Guest Blog Column: Why blogging proves I am a very small business and why this is a good thing...

I was recently asked by a good friend of mine, Paul Chaney at Radiant Marketing, to do a stint as a "guest blogger" and talk about my blogging experience from a small business perspective. Paul runs a company and blog that specializes in the needs of small businesses as it relates to blogging, and has also been instrumental in forming a "Professional Bloggers Association".

I was very flattered that he thought of me to contribute:

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There is a critical mistake many small and micro-sized businesses make when they decide to get themselves onto the internet. They decide, rather that show themselves exactly as they are and let those strengths speak for themselves, they tend to fabricate a false "web-persona" which is meant to convince the reader that they company is bigger and more elaborate than it is...

Here is how this senario would play out...

Instead of a company being John & Mary's Handcrafted Soaps on the web, John & Mary decide to license the name www.soapcorp.com with the eventual mission of selling handcrafted soaps around the world (even though they still work from a 400 sq ft area in their basement). Rather than a fun, warm, personable website, they choose a weblook that makes it seem that they are a huge corporation, able to deal with orders from any Wal-Mart or K-Mart. Can you imagine a conversation between a potential customer and this false-front website?

"John & Mary, it looks like, from your website, that I will just be customer number 0003654 rather than, um...well...me. Is this accurate?"

"Yes, and more Customer 0003654. Just like any large company rest assured that we can lose your order in our processing center, will incorrectly ship it, and it you have any issues, you can talk to our Customer Relations Department (recently outsourced to India).

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Now, I am really pushing things to make a point, but we have seen small and micro-businesses make just this mistake (and perhaps we are guilty of it ourselves to a certain extent) but where does this desire come from to portray our business as larger and loftier than it actually is? Is bigger really better? Would people really rather deal with a large box store rather than a small family owned business?

I must confess that blogging about my business has changed the way I think about how I display my business to my customers. When I purchased the business mid 2004, I formed the LLC "Signs Never Sleep LLC" and "Lincoln Sign Company" was to be a Division of SNS LLC. (You see, I was doing it to...) If I had allowed this framework to define my business, I would have been cheating myself and my customer out of what I think is my businesses greatest asset which is, "we are a small, family owned business".

Rather than existing on the web as Signs Never Sleep LLC (where all the signs are made by robots, lasers, and artificially intelligent computers) we are Lincoln Sign Company (where all the signs are made by 3 people). I am married, I have kids, I have a dog, and the wife and kids are talking about getting a rabbit this spring which means it will ultimately fall to me to clean the cage more than I want to... (Oh sorry, drifted off there)

The weblog shows my customers what we are, a small business that is approachable, fun, and hopefully they like the work we do. Websites and weblogs are great tools, but you can use a tool well, or badly. A "web-presence" should show off your company as it is, and highlight the strengths you have because of "how your business is".

Let the following fictional letter illustrate the archetypical interaction one should have with their customers due to a small-business weblog:

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Dear John & Mary:

I just wanted to write to you and let you know how much I enjoy buying your soap, (especially the ButterNut, Butter-Brickle Bath Beads). You are both wonderful to deal with and your store always smells so good when I walk in.

I recently saw the pictures you posted of your kids decorating the Christmas tree in your living room on your "blog" thingy and it gave me the great idea of getting your soaps as stocking stuffers this year. Everyone loved them.

Keep up the good work, and I wish your family a wonderful year.

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If you are a small business, be proud to be a small business. Don't hide the fact from your customers. People do not want to do business with companies, they want to do business with other people that they like...