Today, once again I'd like to hold your virtual hand as I lead you through another exercise on how to use someone else's blog as the creative spark for your own.
To start, you have to find yourself a few fashion blog websites. You could simply search Google for "jewelry fashion blogs" and look through the results.
What you'll find is that an overwhelming number of them are very photo-centric with very little commentary on the photos. Many of them will also be from your competitors, or from sites that sell the jewelry that's being blogged about. You don't want that type of site, because that's what you are trying to accomplish for yourself.
I found this blog from the South Florida Sun Sentinel that will work well for this example:
http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/features_fashion/2012/06/jewelry-trends-for-the-fall-winter-gift-giving-season.html
That blog post is pretty long with about 600 words with 8 photos... and it's perfect for this blogging method.
Here's what we're going to do with it:
1. Read the blog
2. Write a short summary of what it's about.
3. List the author and blog source.
4. Explain why your customers will find it interesting.
5. Point out what you agree or disagree with in the blog.
6. Post this on your own website.
7. Share the link to your blog post on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter.
Those are the 7 steps, and you don't need to write a lot. Here's my own personal spin on this in 144 words...
"We're turning our attention towards the fall and winter jewelry fashions you can expect to see this year. A recent blog posted to the _Florida_Sun_Sentinel_ says that you can expect to see colorful, bold, and personalized jewelry."
"Some jewelers in their interviews reported that long earrings and big earrings are the current trends. There are plenty of mentions of bold colors, and even rose gold jewelry."
"Here at Perosi Jewelers we certainly will agree with all the _trends_ mentioned; we have a new showcase in our store with large, colorful jewelry styles."
"We don't want to quote the entire Sun Sentinel post, so read it if you want to get a hint of some of the jewelry styles you'll likely be giving, and receiving as gifts during the 2012 holiday season. Then stop in at our Totowa, NJ jewelry store to see these styles in person."
I used underscores on _Florida_Sun_Sentinel_ and _trends_ to indicate which words I would link back to the original blog on the Sun's website. I summarized the blog, gave my opinion as if I were a real jeweler, and explained who would be interested and why.
In this example I would also post a photo of a big, colorful piece of jewelry from my own store that connects with the content of the blog.
Also, I snuck a valuable SEO phrase in that post, specifically the phrase "Totowa, NJ jewelry store." You'll find that your town name in association with the phrase "jewelry store" will always attract organic visitors.
Lastly, after posting this to your blog, you would share a link to it on your Facebook Page, tweet about it, and share it to Google+.
The hardest part of this blogging method is finding the original source blog.
