One question that has come up often in regards to a store creating a blog is how many posts will the store need to keep their readers coming back. To answer this you have to know what you goals are. Are you aiming to make money off ads on the blog, or simply drive traffic to your website/store.

If you are trying to get people to your website/store, then a few posts a week will be fine. However, to get a lot of traffic from Digg.com, Google, Stumbleupon and other traffic generators, you should be updating rather regularly.

Remember that your readers are there to learn about your store, and to get information on Healthy Living. Make sure to keep them informed about events in your store as well as new products and your personal recommendations.

If you need additional ideas on what to blog about, read my What Can I Blog About post.

While the buzz around Web 2.0 seems to be lessening, the benefits are just starting to explode. Is your store taking advantage of the unique new marketing opportunity that exists today? Consider these facts found on Facebook's Press Release pages.

*There are more than 175 million "active" users on Facebook.
*More than half are outside of college (I know of numerous 50 year olds that are using it daily).
*The faster growing demographic is 30 years and older.


These stats alone beg for the Natural Health Industry's attention. 150 million people, 75 million of which are out of college, and most new users are 30+. Does this sound anything like your customers?

Here is another great stat you should pay attention to regarding Facebook users.
*More than 3.5 million users become fans of Pages each day.
Pages are free and create a presence to engage your customers and let them engage with each other. What better advertising than word of mouth?!?

In addition to Facebook, there are numerous sites that allow your customers to interact with your store and spread the word about your great service. One such website is Yelp.com. According to quantcast.com, Yelp.com has around 5.7 million people visiting their site monthly. 55% are female, most are in the 18-49 age group, and over 35% have an income of $100K+. Sound anything like your customers?

But what are these people doing at Yelp.com? Yelp provides a place for people to go and leave reviews for stores and services they have used. They can easily share these reviews with friends and find out what to expect before visiting a store.

This provides a great opportunity for your business. If you have a good amount of reviews and a great rating, people will be more likely to visit your store versus your competition. If you provide good customer service, great products and a friendly atmosphere, then you will get good reviews. however, you can also address any issues that a person may have with your store and rectify it. By doing this online, people will see that you care about your customers and want to make sure they are happy.

HOW DO I TAKE ADVANTAGE OF WEB 2.0?
I can help you navigate this newer marketing opportunity. I can guide you through the set-up process and help you implement a strategy that will encourage customer reviews and interaction with your store via the social marketing mediums. This is turn with increase your business and improve your local image. You have an opportunity to become the Healthy Living Expert in your area, Social Media Marketing will help you get there.

Visit www.webnaturally.com for more information on the ways I can help your store.

Two years ago I wrote an article on Web Marketing for my Web Genius customers. In it I had a list of results from a Google search for "Health Food Store". I though it would be interesting to compare the results from January 2007 to today's results. Below are the results from each search.

January 2007 - Googled "Health Food Store"
1. www.greenpeople.org - Directory
2. www.wildoats.com - Chain Store
3. www.wholefoodsmarket.com - Chain Store
4. www.gnc.com - Chain Store
5. www.vitanetonline.com - Online Store (E-Tailer)
6. www.happycows.net - Directory
7. www.quackwatch.org - Information Site
8. www.vegetarian-restaurants.net - Directory
9. www.organicconsumers.org - Directory
10. www.obpeoplesfood.com - Store

February 2008 - Googled "Health Food Store"
1. www.gnc.com - Chain Store (UP from #4)
2. www.wholefoodsmarket.com - Chain Store (UP from #3)
3. www.greenpeople.org - Directory (DOWN from #1)
4. www.ihealthtree.com - Online Store (E-Tailer) (NEW)
5. www.allstays.com - Directory (NEW)
6. www.besthealthfoodstore.net - Online Store (NEW)
7. www.quackwatch.org - Information Site (NO MOVEMENT)
8. www.amoveablefeast.com - Store (NEW)
9. www.potomacabc.com - Store (NEW)
10. www.happycow.net - Directory (DOWN from #6)

So what has changed in the last 2 years? Less directorys, less chain stores, more online stores and non chain stores. It seems that stores, both online and offline have made some progress in competing for health food store keywords. Directorys are still as important as two years ago (more if you change the keywords and try for local results). 6 of the 2007 listings are gone, replaced by another 6.

I visit these store, directorys and info sites to check out what they are doing to get listed at the top, and will help you apply these things to your website.

MORE IMPORTANT than these results are the localized results you find on Google (notice Google added a zip code feature just above search results). I will write more on these very soon as they are VITAL to your store's online success.

Visit my Services Page to check out the packages I offer. I can help you achieve success with Search Engines, Directory Listings, Email Marketing and more!

One of the main challenges of running a blog is coming up with content. Ideally, you should be writing a few posts a week. However, I believe Health Food Store owners have a unique advantage! You are running a store in one of the fastest growing industries! There are new products, new stories, recipes, and so much more that you come across every day! Why not write about them?

Your website is chock full of content that Living Naturally provides. People look to you for healthy living information. A blog is just an extension of your website, which is an extension of your store. Integrate the three together and you will always have things to write about.

Just in case you DO run out of stuff to write about, here are some suggestions;
1. Check out Natural Market Watch. You can find new products information, reports on the best selling products, reviews from industry leaders and much more!
2. Create a List - Keep a list in your pocket at all times! You never know when an idea will pop up. Over the last week and a half, I have had numerous ideas for my website, some of which have gone by the way side because I had no way of recording them!
3. Review a Product - You have vast amounts of experience with the products that you sell. People want your knowledge! Sell your products by reviewing them!
4. Ask your Customers - As you chat with them, ask them what kind of health information they would find interesting and read about. Give them your card and tell them to check out your website and blog. It's a great way to drive traffic and come up with ideas!
5. Respond to Readers - If someone leaves a comment and it is worth expanding upon, put it in a post! It can be a great relationship building tool.
6. Write a How-To Post - Write about how to use a certain product you sell. If people seem unsure when buying the product, wouldn't it be great to have the instructions on your blog!
7. Write about HOT PRODUCTS - Combine the review strategy with the Natural Market Watch and you have a great opportunity to find out what the best selling products are and write about them. This is a great way to attract traffic.

Hope this helps you come up with ideas!

Looking for more stats than Living Naturally offers??? You are in luck! Once service I always suggest my clients sign up for is Google Analytics.

I use this on all my websites. It help me track EVERYTHING I need to know! It's easy to use and set up, and it is free!

My favorite feature is the ability to analyze exactly where my customers are coming from. This helps me know which of my marketing ventures are the best and which ones to scrap.

Check it out and if you need help setting it up, visit my website and contact me. www.webnaturally.com.

I am working on a program that will generate customer feedback on listing websites. This will help improve your image on the internet and will help you attract new customer. I plan to add it to my monthly marketing package. I can set it up and help you implement it!

More to come!

Check out this Article from www.naturalfoodsmerchandiser.com. It has some great information on blogging in the Natural Foods Industry.

Do You Blog - Written by Cara Hopkins

Los Altos, Calif.-based Merchant Circle, a social networking site for small businesses, reported that its members posted 15,676 blog entries in the month of January, a 190 percent increase from January 2008.

It got me thinking, what makes a good retailer blog? It’s a fine line…There needs to be a balance between marketing your store and generating content that anyone other than your mother would want to read. I quickly scanned the blogosphere and found two examples of retailer blogs that take a stab at engaging customers.

I started with the Whole Foods Market blog. It includes everything from recipes to a list of recently recalled peanut products. One blog post features a letter from a “happy customer” thanking the grocery chain for its affordability. Hmmm … Printing customer feedback is a great idea, but this feels a little too convenient for a store with the nickname “Whole Paycheck.”

On the flip side, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, an El Segundo, Calif.-based chain with stores in the western U.S., mixes up its blog with candid photos of customers in its stores and forums like “What’s your favorite Fresh & Easy product?” Getting the customers involved in this way—putting their mugs up on your site and letting them drive discussion through online forums about your store—is a great way to balance public relations with personality.

So, do you blog? I want to know about it! Send me an email at cara.hopkins@penton.com, or leave a comment below.

Here are a few advantages to having a great internet marketing strategy.

1. Your store is open 24x7 and your customers can shop/research from the comfort of their home.

2. You can tap into customers outside your area who, without your website, would not find you.

3. You will reduce the costs of communicating with your customers (save on print and postage)

4. You can update your store's message to your customer easily and quickly.

By utilizing my services, you can begin to take advantage of all the things mentioned above.

If you haven't already, CLICK HERE to fill out a contact form and I will give you a call to discuss all the ways I can help you with your internet marketing strategy.

Below is an article I uploaded about Store Blogging.

Who has the time for blogging? Isn't that just for people with hobbies, not a busy store to run? Actually, your store can benefit GREATLY from running a simple blog, and linking it to your website. Below are some tips and guidelines to blogging in the Natural Industry. Did I mention, I can help!

Tips for Guidelines for Blogging

1. Make sure it looks professional. most blog services are free and offer a wide range of formats to choose from. You can usually customize the blog to match the look and feel of your website.

2. Link to your blog from your store's website. This is easily done via the management console and will add yet another valuable feature to your website.

3. Add interesting content to your blog. It's important to add lots of content to your blog. Some ideas for content are; store events, latest products, community events, customer testimonials and feedback, and some personal life experiences to help your customers connect to you and your store. Are you currently trying to lose weight? Share you progress on your blog.

4.Create Categories/Tags on your blog. This allows your customers to quickly search for specific posts on your blog. If they would like to check out recent new products, they can click on a related category/tag.

5. Write about your area of expertise. You are the healthy living expert in your area, talk about it! I was in a store a few years ago that was really into purified water. They had a great set-up in the store, and a combination blog and website would have allowed them to share all their great knowledge regarding purified water systems. People are looking for the knowledge that is in your head, share it with them and they will become your customers.

6. Link back to your site! Make sure you link back to your site often. If you are talking about a recipe on your website that you recently tried, make sure you link to it! If you carry products that are in the recipe, link to those products in your product catalog. Any opportunity to link to your site should be utilized in order to make it easy for your customers to buy from you.

7. Practice Good Customer Service. Don't preach, but inform. Use spell check and make sure you respond to customers who post comments. Treat them as if they were in the store standing in front of you.

Overall, a blog is a great tool for generating traffic to your site and to your store. Every word you write on it is picked up by the search engines and can be valuable when competing for readers. Readers turn into followers who then turn into buyers. keep up to date on the latest product information and trends and share them with your customers. Let them know about how great your store is and what fabulous events you are hosting at your store. In return, you will gain valuable customers who will look to you for all their healthy living answers.

HOW CAN WEB NATURALLY HELP?

I can help you choose the right blogging service. I can help you link it to your website and come up with ideas for content. I can help you market your blog to the search engines and numerous blog listing. I can provide examples and feedback regarding your blog.

This is all included in the Monthly Marketing Package.

If you are into saving time and money, check out a blog I frequent daily! It is tips and downloads to get things done.

www.lifehacker.com

Hope you enjoy!

In Good Health.

Welcome to Web Naturally's new blog! Here you will find new articles, updates on my services and interesting articles I find online. I hope you are able to take some of the things you read here and apply them to your store. Please don't hesitate to check out my website at www.webnaturally.com and learn about the great services I offer.

After 7 1/2 years with Living Naturally, I am moving on to do something, well, related to Living Naturally! I have grown to enjoy working in the Health Food industry and can really relate to the hundreds of store owners I have met through the years.

My goal with this new company is to help Health Food Store owners become successful in their online endeavors. To many Web Genius websites are not being used to their full potential, and I believe I can change that!

Keep checking back for updates and new content. I plan to load a few article I have wrote recently on this page.

In Good Health.