Blogging for franchise unit owners is a little different with business blogging in general. It involves a different approach in branding and creating a community loyal to your franchise unit.

But first thing first – Why should you blog for your business?

Blogging helps you in your business branding and marketing. It helps you to shorten the gap between the management and the customer, as well as to build a community of loyal customers.

Loyal customers are keys to every business as they posses the greatest power of all: word-of-mouth or buzz. Serving your loyal customers well, as well as offering specials to them can help magnifies the impact of the buzz marketing.

Not all business blogging serve the same purposes; not all business blogging methods can be implemented to any business types. Blogging for a franchise is different in some ways with blogging for other small business niches.

How to blog for your franchise unit effectively

As a franchisee, you are not the only “brand name-bearer” around – There are your franchisor’s own units and other franchisees’ units. Blogging without distinctively differentiate your franchise units to the others is not effective – Other franchise units will reap the result at your expenses, in term of money, time and energy.

Here’s how to blog for your franchise unit the right way, that will benefit yours first and the rest second:

• Place your contact information on prominent places – On the header or, to the least, above the fold (the top-half part of your site that is shown when a site visitor visits your franchise unit website.)
• If you offer newsletter to your members, be sure to place contact info on the header and bottom, to brand your newsletter well.
• Represent your franchise unit not as “Brand X” but as “Brand X Location/City,” e.g. Widget Store Orlando or Widget Store Maguire Blvd – Don’t forget to do this consistently.
• Focus on blogging on your own franchise unit’s activities – Sure you can blog on your franchise in general, but be sure you emphasise your very own.
• Treat your blog differently to your franchise unit’s website – Your website’s purpose is to deliver info specific to your franchise unit, while your blog’s purpose is to give your site visitors an idea of what’s the dynamic of your unit’s day-by-day operation.
• Display your web and blog site address on-store. Don’t forget to place the web address in the cash register receipt, along with the physical location of your franchise unit.

Ivan Widjaya
Blogging for franchise
Image by channah.