How Blogging Saved a Cookie Business

Liz Fuller has an interesting find today about a small business owner in Minnesota who was able to save her business by using the power of the company blog. The name of the business is "St. Paul Classic Cookie" and the owner is Katherine Novotny (pictured to left). Katherine is facing higher ingredient costs along with a slower demand and was close to needing to close her cookie business. This is where social media stepped in to help.

Katherine posted a blog entry explaining her dilemma and asking for support. Her blog community came out in full force, both to buy cookies but also to spread the message. At the end of the day, she surpassed her income goal to keep the cookie business going.

Katherine's story even made the local newspaper (photo courtesy) and now she appears to be on track to help make some changes to help the local business district.

As Liz notes in her post, the reasons that Katherine's call for action worked is because of trust and sincerity. The trust comes from blogging since 2006 and the sincerity comes from the trust Katherine has built with her readers (customers) along with a specific call to action.

I've written before that every company should have a blog that is more than just a marketing vehicle. So many blogs I read only push company updates when they could create trust and a leadership position by offering more. Using your blog for marketing is just like any 30-second ad spot on tv - cold and meaningless. When you sit down to create your corporate blog strategy, remember that it's all about creating a relationship between you and your readers. The readers may not be customers of your product or service today, tomorrow, next week or next year but over time you will convert them at least to trial users. Get them hooked on your knowledge before you get them hooked on the taste of the cookies.