social media skills be a new requirement on current roles? Do you think this is a trend just for your agency, or something industry wide?

A: We do have a "Social Media Coordinator," Matt Biegacki. Matt's role is to work diligently on behalf of client brands establishing meaningful and honest relationships in the social media sphere on behalf of the consumer brands NGAGE works for. On a more fundamental level, we do believe that everyone has to be not only fluent on a personal level with the social space, but curious about new stuff here at NGAGE. Observing the online space is like watching an octopus crawling over an uneven sea-floor -- ever changing and flowering and flowing in new directions. When we look for new potential employees, that sense of curiosity is a key characteristic.

Q) The MOZO Case Study: You said that the number one and number two drivers of traffic for MOZO were the YouTube channel and the blog. Did you expect that when you first started, or was it a happy surprise?

A: We certainly thought that branded social applications with a proven following would be a very significant traffic driver. With any online marketing campaign like MOZO, we always like to measure and adjust accordingly. Different brands may require different strategies.

Q) In that study, you mentioned that a competitor to MOZO tried the same strategy, but a month too late. How important is speed in a process like this, and could internal or client discussions have held it up, allowing the competitor to make their move first?

A: Speed is definitely important, but not absolutely essential. Our method is built around casting lots and lots of little nets instead of one big net. If we don't catch a potential consumer with the first net, we've got a variety of other options behind that one to catch them. The nets act as multiple entry-points to the brand. In MOZO's case, they were nimble and great to work with as a client, so we were lucky.

Q) Why is it so many people in St Louis don’t realize Hardee’s is headquartered here, and what can we do to focus media attention on what we have gained, rather than on what is lost?

A: I have no idea why the STL scene is unaware of Hardee's. They're a fun client and we're proud to have worked with them. I think your question really gets to the heart of it. NGAGE has always been about building something here in St. Louis. We're proud of this community and happy to be here. I suppose people find it more  "exciting" to focus on agency or client failures -- always looking for someone "cryin' or dyin'." I would challenge all of us to tell more positive stories regularly, celebrating each other's successes as we all win in the end with a stronger creative community here in the STL.

Q) Do clients outside of St Louis think less of St Louis agencies, especially in cutting edge projects like social media?  Are you the exception, or the rule?

A: We can only speak for our own personal experience. Our reception has been very positive from national clients. So much of building a great client roster is about great client relationships with GREAT thinking behind them and less about a street address. That type of approach helps put a bit of that swagger in our step as an agency. We've always been pleased to look outward to a national client base when courting new work.

Q) Be honest. When you look around the internet on Twitter, blogs, and social networks, what percentage of people saying they have social media experience have ever taken a check and delivered a project?  I would say maybe 20%.  What do you think?

A: 20% isn't a bad guess. With any new discipline or channel, everyone's an instant "expert." Though we are a young agency (figuratively and literally), we have earned every one of our proverbial "gray hairs" in the social media space. We are constantly learning and adjusting by really WORKING in that sphere. There is absolutely no substitute for this type of "real-world" experience.

Q) You guys said something important during your presentation.  You said that as a client, your focus was on selling product for your clients.  Care to expand on that?

A: We have definitely focused at times on brand-building for our clients -- branding is VERY near and dear to our hearts and at the risk of sounding immodest, we're pretty damn good at it. HOWEVER, ultimately, we're about goal-oriented creative and technology. We sell stuff. That's our bottom line.

Q) What does it take to work for you guys?  How could someone really impress you if they wanted to get hired?  What traits/experience would you like to see?

A: As far as "hard-skills," we look for folks that have truly outstanding skills in the basics of really great design, writing, planning and client management. The "softer" side of NGAGE employees ranges. Everyone sells their need for people with ability to ideate, but we believe firmly in that on the most basic level. We need SMART thinkers. We look for folks that are "bootstrappy" self-starters, as curious as they are self-reliant. We also look for even the barest bud of a "BS detector" in applicants. The most common question asked at the agency is "Why do I care?" The approach is really: "I'm listening. Make me care about your idea. If you can't, let's move on and come up with something amazing that I DO care about." We need people that can really engage (no pun intended) with that way of looking at the world. We indoctrinate and foster that on a fundamental level, but some folks aren't wired to look at the process that way. Ego has no place here, but pride in great ideas and work is our cornerstone.

Social Media Headhunter Cafe Launches

If you head on over to the Social Media Headhunter Cafe, you'll see the results of 4 months of planning, packaging, design, and content creation in our store of products on how to use social media to hire.

Don't be fooled by imitations.  These products are developed by a recruiter running a live desk.  Our next step is setting up a store for small business, to showcase how retailers can drive foot traffic and microbusiness can get more bang for their marketing buck.

That store will replace the Brandstorming blog in early March.

Education Can Be Expensive

There's a story I tell about a Java developer in California. One of the best I've ever met.

A client came to him and asked how much money it would take to solve a problem.  He told them $20,000.  They laughed, and went away.  A few months later, they called again.  He told them $40,000.  They got angry, and went away.  A few months later, called, and he told them $80,000.  They sent the check by courier.  I saw that check.

When I started my business in 2006, selling blog consulting along with web design.  I charged $60 an hour, and a lot of people laughed.  The next year...I was charging $125 an hour.  Some people went away angry.

Today, I'm working to make sure that the courier business is alive and well.

I'm just saying.

St Louis Blogging Boot Camp

I get a lot of requests from small business owners looking to improve their online brand.  For those not in the know, blogging is one of the easiest ways to build a online profile, and in comparison to paying an SEO company or marketing expert to do it, the return on your money is phenomenal.

The problem of course is one of scale.  What might work for a larger company isn't always feasible for the budget of an owner/entrepreneur. There's also the question of community, as I find a lot of people are excited to start blogging, but can't keep it up without support.

So the result, is the first St Louis Business Blogging Bootcamp.  I'm going to work with 5 companies to show them how to use blogs to increase sales, referrals, and their online presence.

The classes will be conducted online using GoTo Meeting and in-person when necessary, and will be a six week course (one class a week) on how to set up and run a blog.

I need businesses that aren't competitive, and in some ways are complementary.  Some great examples would be real estate, b-to-b sales, b-to-c sales, a recruiter, a car dealer, a furniture store, a mortgage company, and a professional services company like an accountant or financial services person.

I'm hand-picking the class for best fit, and will run other classes in the future, but if you think this is you, contact me through e-mail at jdurbin@durbinmedia.com

Comcast Sleeping Video

It was posted June 20th, 2006, and by June 26th, it had over 200,000 views.

It then went on to CNET, AOL Video, and a slew of other sites.

At this embed, there were 1,277, 528 views, and 852 comments on YouTube.

Chat Room for Social Media

Presentation On The Impact of Social Media On The Corporation

The rise of blogs, wikis, social networks and other Web 2.0 technologies is changing the way that customers, employees and prospects engage with our companies. The walls separating private and public information about your products, prices, hiring (and firing) processes, as well as your message, is lost in a world where every customer has the potential to be the next YouTube star with dirt on how you do business.

On the plus side, the ability to share an honest message on your company's strengths and services makes you partners with vendors, employees and customers. The potential to sell more, do more, and work less is no longer a pipe dream, but supported by case studies, statistics, and most of all, revenue growth.

Marketing, public relations, corporate communications and information technology executives are all struggling to cope with new rules, new etiquette, and new tools that open the floodgates of information to a hungry public. Facebook, MySpace, Ning, Twitter, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Viral Video are changing the way we do business. Get prepared for a presentation on the future of corporate communications, marketing, and management.

Jim Durbin a social media marketing consultant (http://www.durbinmedia.com) and headhunter (http://socialmediaheadhunter.com), walks us through a 90 minute breakfast presentation on the pitfalls and windfalls of how social media is affecting today's corporate world.

Karen Goodman, An Interview On Real Estate Blogging

Karen Goodman blogs at RealEstateInfoStl.com

1) How long have you been blogging?  What got you started?

Last July I switched real estate brokers from one that provided me with all of my clients to a traditional real estate brokerage. With the change, I knew it would be necessary for me to start marketing my services to build my business. I wanted to do more than simply send out announcements to my sphere of influence, and I had no desire to knock on doors of FSBO sellers trying to convince them to work with me. From the start, I knew I would need to set up a website. I honestly had no idea what a blog was and how it could be used to market my services. I had heard the term thrown around on TV newscasts, but had never read one.

My website provider, Point 2, includes a blog that is integrated into the website. As I learned more about blogs, I knew that it was a perfect fit for me. I’ve always enjoyed writing, and helping people learn about their options is important to me.  I knew that writing a blog would be a perfect opportunity to provide information to my clients and potential clients, and to show them how I do business. I launched my website in November, and wrote my first blog post a couple of weeks later.

2) Do you get many leads from what you write? 

I don’t have any hard numbers on how many of my clients have come from the blog yet. I do know that several clients have commented that they spent some time on my website and blog before they decided to use me, and that they were impressed with what they found there. Three of my recent home buyers found me after seeing an online ad for one of my listings, then clicking through to my website and spending some time there. All of them were relocating to St. Louis, and relied on the internet to help them choose an agent.

3) What do you try to focus on?  Do you write for business, or do you write because it's enjoyable?

My blog is definitely a business blog, and I’m writing it to build my real estate business. My goal is to provide a resource for my clients and for potential clients. I’m trying to reach the people I meet through my other marketing efforts and those referred to me from friends and former clients. I want to have a place that these people can read up on real estate issues and learn about how I do business. I hope that if they are on the fence about making a decision on who to use for a buyer’s agent, they’ll read my posts and decide to give me a shot.

For now, I’m not really trying to capture all the search engine traffic. As much as I’d love to have tons of people reading my blog, I know that my focus on real estate issues and St. Louis market conditions will have limited appeal. But I will admit that it is fun to check out the search terms that people are using to find my site, and to discover that I’m number one on Yahoo’s search for ‘st louis homes for sale’.

Oh, and I do love writing. I’ve never really had an outlet before for my writing so it’s been a lot of fun.

4) What lessons have you learned from blogging?

The biggest impact blogging has had is that I am much more aware of local market conditions. You just can’t write to a real estate blog unless you are on top of what is happening in the market. I’ve spent a lot of time looking at data and trends. Most agents go on their instincts, and instincts are good, but it isn’t the same as having data to confirm your impressions. I even wrote a post about how blogging has made me a better agent.

And, I am working on being less wordy. I tend to get a bit long winded.

5) Any local blogs that you read that you would share with our readers?

I read a lot of national real estate blogs, but do have a few local blogs that are in my reader.

St. Louis Daily Photo Blog -  (probably my favorite)
Lofts in the ‘Lou -
St. Louis Real Estate Investment & Development -
St. Louis Business Journal -
Undercurrent -
And of course, http://www.brandstorming.com.

6) Why should someone looking for a real estate agent use Karen Goodman instead of another agent?

There are a lot of great real estate agents out there, and I’m not going to say that I’m better than all of them. One thing that sets me apart from many agents is my belief that I should approach every client as if they were family. Sometimes that means telling a client that they could do better and they should keep looking, even if it means I don’t make a sale now and end up showing them another 50 houses. Sometimes it means encouraging a buyer to terminate a contract when we find a serious problem on the building inspection. Other times it means that I need to gently help a client understand that they are being unrealistic in the pricing of their home for sale.

My clients get an agent that is not only knowledgeable about market conditions and how to prevent contract problems, but also one that really wants their best interests to prevail. Regardless of whether they are spending $100,000 or $1 million, or if they are selling in an upscale community or a small condo, I’ll treat each client as if I was helping my best friend.

7) What is the single biggest mistake home sellers make?

So many home sellers think that they can try for an aggressive price for a while, and they can drop their price later if need be. That might work in a seller’s market, but not in today’s market. The problem with that approach is that the vast majority of agent MLS listing hits occur in the first week on the market. In fact, the highest number of hits occur on day 0…the day it hits the market. Once an agent writes off a house as being overpriced, they rarely come back to take another look. A seller that starts out overpriced will end up missing the best shot at getting an offer that is reasonable. When they later drop their price, they’ll get a few agents to come back for another look. But any offers that come in will almost always be lowball offers. In the end, they’ll be worse off than if they had just started off with a fair price.