Butler Sheetmetal is a UK-based sheet metal fabrication and steel prototyping service that also uses a blog for business called The Tinbasher.

In a recent post Tinbasher blogger Paul Woodhouse makes a real world case for using blogs in business...

Blogging is the logical solution. By all means have your static website which lays claim to your products, services, testimonials and all the other usual stuff. A business blog allows you to expand on all of these aspects of your site and build a more complete picture.

You can look at your blog in the same way as you’d look at a business meeting with a potential client. A blog can even help you focus your thought processes that whirl about your head on a daily basis.

Business blogging is the new bricks and mortar for your web presence. You have the opportunity to re-identify yourself on the web and to make that vital connection with your customers in the same way as if they’d popped into your office for a brew.

Paul was kind enough to reference Radiant Marketing Group in that article, and has graciously included me in his business blogroll. Thanks, Paul! :-)

I wrote a PowerBlog Review for Small Business Trends blog about a restaurant called Horsefeathers that is using a blog as their website. Rather than reprint it here, let me encourage you to read it on their site.

This is the third case study I've done on small businesses that blog. This one features Northfield Constructon, based in Northfield, Minnesota. Here's what the owner, Ray Cox, had to say in response to my questions.

RMG: Why did you start using a blog related to your business? Was it primarily for the purposes of marketing?

Ray: I initally started using a blog for my political work. (www.raycox.net) I am a State Representative in Minnesota. My constituents are very comfortable using computers and I thought it would be a good way to keep them informed about what I am doing, and what is going on in the Legislature. It worked very well for that purpose so I applied it to my construction company business.

RMG: What advantages do you see in the use of a blog for your business?

Ray: The big advantage and the main reason I went to a blog is because it is so easy to post things to the site. There are millions of very boring web pages that haven't had attention for years. I had a company webpage that I struggled to get updated every 3-4 months. Now I can easily post and add things about our work. The best thing about blogs is the quick, easy posting and the fact that they are written from a person....not an entity.

If you visit the company website, you'll note that its home page is the blog. Or, conversely, the blog is the home page. This represents a growing trend which allows you to kill two birds with one stone. Not only do you incorporate your blog into the overall architecture of the site, you provide your readers with a constant stream of updated information without having to redirect them to another page or site. They get it all right there!

Thanks to Grif Wrigley just about every business in his hometown of Northfield, MN is blogging! (Or so it would seem.)

Grif's company, Wigley and Associates, specializes in helping small businesses and other organizations set up and maintain weblogs on their web sites. A quick count of his client list shows over 30 businesses and organizations that are currently using blogs as communication tools for their business.

Admittedly, some are not using the platform with great frequency (Some of the sites I reviewed have posted only a few times over the course of several weeks or months.). Nevertheless, it is refreshing to see one person's passion for weblogging affect his local business community. He is even in the process of writing a book entitled Small Business Blogging - Why and How to Do It. Kudos, Grif! Keep up the good work!!

This is the second of our case studies on small businesses that blog. This one features Kuhlman Auctions, a full-service auction company that has been in business since 1981. Here is what the owner Ed Kuhlman had to say about blogging. . .

I didn't know what a blog was until about 18 months ago. I was visiting with some guys in a coffee shop and heard about it for the first time. I had been conducting auctions for about 20 years, but until about 3 years ago, I was also occupied with another full-time job.

When I decided to commit myself to auctioneering full-time, I was looking for ways to differentiate myself from my competitors who are well established in my area. I found the blog to be a useful tool to let people know something about who I am and what I can do for them.

The blog has allowed me to become visible to people I would never encounter otherwise. The blog format lets me express myself in a way that would not be possible otherwise. I feel that I am probably better able to express myself on paper better than some of my peers and hopefully this will lead to leads and referrals.

Auctioneering is a very personal business and most of the auctions that I get are from personal leads. My blog allows these potential customers to find out something about our business without making any initial commitment.

If they like what they see in the blog, they will usually follow up. When I have something unusual on an auction, such as the Ehlers auction with the Minneapolis Moline tractors, the blog is a good way to get the word out and build traffic at the auction.

If you have a small business that uses blogs as part of your marketing communications mix, please let us know. We'd like to include you in one of our case studies as well.

In keeping with my shift toward providing helpful information to small businesses that blog, or that want to, I'm beginning what I hope will be a series of case studies of businesses that do.

Thanks to a recent post on Rick Bruner's Business Blog Consulting website, I contacted one such company, Lincoln Sign, based in Lincoln, NH, and asked the owner, J.D. Iles, some questions about why the company decided to incorporate blogging as a marketing communications tool, and how they were using it.

Mr. Iles was more than gracious in his reply, and paid me the highest of compliments. He said, "I actually read your blog every day, and it is one of the blogs that convinced me to start blogging."

I have to tell you, it was that statement that solidified my decision to shift the direction of this blog. For that is my goal, to convince small businesses of the need to add blogs to their marketing communications mix.

But, enough about me. Here's what he had to say in response to my questions. . .

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