Short Business-Profile Playbook
We have seen great success with the below formula. We think of it as a win, win, win, win, win. Feel free to change it as you wish, but we have found it is a great way to gain audience, and develop potential sales leads, and give your users a great, digestible piece of local content.
At the heart of it is a very quick interview and business owners love to be interviewed. This interview is tailored to showcase their personal expertise, not necessarily their business (though of course you will mention the business too). Below is our outline of how it goes, and then we will explain why we suggest at least starting this way. Feel free to make it your own!
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Call up a local business-owner and ask to do a short interview.
- Perhaps you already have a relationship with this person; it might be easier the first time if you do.
- "Hi Joe, I'd love to do a short spotlight interview with you for my new local news website. I don't want to waste your time; it will only take 5 or 10 minutes. Would you be interested in that? No gotchas, just a few quick questions."
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Have 3 or 4 prepared questions.
- We suggest these questions are very direct and specific and highlight that person's expertise.
- Ask the landscaper what she plants her garden; the book-store owner the last three books she read; the vet which flea collar he puts on his dog.
- The point is to both flatter the business owner and get interesting content for your users. Make them feel like an expert, because they probably are.
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As you finish the interview, you can say something like "Thanks so much, Joe, I will be putting out the article
some time later this week or on the weekend. Can I sign you up to my newsletter so you see it when it comes out?"
- Of course, Joe says yes.
- Ask Joe if he needs to get out any news about his business, you are here to help (employees of the month; new services offered, etc.) so you can help his business grow.
- Go to your dashboard, add Joe's email address to your mailing list, and when you have a moment, write the article and schedule it to go out a few days later or whenever you have a gap in your publishing schedule.
DONE!
So... what has been accomplished here? About 5 wins; probably more.
- Win 1: You got an easy piece of local content you can write which can fill up the editorial calendar.
- Win 2: Your users get a great piece of interesting local content which isn't just telling them something they already know (Joe's hardware has been in business on main street for 10 years), but which helps them in their lives (which collar to put on their pet? This one!).
- Win 3: You have made a friend of a local business owner and also made them feel appreciated and 10 feet tall; maybe you will get a follow-up article in the future. Perhaps that business owner might join up on the site and add events or things for sale. As your site grows, the content will also help the business be found on Google.
- Win 4: You have gotten a new email subscriber who will likely share the article when it comes out to his/her friends, building your audience.
- Win 5: Most importantly, you have created an advertising lead for the future!
Eventually you will ask them how else you can help their business and offer advertisements and content. For example, one day you reach out and offer to do a "vets tips of the week" article for a couple hundred dollars. Perhaps you offer them a discounted banner ad early on to help support local news (and to show users the site has advertisers).
But this will come. For now be happy with a good start: building a stable of potential advertisers.