By the Bootstraps

Many of the goals I have moving forward are all in the hopes of growing my readership. While there are many Chicago news blog sites, none of them look at the recession through the experience of small business owners in a feature-oriented way as By the Bootstraps does.

Gapers Block and Chicagoist – Chicago news and event blogs that reach for a similar audience as my own – have a huge local following (90,000 unique monthly visitors for Gapers Block and around 130,000 on Chicagoist according to Marcus Gilmer, the site’s editor in chief). Chicago Now says it reaches more than 1,000 people. Despite the fact By the Bootstraps pulls in 61 unique visitors, I see the chance for growth.

This growth exists as a result of the web turning over control to the audience. People are now seeking information from multiple sources. As my analysis showed, the kind of content By the Bootstraps covers does not exist in local and national media.

Readers have told me that the content and the idea behind By the Bootstraps shouldn’t change, but changing the blog in other ways will help it meet its aforementioned goals:

• Expand my Facebook presence: From my survey, I realized most of my readership uses Facebook more than it does Twitter. I would create a By the Bootstraps fan page to draw a larger fan base of my friends and family, as well as new readers. The page would alert readers to new posts and reach out to businesses who have their own fan pages to show them the blog has a legitimate readership base. Have links to Twitter polls on the site since users would be more willing to participate, if there were “more sharing where (they) see it,” one user said.

• Change the blog’s look: I think having a good design makes the content stand out that much more and draws in more readers. For those who stumble upon my web site as it stands now, I think the template style will lead some to immediately close their tabs if they don’t know what the content holds.
• Continue profiles of area businesses: Readers really enjoyed the profiles of businesses. I would continue doing this having one new profile a week.
• Make contact with media savvy businesses: Mari Luangrath and Kortnee Doss, two business owners I interviewed over the course of the class, told me that having any kind of coverage creates new leads for their business. A blog posted by a member of Ning Group, Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses, encourages owners to seek out other opportunities outside of traditional print ads. I can position By the Bootstraps as a tool they can use to raise their online presence and – in the case of Luangrath who has a massive Twitter and Facebook presence – the owner can retweet/post my entry on their sites.
• Increase multimedia opportunities: The time readers spend watching videos or listening to podcasts increases the time they spend on the site, interactivity and allows for a different type of storytelling outside of my profiles. Google Maps lets readers know where the businesses are so they can explore for themselves and pushes the Chicago, get-to-know-your-city angle I hope some of my posts captured.
  

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  Mari Luangrath is the owner of Foiled Cupcakes