Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 488 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 • FOGHORN FOGHORNFOCUS: SALES & MARKETING must be real to resonate with readers who crave an unique experience.” But, do blogs really work for in- creasing business? “Absolutely,” exclaimed Setters. “Writing blogs drives customers to your website which then translates into booked cruises.” Setter explained that by writing blogs with words that Internet users may search online, your blog will come up that will then lead them to your website where they can book a cruise. Her example was having a blog titled, “10 Best Places to Visit in New England,” that mentions your vessel operation’s name, where you operate, sights that passengers will see, things to do in the area, and a link to your operation. Whenever someone who is planning a trip to New England takes to the Internet to look for ideas, the blog article will come up in the search and it creates a direct pathway to you. The blogs also are linked to Facebook, which is another way to reach customers. There are many positive points about blogs. One of the best things is that blogs are easily tracked for ef- fectiveness. “Using analytics, we can measure how successful each one is,” said Setters. Another attractive feature is that many blogs are shared from person to person, which significantly increases the reach of the message. And, this is done at no cost to the organization that posted the blog. “The chain reaction is what you want,” Setter explained. Perhaps the best reason to blog is that by doing so on a regular basis, your website will come up high on search lists, so it’s more likely that consumers will click on your informa- tion. “Posting blogs regularly--once a week is ideal--greatly increases your Internet searchability,” advised Setters. Who Blogs? So, who should write these com- pelling blog posts? One Chicago vessel operator says all their blogs are written in-house by staff who work together to come up interesting stories to tell from a variety of perspectives. They choose one topic and write an informative and descriptive blog post about it. Which is just right, according to Wainwright: “It’s important to note that when you’re doing business blogging, your blog posts are about a particularsubjectmatterrelatedtoyour business.” At Blount Small Ship Adventures, Setters works with an agency that matches her with professional travel writers. Said Setters, “We use Hecktic Media, who helps us find ‘influ- encer’ bloggers who spread our message with well-written, interest- ing stories that pull in the reader. Add in gorgeous photos that the bloggers take, and we have a serious marketing hook.” Blount Small Ship Adventures pays for the bloggers’ cruises and in return receives professionally written blog posts. The same blogger can write several posts on different components related to one cruise, giving Blount Small ShipsAdventures more bang for its buck. “We have gotten to the point that those bloggers need little super- vision from us,” said Setters. “They know what we do and they write beautiful stories about their experi- ences aboard our vessels.” n ABOUT BLOUNT SMALL SHIP ADVENTURES Founded by Luther Blount, Blount Small Ship Adventures celebrated 50 years of service in 2016. The operation has two overnight vessels, built by Blount Boats Shipbuilding, each of which carries 83 pas- sengers and designed to sail where larger ships cannot offering passengers a unique travel experience.