Orpheum Theatre: Small Business Blog of the Day

What it is
The Orpheum is a combination movie theatre/concert venue in downtown Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to the theatre, the Orpheum features a restaurant making the building a well-established attraction to the capital city.

Features
The Orpheum staff keeps the public informed of all the events taking place inside. At the top of the blog is a media player where you can listen to a short MP3 describing the upcoming events. The Orpheum utilizes Google Calendar within the blog.

Further Comments
You may have noticed that I am not including a 'Favorite Post' section in today's review. This isn't because I've been gone for a month and I've gotten horribly lazy. Rather it is because there aren't many posts to choose from and they are all extremely short! However, this does not mean the blog is new. Rather, the Orpheum chooses to delete (or conceal) their old posts and only show events that are coming up in the near future.

I totally wish The Orpheum would keep their old posts and simply let them archive so people can go back and see what kinds of events and who has played the theatre. Three weeks ago, I went to see Ani DiFranco at The Orpheum (this is how I discovered the blog) and now there is no evidence on the blog that she was ever there. Bummer. I just don't see what possible harm it would do to keep older posts. Furthermore, they are missing out on a ton of traffic whenever someone does a search for a past performer and doesn't find The Orpheum's post because it's no longer there.

There are other issues with the blog...glaring ones. I could mention, for example, that there is no information whatsoever on the blog about the theatre's history. It's supposed to be a historic building, but for all the blog tells us it could have been a gutted grocery store a few months ago. (I once saw Alanis Morissette play a gutted grocery store in Houston. It rocked!)

So why the heck do I like this blog? (I do like this blog after all)

It's such a nice use of blogging software. The Orpheum has said "To heck with a traditional website. Ours will be a blog and that's it!" There is no other website for The Orpheum, and it totally works.

They can update the site as often and whenever they want, add things to it, play with the design, and never have to call a website designer to do it. Plus, they are using the crappy Blogger software from Google, so it doesn't even cost them anything (although they are paying someone to have their own website address).

Why every single company in America doesn't take this approach, at the very least, is beyond me. The site isn't pretty, but it's functionality makes it a much better solution than any "traditional" website that doesn't utilize blogging technology (RSS, ability to post stories yourself, multimedia integration), no matter how "pretty" that traditional website might be.

The Moral
If your company hosts frequent events, take a look at The Orpheum for an example of where to get started. It is simple, it is effective, it could be improved (a lot), but it still works great as is.

Technorati : Orpheum, The Orpheum, orpheum madison, orpheum theatre, orpheum theatre madison

Bud Bilanich: Small Business Blog of the Day

What it is

Bud Bilanich is an organization effectiveness consultant, keynote speaker, executive coach and author from Denver, Colorado. Bud's blog features advice for the business executive, stories about his clients, and personal anecdotes. Bud is the author of six books that are displayed prominently on the sidebar of the blog.

Favorite Post
Persistence quotes Calvin Coolidge (30th President of the U.S. from my home state of Vermont) and tells a story about Bud's niece. Morgan wanted a job with Stein Mart since her sophomore year in college, took a job with a competitor when there were no openings, applied to three positions as they emerged coming in a "close second," and then finally:

"I got a job at Stein Mart. I am very excited! I will be the assistant buyer for missy moderate sportswear. I will be starting there on July 5th."

Further Comments
I don't normally highlight author blogs because there are so many and they only vaguely resemble a "small business" in the traditional sense. I made an exception here because Bud also runs a consultancy company and he wrote to me and politely asked me to take a look. Asking nicely goes a long way with me.

The blog is pretty good, although the content is industry-specific rather than company specific. This means that the posts relate to the industry of leadership advice rather than Bud's company and his day-to-day challenges. As I've said before, this is a tough way to go because you automatically place yourself among very tough competition when you create an industry-specific blog unless you are one of the absolute first bloggers in the field. It also means you need to post very regularly to keep ahead or at par with the competition, much more than the 2-3/week minimum I normally recommend, and the quality of the posts have to be top-notch.

Bud's posts are pretty good, and are exactly the kind of thing you would expect at a blog for leadership advice, if a little broad and generic. Some very specific examples of how he has helped clients would add a lot to differentiate his blog from others written on the same topic.

From a layout standpoint, the blog is mostly excellent. The sidebar navigation is right on, but desperately needs a search box so people can find that post they read two months ago.

Bud has chosen the format of truncating his posts on the home page so only the first 250 or so words appear. You have to click a "read more" link to read the whole post. At first it looked to me that all of his posts were simply very short, then I realized there was a "read more" for nearly every one of them.

I don't like this simply for the reason that it makes me work harder to read the whole thing. While reading 20+ blogs a day, the last thing I want is unnecessary work. There is an argument for the fact it cleans up the layout a little bit and makes the scroll much less on the side of the browser, but these are arguments designers would make, not readers.

I would suggest placing the entire post on the main page so we can read the whole thing at once, unless the posts are typically running 1,000 words or more, but the ones I read were safe.

Technorati : bud bilanich, leadership consulting, leadersip

Newcastle Square Realty: Small Business Blog of the Day

What it is
The Newcastle Square Realty blog represents a realty company specializing in the Pemaquid peninsula on coastal Maine. The blog features posts about the community with an occasional post about a property recently placed on the market. Readers can learn about events and sights in the towns surrounding Damariscotta and Newcastle. Writing on the blog is shared between Jim Cosgrove and Tom Field.

Favorite Post
The Best Season explains why now is the best time to visit coastal Maine.

"The summer crowds are gone but there will be a decent amount of visitors here, enough to make things interesting. There will be no trouble getting tee times at any of the local golf courses and best of all, the bugs are gone!"

Further Comments
This blog is designed by our friends at Flyte and they have incorporated extremely clean navigation and graphics, well-integrated with the company's main site (Maine site?). As the posts start piling up, they definitely need a search box for those 50% of search-dominant readers, but otherwise the design is super-solid.

What I really like about this blog is that it is going after the community. They are capturing the allure of the area by "reporting" on the events of the nearby towns. I can just imagine the banker sitting in his high rise Boston office visiting the blog often for that reminder of ocean peace. Visitors not only get to find out what properties are for sale, they find out what's going on in town. This is great marketing as it really places readers in the town, experiencing what they would experience if they lived there.

The blog is thin on posts and knowing the laid-back lifestyle of Maine, it may be a challenge coming up with material for the blog. In this case I would strongly suggest they go for a simple photograph every couple of days or so. This would be a great thing to allow readers to connect two or three times a week with the iconic lifestyle they crave. It would also give them a reason to keep the blog in their RSS reader instead of deleting from lack of posts.

Technorati : damariscotta, flyte, flyte media, jim cosgrove, maine coast property, maine realtor, maine realty, newcastle, newcastle maine, newcastle square realty, pemaquid, pemaquid peninsula, realty blog, tom field

Think Positive! Blog: Small Business Blog of the Day

What it is
Think Positive! Blog gives encouragement and motivation to readers through quotes, stories, and advice about positive thinking, especially affirmations. The blog is written by psychologist Kirsten Harrell to promote the website ipop-ins which sells mp3 affirmations available through the site or through iTunes. For $1, ipop-ins sells an affirmation that plays on your ipod for about a minute. They include statements like, "I have everything I need to succeed," and "I choose to have a great day." Kirsten owns ipop-ins with her sister Traci.

Favorite Post
Feed your soul gives you a list of ways to stop and smell the roses:

Here is a list of 10 of my favorite ways to relax, clear my mind, feed my soul, renew my spirit:

1. Take a walk in nature - especially the beach
2. Listen to my favorite music
3. Take pictures of the beauty in nature
4. Meditate or use guided imagery
5. Have a picnic in a beautiful spot
6. Watch turkey vultures and hawks soar through the sky
7. Read something inspirational
8. Spend time with my family
9. Watch a funny movie
10. Play with my cats

Further Comments
Kirsten was nice enough to give me a couple of mp3s to try out. Interesting product and they seem to be tapping into a huge global market very effectively. At least two contests have appeared on the blog including an iPod shuffle and iPod mini giveaway. Sweet!

Pretty good blog. There are amazon affiliate links in the sidebar that I think the blog could do without, but at least they are very representative of the blog's content. Navigation is very good, except she definitely needs a search box.

Kirsten is adding a lot of content to this blog with a post nearly every day. This is great as it will accelerate the blog's rise in search engine rankings and is sure to attract links from other sites.

Kirsten is going for an "industry" blog rather than a "business-specific" blog. This means her posts tend to be general advice about positive thinking and affirmations rather than posts about her company. I would like to see a few more posts about the company to really get a sense about the people involved with ipop-ins. More photos would be great too.

Overall, this is a very solid business blog.

Technorati : ipop-ins, ipopin, ipopins, kirsten harrell, think positive, think positive blog, traci harrell

Carolina Adirondack: Small Business Blog of the Day

What it is
Carolina Adirondack sells unique outdoor furniture from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The site features large images of the shop's products including tables and chairs. Readers are directed to order products by phone or through an order form that can be printed out and mailed.

Favorite Post
I'm pretty much choosing one at random here because there are very few posts and they are all pretty similar. Here's a description of a bench:

"It incorporates our mitered leg with rabbets (a method of construction that provides mechanical support for the frame in addition to the screws and waterproof glue used in our joinery)."

Further Comments
You might be wondering why I'm featuring a blog that is rarely updated, doesn't tell you much about the company, includes only a handful of posts, and lacks most of traditional blogging conventions.

The reason I'm featuring it is because of its simplicity. The format (it looks like Typepad) allows the company to update photos and descriptions of their products super-easily, and even allows feedback of their products through the comments.

Could the site be better? Of course. They could start writing on a weekly basis. Just one post a week about special customer requests would give this blog an entirely new dimension that would draw readers in and give readers a reason to load the blog's RSS feed into their readers. More posts would attract more links, and more links would bring better search engine results.

But still it's worth looking at just to see a nice product display format with a minimal amount of effort.

Technorati : adirondack chair, adirondack chairs, adirondack furniture, carolina adirondack

Dover Canyon Winery: Small Business Blog of the Day

What it is
Dover Canyon Winery is the blog for the winery of the same name written by Mary Baker, an "administrative partner" of the winery in Paso Robles, California. Mary discusses events related to the winery such as wine tastings and the state of the grapes, as well as tackling broader issues like cooking with wine, or a general discussion of tannins.

Favorite Post
Strangely, I was drawn to a post that has no mention of wine...Society Dogs and the Lime Green Bus:

"On Friday we had the pleasure of a visit from the 'Society Dog' Bus. Check out the cool lime green and purple bus, completely renovated to safely transport human and canine alike."

Further Comments
What I like about the 'Society Dogs' post is that it highlights customers. This is so important to do with a business blog. One of the easiest and biggest mistakes to make when writing a blog is to write about you and your company. What you should really be doing is writing about your customers and their needs.

I really like the fact that the most recent posts talk about Mary's winery and get away from general discussions about wine like many of the older posts. A general discussion is fine for a blog that writes about an entire industry, but for a specific winery, the success of the blog depends on posts about the winery itself. The reason is that there are tons of wine blogs that carry these general discussions, but there is only one blog that will be talking about Dover Canyon. This means there is little reason for a reader to visit the blog for a general discussion of wine, yet a reader has every reason to visit if they are looking for information about Dover Canyon Winery.

Mary has a lot of things going on in her navigation sidebar including the basics like blog navigation, RSS feeds, and a search box, but she also includes things like multiple links to other sites, amazon links, a calendar, a reader poll, and site stats. While it's very busy, the design of this sidebar is attractive, so it doesn't bother me too much. Each section is clearly separated from the next and reads ok.

I would make the suggestion to eliminate some of these items. I would get rid of the calendar (they're useless as navigation tool) and group the archives-by-month with the archives-by-categories. I would eliminate the 'Recent Posts' section because anyone who has scrolled down that far has already seen most of them anyway. The RSS section is very busy and too far down the page. I would highly recommend that Mary sign up with FeedBurner (free), use one icon for the feed, and place it at the top of the page where it's easy to find.

Two items I really like are the reader poll (we mentioned these yesterday), and the "Most Popular Posts" section. In fact I like the second one so much, I think I'll add that section to PJ. [Update: I created a Typelist called "Top 10 Posts" tonight and it's now displayed on the left sidebar. I chose the posts based on traffic as reported by Sitemeter. This will have to be updated manually which will be a pain, but I think it's a nice addition.]

Technorati : dover canyon, dover canyon vineyard, dover canyon winery, mary baker, paso robles, vineyard, wine blog, winery

DennisKennedy.com: Small Business Blog of the Day

What it is
DennisKennedy.com is the blog for attorney Dennis Kennedy based in St. Louis, Missouri. Kennedy specializes in technology law, writing for various publications in the genre. His blog is highly specialized, directed to a very specific niche market.

Favorite Post
My Late Night Conversation with Elvis Presley. How I could I resist a post called that?

"There was a point where I consciously chose to stop saying 'Did Elvis . . .' and instead asked, 'Did you . . .,' which I did out of respect for the quality of the performance and how impressed I was with the thoroughness of his knowledge and the obvious respect he has for Elvis."

Further Comments
Kennedy has been blogging for a while now (Feb. 2003) and is very well established in his field. His writing is top-rate, though not for everyone. As I mentioned, this blog appeals to a niche audience and has excellent material for that audience, but very little of value for anyone outside this niche. This is a great approach and only serves to make Kennedy an absolute authority in that niche.

Design-wise, I'm surprised Kennedy has so many ads on the blog. For me, it makes the sidebars very busy and difficult to locate site navigation. I was really thrown by the archive navigation as it appears to list individual posts. For a few minutes I was thinking this blog was only about 20 posts old. Then I realized they weren't individual posts, they were categories. The navigation heading simply says, "Archives" where it should say "Categories" or "Category Archives." Furthermore, there are no archives-by-month navigation. Every site needs this as it allows the reader to follow the posts as they're written. Being able to read the blog as it evolves creates a story (even if we have to read it backwards), a compelling reason readers return over and over to the same blog.

Strangely, the archives-by-month navigation does appear when an individual post is accessed through a permalink. This is how I was able to discover how old the blog was.

Technorati : attorney blog, dennis kennedy, elvis, elvis impersonator, elvis presley, law blog, lawyer blog, technology attorney

Mothership BBQ: Small Business Blog of the Day

Ken Burgin of Profitable Hospitality sent me today's gem.

What it is
Mothership BBQ is a Nashville, Tennessee BBQ joint run by Jim Reams. This blog is especially interesting because it chronicles the company's history from the very beginning. Hopefully, we will see more of this in the future...blogs emerging and living right along with the actual company. Reams features news on the restaurant's progress, stories about customers, challenges he faces, and excellent soft-sell self promotion.

Favorite Post
High 90s talks about the weather (but doesn't do anything about it):

"It is a proven scientific fact that BBQ is the best possible food to eat on really hot, humid days. Especially if you are with a large group."

Further Comments
This blog is absolutely gripping. I went right to the very first posts of the blog and started reading and got totally hooked. Jim's blog tells a story, a technique that is very powerful for creating a lasting readership. The story here is "Will the BBQ joint survive?" and "Will Jim go insane any time soon." Very compelling.

I love how Jim mentions his customers in the blog. He understands that the blog is about it's readers (customers) and not about him. By talking about his customers, his readers connect much more strongly than if he talked about life behind the counter. After all, any of us could be a potential diner at the Mothership, while almost none of us will be the cook.

Jim hides behind the identity of Dr. Funkenswine. I find this slightly annoying as it leans toward the problem of a character blog, but the Dr. isn't a character, it's simply a nickname. Still, I'd much rather know the author as "Jim" than a cartoony alias. In fact, it took some digging to discover the owner's name was Jim, and a lot more digging to find that it was Jim Reams. Jim also writes a personal blog under the name Nashville Knucklehead, so we can deduce he enjoys nicknames.

Technorati : dr. funkenswine, jim reams, mothership bar b que, mothership barbeque, mothership bbq, mothership nashville, nashville knucklehead

SeaNova: Small Business Blog of the Day

[International Talk Like a Pirate Day is September 19...today]

Ahoy, Maties! Away with yer Grog and set a piece. Shiver my timbers and Yo Ho Ho ya scurvy dog! Yer blog might sure be want'n to be as right good as this doubloon, but cut me loose and I'll keelhaul ya like a Landlubber.

What it arrrrr  
SeaNova be the blog fer Glen-L Boat Design   ahoy thar in Bellflower, California. The Buccanneer 'hind thar blog be Keith. Plentiful good pictures fer showin' buildin', gluin', and shapin' adorn this fine blog.

Favorite Post
Thar's one any Scallywag could luv! It be called mosquitos, terrible heat, cursing!:

"So, predictably, things went poorly and I reaffirmed all of Lynn's fear about working w/ me….ah well…"

Aye, a fine lass she is to handle such a lily-livered Buccaneer!

Further Comments
This blog be loaded to the gunwales with proper blog booty. Blimey, the swag tumbles about back to November, 2004. 'At's bountiful grub for pillagin'!

(didn't even bother with the spell check on this one)

A Painting a Day: Small Business Blog of the Day

Today's blog is pure genius.

What it is
Duane Keiser paints one postcard-sized painting nearly every day, posts a photo of his painting on his blog called A Painting a Day, and sells them through eBay for at least $100. His most recent paintings have sold for $455, $635, $305, $510 and $303. That's between September 10-18. Duane lives in Richmond, Virginia.

Favorite Post
PB&J No.5 will go to the highest bidder early Wednesday afternoon (on the east coast). Currently, the highest bid is $1,025.

Further Comments
The simplicity of this site speaks for itself. This is the most brilliant use of a blog I've ever seen! I'm inspired! I think I'm going to start a blog called A Stained Glass Cathedral Window A Day. I'll make a premium just in shipping charges.

Technorati : a painting a day, artist, duane keiser, oil painter, oil painting, painter, painting a day, richmond painter, still life, still lifes, virginia painter

Honest Farm: Small Business Blog of the Day

Today's blog comes to us from a blog consulting company who asked me to check out their clients. Tom at New Drone said, "We are finding success in showing small businesses, especially start-ups, how they can leverage a blog for their business." Cool. Here's the blog I chose to highlight...

What it is
Honest Farm is a farm in the process of becoming organically certified located near Midway, Kentucky. The farm "...pretty much the same way our grandparents grew their food before the days of industrial farming and the widespread use of chemicals in farming." The farm features a children's garden and educational programs. The blog is written by cookbook author Susie Quick, and several posts are in fact recipes.

Favorite Post
Kids and gardens do mix is a great post describing the opening of the Children's Garden at the farm. This type of post is called a photoblog because of the dominant use of photos to tell the story.

"Tater Tots Kevin and Eva grapple for potatoes."

Further Comments
I'm worried about this blog because it's fairly new (since July 5) but the posts seem to be petering out already (only two posts for September). A blog's effectiveness really hit their stride around six months as their content becomes significant and search engines start to notice. It is around this time that other people begin to notice too and start linking to your blog.

I would like to see a more obvious link to the blog on the home page. When I first visited the site I totally skipped the blog link in the name navigation (it says 'our farm blog' in parenthesis) and found it only by going through one of the 'recent news' links. A simple link titled 'Blog' or 'Our Blog' would be more effective. Also, I would get rid of the Amazon.com affiliate links on the site and the PayPal donate link as they take away from the professionalism of a business site with very little return. I am not aware of any small business site that is making more than $5 a month from these types of links and for that amount, it's worth making your site look much more professional.

What I really like about Honest Farm is their use of photos. The recipes have photos, the posts about the farm has photos, it's great! I think this blog just needs some attention and a more obvious link on the home page to give it some more exposure.

Tags: honest farm, susie quick, midway ky, midway kentucky, organic farm, organic farming, childrens garden, children's garden, photoblog

Two Maids Blog: Small Business Blog of the Day

I received an email from Ron Holt today telling me about his blog. Here it is...

What it is
Two Maids Blog talks about house cleaning, the old fashioned way. It represents Ron Holt's company, Two Maids & a Mop, on the Gulf Coast of Florida. While the blog centers around the company, there are several posts referring to management and customer service articles.

Favorite Post
Here's one from October called (appropriately enough) What's your favorite...:

"People purchase products from big, established companies and they purchase services from small, local businesses. The difference is service."

Further Comments
Ron isn't going to be happy to hear this, but I would suggest a blog overhaul.

Here's the thing...finding a "favorite post" was very difficult. Why? It felt like I was being preached to in the posts rather than entering a conversation. To reinforce this feeling, Ron does not allow comments on the blog, a vital aspect to a blog's customer service potential. The fact that so many of Ron's posts are about customer service struck me as a bit ironic.

It is clear that Ron spends a great deal of time on the blog, takes it seriously, and takes pride in writing it. But where are the profiles of the employees? Where are the funny stories a customer told today? Where are the tips to get hard water deposits off the tub? Where are the photos? That's what I would expect to find at a housecleaning blog. I can't find it anywhere.

Visitors are reading to get information about housecleaning. Unfortunately, there is very little information about housecleaning on the blog, and a lot of information about how Two Maids is going to be the next Forbes 500 company.

I really think the blog needs to make a serious focus shift. Stop telling us how good you are and start sharing the personal side of the business. Definitely emulate the kinds of posts that appear on innocent's blog, el bloggo torcido, and Mäni's Bakery. They have it down and are doing a great job! Many of the posts may appear silly, but they totally give the company a human touch as opposed to a corporate feel.

Finally, from a layout standpoint, a search box needs to be added and the monthly archive does not keep up to date. When you go back to March, for example, May through September disappear from the list. That's Blogger for you.

As always, comments are welcome and I'd be happy to dive into more details, give further suggestions, or hear out an opposing viewpoint.

Tags: two maids, two maids and a mop, two maids & a mop, two maids blog, housecleaning, house cleaning, maid service, maids, ron holt, florida maid

jintrinsique (Uniquely Yours Pastry Shoppe): Small Business Blog of the Day

Technorati is having problems and I'm beginning to question their viability as a good blog search engine. For one thing, they are saying Pajama Market hasn't been updated for 19 days now, and for another, when I did a blog search for 'bakery' nothing appeared, but when I tried again, I got a few hits. Why would it work one time but not the other? Furthermore, my email to their support a few days ago has gone unanswered. I really think they are leaving the door open for a competitor to come along and wipe them out. (Are you listening Google Blog Search?)

On my second search for 'bakery' I discovered today's blog.

What it is
jintrinsique, while hard to pronounce, is the blog for the Uniquely Yours Pastry Shoppe written by co-owner Jennifer Pasquill in Manitowoc, Wisconsin (let me check the map here...154 miles from my living room, damn...too far to get a treat).

Features
Tons of product photos and stories about making them.

Favorite Post
"I Know This Dude!" Volume I describes the delivery guy that brings the pastry shop it's eggs and butter.

"We knew Humpty Dumpty delivers almost anywhere, but to a strip joint?!!? When asked what he delivers to them, he replied, 'Why, whipped cream, of course!' HAHAHA!!! Turns out he was joking.....I think?"

Further Comments
I mostly love this blog. It's a perfect example of the content that should appear on a business blog. Every post serves to educate the reader on the shop's products, the great care that goes into the baking, and the personality of both Jennifer and the people she meets through her business.

Jennifer makes fantastic use of photographs in the blog. A great example is my favorite post in which Jennifer uses photos to show what "that dude" delivers and what is then created with "that dude's" products. In addition to having lots of photos in her blog, Jennifer also links to a photo gallery in her main navigation area. I like this a lot which makes me want to add a direct link to my Flickr account in my 'about' section in the left sidebar.

It's too bad this blog is done with Blogger. I think Jennifer has done about everything she can with the format, but it's still...how shall I put this...ugly. The typical Blogger header is starting to look very out-of-date and the blog struggles to be a great blog despite it's looks, not because of them. Also, Jennifer gets very cutesy with naming the navigation blocks. Instead of 'Recent Posts' she uses 'my recent delusions,' and who knows what the links called "my meritorious posts" and "my belles-letters" refer to? I couldn't figure it out even after clicking on some of the links. For that matter, the title of the blog is a little odd, and doesn't seem to be very easy to remember, spell, or even say. I would suggest renaming the navigation to something easily identifiable, and even think about renaming the blog. The Uniquely Yours Pastry Blog would be just fine.

Despite these little naming things, the blog's content is right on the money and serves as a great example of things to write about on your blog.

Tags: jintrinsique, uniquely yours, uniquely yours pastry shoppe, jennifer pasquill, manitowoc, manitowoc wisconsin, manitowoc wi, pastry shop, pastries, bakery, wedding cake, wedding cakes

One Black Bird: Small Business Blog of the Day

Today's blog arrived from a roundabout trip. First, searches on Technorati and Google were going nowhere until I tried "pottery blog" and then I found this great blog, except it was woefully out of date. But the comments on the last post gave me hope and pointed me to another blog, but that author had last written in August and had only two posts for that month. But that blog had a list of other pottery bloggers and (thankfully) the first one on the list was fairly recent, frequently updated, connected to a real business site, and charmed my socks off! Phew!

What it is
One Black Bird is the pottery blog for Diana Fayt of San Francisco, California. Her gallery website may be found here.

Features
Lots of photos of Diana's craft and a journal-style peak into her life as an artist. It seems that each post is a review of the day which works really well because it always revolves around Diana's pottery.

Favorite Post
Reading this blog gives me a real sense of knowing Diana. Artists blogs seem to be more personal somehow than other business blogs, but this one in particular struck me as intimate. Here's a post titled cement trucks & toilets please that I found revealing:

"I kind of feel like drawing something like a toilet or a cement truck anything other than a flower."

Further Comments
The content of the blog is fantastic! I would only suggest a few layout changes to make this a real first-rate business blog. All the posts of the blog appear on the home page dating back to May. Diana should change her settings so that only the last 20 or so posts appear, or only the posts within the last 30 days. This allows the page to load quicker and reduces the amount of scrolling we have to do to read it. Diana has a nice archive-by-month navigation that would allow us to find older posts easily.

I would also suggest that Diana use more descriptive headlines in her posts. Headlines like "off you go!", "the race is on", and "sawhorse love" might work as chapters to a book, but here they are problematic. The reason is simple: the headline may be the only criteria a reader will use to decide whether or not to read the post. If the headline is descriptive and tells the reader something about the post (like a newspaper headline), the reader is far more likely to read the post. This is especially important to those readers who are viewing your posts in an RSS reader as the headline may be the only part of the post they can initially see.

Tags: one black bird, diana fayt, pottery, diana fayt gallery, headlines, writing headlines

innocent: Small Business Blog of the Day

At 105 employees, today's blog is pushing it as a "small business," but I really like the blog and since I get to decide, I'm including it! I found this blog via Mark White's excellent UK website, Better Business Blogging (that I am now subscribing to via RSS).

What it is
innocent is a beverage company in the UK offering "little tasty drinks." Dan Germain is the writer of the blog owned by Rich
Reed, Jon Wright and Adam Balon based in London.

Features
Product news, promotion news, stories about employees and customers, everything you could ask for in a small business blog, even though it's only a couple of months old.

Favorite Post
No massages today. If this doesn't give you a really intimate look at the company's culture, what does? Actually, I could have picked any of a dozen posts. The blog is that good. Regarding one post that makes me a little anxious, did they find the cat?

"If you were due to have a massage today they have been cancelled as the lady who was coming in to treat us has put her back out."

Further Comments
What's not to like? The innocent blog includes tons of photos, tons of personality, and very little of taking itself seriously. Sometimes a blog is good because the writer is exceptionally clever, sometimes it's because they do tons of work to provide top-of-the-industry information. This blog is good simply because it accurately reflects the company which is fun, lively, and creative.

Tags: innocent, innocent beverages, innocent london, limbo, dan germaine, smoothies, mark white, better business blogging

El Bloggo Torcido: Small Business Blog of the Day

I was going to write a short one today because going through Denise's interview was a little time consuming. So I checked out a blog from a winery that asked me to review them. Wouldn't you know that I would end up loving it and spending an hour reading the damn thing...

What it is
El Bloggo Torcido or The Twisted Blog (more or less) is the blog for the Twisted Oak Winery in Vallecito, Calaveras County, California. The blog is authored by multiple employees of the winery under the aliases El Jefe, Fermento, and Pimp Daddy. While these may seem like characters, this is not a 'character blog.' Actually, I'm sure they are characters. What I mean is, these folks write under an alias, but we know who they are (it tells us on the 'about' page) and they aren't trying to pretend to be someone they aren't. They clearly just like nicknames.

Features
Tons of photos ( I LOVE it!). Stories from the employees about wine making. I have a sneaking suspicion the employees sample the product while writing the blog.

Favorite Post
Oh, there are sooooo many. Let's use Geek Sheets:

"It's time for El Jefe to "out" himself. It's true. I am 100% geek. I even have a ham radio license (I know that's hard to believe.)"

Further Comments
Can I just say...I really love this blog. I'm not sure if it's the juvenile wit, the photos of pirates, the sleek design, or the fact that reading the blog made me quite thirsty, but I love it!

This blog is playful, it shows the spirit of the company, the zaniness of the employees, the quirkiness of its customers, and the intelligence of its marketing value. I have but one suggestion for the blogonauts at Twisted Oak...add a search box for the blog! Why? Because usability studies indicate that about half of internet users are considered "search dominant" while another 30% navigate through a combination of searches and clicking on links (the remaining 20% are "link dominant". If you don't have search capabilities on your blog, most of these people will simply leave after a couple of minutes.

Tags: el bloggo torcido, the twisted blog, twisted blog, twisted oak, twisted oak vineyard, twisted oak winery, twisted oak wine, calaveras county, calaveras county california, calaveras county ca, calaveras county wine, vallecito, vallecito california, vallecito ca, wine, vineyard, winery, el jefe, fermento, pimp daddy, jeff stai, scott klann, boy brainerd, geek sheets, pirates, arrr that's good wine

Show Me the Money: Small Business Blog of the Day

Today's blog came to my attention from another submission to my guidelines comments page. It's a nice example of a blog for a company who provides a service and can be maintained with a minimal time investment.

What it is
Show Me the Money is the blog for Marshall Lebovits discussing "Innovative financing solutions including purchase order finance, factoring, asset based revolvers, equipment leasing and real estate finance when the Bank says 'no'!" Marshall writes the blog from Redondo Beach, California.

Features
Marshall reads the news about company financing and then writes posts commenting on these articles. The result is a good selection of posts giving insight to the various ways companies raise capital and the problems companies encounter with the various methods. Marshall blends in a good mix of posts pushing his own services.

Favorite Post
Back in June, Marshall described how his services helped a client in a post called Business owner solves cash flow problem and avoids bankruptcy!:

"Within 24 hours of speaking to the owner, I presented three options and a lender quickly funded the loan. Not only was the cash flow problem solved, but the ecstatic owner avoided a costly bankruptcy and is now focusing his energy on growing his business."

Further Comments
What I really like about this blog is the fact that it is pretty low-maintenance for Marshall. The formula is easy...read the news about your industry in the morning, write a 50-200 word post about your thoughts on one of the articles, mention the article with a link to it in your post. Marshall is creating a readership because his readers don't need to do the work of finding these articles themselves. In the process, Marshall creates a captive audience to slip in an endorsement for his services once in a while. Nice.

The blog is a little dry, but serves its purpose. This is a good time to mention that people read your blog (and reread it) generally because the overall subject matter is important to them. They don't read it for your personal insights and reflections about items in the news, your family, or what you think about the new weird flavor of Gatorade. Why do I mention this? Because every post on this blog is on topic. I have stated several times that a personal post from time to time is great because it humanizes the company (you will indeed see personal posts on this blog), but they should be infrequent and, if possible, should still somehow be tied into the overall subject matter of the blog. Just don't get carried away making your blog a personal blog instead of a business blog. With this in mind, I would like to see one or two posts on Marshall's blog telling us something personal about himself.

The design is very basic, which is totally fine. The blog platform is Blogger which isn't great but still does the job. Navigation is good except that Marshall needs to add a simple search box to find posts easily. This is important because around half the people who use the internet are considered "search-centric" which means the search box is basically their only method of finding things. In other words, they don't use any link-based navigation no matter how perfectly you've organized it (I'm one of these people).

Finally, there is very little information about Marshall or his company. He does provide a phone number that is well-placed on the blog, but there isn't a lot of information about exactly what he does. I would like to see a much more detailed 'about' page that really describes his services and compels me to give him a call or send him an email. About ten paragraphs should do it.

Tags: show me the money, marshall lebovits, raising capital, company capital, company funding, raising funds, blogger, blog search, searching blogs

Shoelover: Small Business Blog of the Day

Today's blog comes from another company who left a comment on our guidelines page. If you would like to be featured, feel free to check out our guidelines and leave a comment or email me directly at frisco3 [at] gmail [dot] com.

What it is
Shoelover is the blog for a shoe box company called Shoe Stör. When I say shoe box company, I don't mean they are really small, I mean they make shoe boxes...clear ones so you can actually see your shoes. Unfortunately, the author of the blog is not be found on the posts, nor on the main website. This annoys me as I like to have a name behind posts so I know they are written by a living, breathing human being. However, considering the dry sense of humor displayed on the blog, I suspect it may not be written by a human at all but perhaps by the HAL 9000. Whoever writes the blog, it appears to originate in the vicinity of Toronto.

Features
The above-mentioned dry sense of humor, all kinds of news about shoes, and sprinklings here and there about the company including how to stack their shoe boxes.

Favorite Post
Ok, I've mentioned the sense of humor twice now, I guess I should find a post I consider funny...

Ah. Here's one called Oh No!!!

   

"...and worst of all, someone suggested that Shoelover should stop referring to themselves in the third person. Shoelover thinks this person should shave their goatee, but really, of what relevance is that to the conversation."

Further Comments
In a word...amusing. "Shoelover" has a great sense of humor, and it was a pleasure searching through the posts to find a favorite one.

I find the side bars way too busy. In fact, they were busy enough that I'm going to write a post specifically on this topic in the very near future. [Update: Sidebar post has been written.]

Cleaning up the side bars and sprucing up the graphics would do a lot towards making this blog look more professional and business-like. And when people see a professional looking website, they feel safe purchasing something from it. Placing an ugly graphic on the page that says "Powered by Internet Secure" does not have the same effect.

Tags: Shoe Lover, shoelover, shoe stor, shoes, hal 9000, hal, shoe box, shoebox, shoe boxes

Marcia E. Brubeck: Small Business Blog of the Day

Today's blog represents a segment of the business world we don't see enough of: professionals. Doctors, attorneys, architects, etc., would all benefit from writing a blog in the following ways:

   
• increased search engine traffic to their firm.
   
• reinforcement to clients that the professional is an expert in their field.
   
• creating customer service opportunities by allowing comments to their posts and responding to questions customers have.

Two examples we've already reviewed include Ernie the Attorney back in May, and recently, Dr. Dan Beatty, veterinarian. Today's blog looks at psychotherapy.

What it is
The blog for Marcia E. Brubeck covers psychotherapy and advocacy to obtain healthcare for mental illness. Marcia has offices in the Hartford, Connecticut area.

Features
Articles suggesting supportive strategies towards children's mental well-being permeate this blog showing Marcia's area of expertise. Mixed in with these posts are articles covering general mental health advice as well as lengthy reviews of books in the mental health category.

Favorite Post
Helping Your Child Deal with New Experiences and Major Changes explores things parents can do to diminish the anxiety felt with children during experiences like moving to a new school or their first airplane trip:

"The more your child understands about what will be involved, the more prepared he or she will feel. Hands-on activities stay in memory the best, and pictures are more memorable than spoken words."

Further Comments
This is a fairly cerebral blog, which mostly makes sense considering the subject matter and the author. The content is well-written, well-researched, and totally committed to the overall subject the blog is portraying.

However, the posts are consistently long. Too long. The shortest post that is currently residing on the home page is over 500 words long. That's a two page article if you print it out. Nothing but long articles on a blog is extremely exhausting to read.

There are two good solutions for having long articles. The first solution is simply to write a larger number of posts with varying lengths. Don't be afraid to write a post that's 30 words long that is simply a link to someone else's article or blog post on another website. If it fits your readership, they will appreciate being told about the article.

The second solution is to take the long posts and simply break them up into shorter ones with a "Part 1," "Part 2" approach. One main reason to avoid long posts is because it is at least as exhausting to write as it is to read. This is not a motivator for continuing your blog for more than a couple of months. The blog should be worked on fairly effortlessly and frequently as opposed to thoroughly but seldom. So far, Marcia has done a good job keeping the post count/week up, but I don't see this continuing with the length of posts that are currently being written. If Marcia throws in some 50-100 word posts, she will be doing both herself and her readership a favor.

On the formatting side of things, the blog needs 1) a month-by-month archive navigation to find older posts, 2) photos in the posts, and 3) a "permalink" link in the footer of each post. The permalink is critical as it allows other bloggers to link directly to that specific article, rather than just the home page of the blog. Marcia is using Typepad as her blogging format, so adding a permalink and the month-by-month archive is simply checking two boxes in the design section of the blog's administrator section.

Overall, this blog has a very good start and Marcia clearly seems committed to get the most out of the marketing opportunities a blog presents to professionals.

Tags: marcia brubeck, psychotherapy, hartford, hartford ct, hartford connecticut, childhood anxiety

Sharma Designs: Small Business Blog of the Day

Today's blog brings us into the area of art. I can't say enough how much blogging and an artistic business go hand and hand. If your business makes anything that is one-of-a-kind, you must blog. Tell the story of how your product is created. Talk about the connection your customers have had with you and your company. Give us a glimpse at how your creative mind works. For any potential customer, this information will be fascinating and will drive them to buy your product over anyone with a static, old-school website.

What it is
Sharma Designs is a blog for a jewelry maker named Sharla Oliveri from San Jose, California. Sharla offers unique pieces of jewelry because, "If I've seen it on every street corner, I ain't gonna wear it."

Features
Posts about specific jewelry pieces, challenges with running the business, and personal stories.

Favorite Post
I was a bit torn between two posts because the current post at the top of the page is a great example of describing the process of Sharla's creativity. However, I liked this one even better because it reflects a part of business we can all relate to. You know that day when your first business cards arrive and you open the box to smell the freshly printed reminder that you are in business for yourself? Well, the post called New Tags! reminded me of that feeling:

"I am so excited! I just got my new jewelry tags! I had been out of the old ones for awhile and decided it was time for a change."

Further Comments
This blog is solid! It has a ton of posts, going back to January of '05. It has a mix of content from descriptions of Sharla's jewelry to personal stories. Sharla uses lots and lots of photos making the blog very visually interesting. Navigating to the main website where you can shop is super-easy. The layout is nice, offsetting Blogger's inherent awkwardness.

When you see a blog this good, you really have to nitpick to improve upon it. Here's two suggestions:

1. Clean up the RSS/Feedblitz/Search area of the sidebar. It looks cluttered compared to the clean layout of the rest of the blog.
2. In the past month, there have maybe been too many personal posts and not enough about the jewelry/business. Personal posts are good, they add a human face to the company, but aim for a ration of around 1:5 compared to company-related posts. Right now on the home page I count 4 posts in a row along the personal lines of blogging (8/16-8/21). Fine for a personal blog, not great for a business blog.

Tags: sharma designs, sharla oliveri, san jose california, jewelry maker, jewelry artist, necklaces, pendants, sharma, jewelry design, jewelry designs

BrianBrownInc.com: Small Business Blog of the Day

A week ago I was scanning my stats, checking out what websites and what searches people were using to find Pajama Market, and I found more than one instance of someone doing a search in Google for 'Brian Brown.' Curiosity got the better of me so I Googled myself and found Pajama Market to be 8th or 11th on the list, depending on how you look at it (actor Bryan Brown gets his own weird section in this Google search, knocking me down a few pegs).

In front of me was a photographer, a race car driver, and a doctor. The photographer didn't have a blog, so the next on the list was a race car driver. At first glance, it doesn't look like a blog, but Brian's website is in fact a blog. I might call it a blog disguised as a normal website. This will be a good one to analyze because it is using blogging technology a little differently than the normal blog.

What it is
BrianBrownInc.com is the website for Sprint Car race car driver Brian Brown of Grain Valley, Missouri.

Features
The is blog is "disguised" as the 'latest news' section on the home page. Brian is a local celebrity so you will find news about his races, his charity events and his sponsors.

Favorite Post
Nothing like a suspenseful finish. Here's one called Brown charges from 15th to 2nd in Knoxville Summer Classic:

"What Brown may not have known was that Jeffrey shot to the top of the track because the lap car ahead of them was running the bottom line. As the two front runners exited turn two, Jeffrey again took the top spot as Brown was impeded and the Aussie roared by on the outside. Immediately Brown steered to the outside as Jeffrey dove low in turn three. As the top duo came out of turn four, one could see it would be close at the finish."

Further Comments
This is good example of a blog being completely integrated into a company's website. Most readers wouldn't even recognize this as a blog. It does fit the definition of 'a website that is frequently updated with the most recent article at the top of the page and a link to the archives of previous articles.' Yep, it qualifies.

What I like about this website is that it gives updated information for all Brian's race events and public appearances in a timely manner. It's a good, straight-forward use of a blog.

While technically, this is a blog, it doesn't take full advantage of blog format and technology. Brian would do well to make some minor changes that will add to his readership and increase his fan base.

First, I couldn't find an RSS feed for the news. I suspect that this website is updated by an old-school website design program and not through an actual blog platform or content management system that automatically creates an RSS feed. An RSS feed allows people to read articles on the website without having to visit it. This may sound bad (isn't the point of having articles so people will visit your site?) but it actually builds readership over time. I would add an RSS feed to the site and tell people how to access it.

Second, I would allow fans to leave comments on all the stories. Again, this may be a function of the site not actually running on a blog platform, but this is easy enough for a good web programmer to integrate. As an added bonus, Brian wouldn't have to hire a website designer every time he needed to add another article, he could do it himself as easy as writing an email.

Adding comments creates a two-way conversation between Brian and his fans, something his fans would hugely appreciate. Blogs work because they create an enormous connection with their fan base, something that would benefit anyone aspiring to celebrity status.

Photos of the races in the articles would be very cool, although there are plenty of race photos on the website.

I would love to see some personal posts from Brian in addition to the press release articles of his races. Personal posts would also help with creating a deep connection with fans that builds loyalty, passion, even obsession, things that sponsors really look for in a driver/celebrity.

Tags: brian brown, sprint car, sprint cars, race car, race cars, grain valley, grain valley mo, grain valley missouri, blackjack brian brown

Vegetables for Breakfast: Small Business Blog of the Day

Cheryl was telling me about a new farming concept called Community Supported Agriculture the other day. So I was searching Technorati for 'csa' and came across today's blog about a farm in West Virginia. I'm taking some liberties featuring this blog because it is technically not the farm's blog, it is the blog of one of its customers. The customer is so enthralled with the philosophy of the farm that they took it upon themselves to write about it. Despite the fact that this farm doesn't write the blog, nor even links to it, it is actually an extremely good example of an effective business blog.

What it is
Vegetables for Breakfast discusses the experiences of beltway inhabitant Denise Graveline as she receives the food she eats from a Community Supported Agriculture project in Shepherdstown, West Virginia called Fresh & Local CSA.

Features
This blog is one month old and contains 54 posts! Yikes! This is way past my recommended 2-3 posts/week and the content is great! You will find the farm's current offerings, suggestions on working veggies into your diet, recipes, and other subjects that compliment the blog nicely.

Favorite Post
Here's one called from porch to porch in food miles that details how many miles Denise's food travels from the farm to her kitchen:

"Add that to the 79 or so miles from Shepherdstown, West Virginia, where Farmer Allan and team picked my vegetables this morning, for a total of about 86 food miles from the farm to me. While U.S. growers and their industry representatives continue to object to "country of origin labeling," if you pick up, say, a bag of carrots in the supermarket, they very likely come from Bakersfield, California, just under 2,688 miles from me."

Further Comments
Again, let me point out that this isn't really a business blog. It's a personal blog written by someone who is passionate about a particular philosophy when it comes to farming, diet, and the environment. The reason I'm highlighting this blog today is because even though it is not a business blog, it is a great example of a business blog if it only had the Fresh & Local logo at the top of it!

So please ignore the fact that this is not the official business blog for Fresh & Local. Instead, take these lessons away from Denise's work:

Denise is passionate about her blog, writing several times a week. Passion = readership.

Most posts contain a personal anecdote creating a real connection with the reader. This is a huge improvement over an approach where Denise could just present a recipe. Instead she tells us why the recipe inspired her, what she was doing earlier in the day, and how it made her feel.

Denise uses lots of pictures and this literally made my mouth water while reading the blog.

Finally, the blog is perfectly focused. All the posts support the main theme of the blog, Community Supported Agriculture. Denise does not use this blog as a personal diary, though many posts are personal. It is on task and well thought-out.

My one suggestion would be that Fresh & Local display a prominent link on their home page to this blog. Even if it's not their official blog, they would benefit tremendously by advertising it. Basically, the blog is one giant testimonial for the farm.

Tags: fresh & local, fresh and local, fresh & local csa, fresh and local csa, csa, community supported agriculture, vegetables for breakfast, denise graveline, shepherdstown, shepherdstown wv, shepherdstown west virginia, community farm, vegetables, washington dc

PhilSteinmeyer.com: Small Business Blog of the Day

Today's blog is the se