Blogging for Business

This unique way of using blogs comes from Appleton, Wisconsin-based, Image Studios, a photography lab:

The first day back to work in January, Image Studios President Donna Gehl asked each of her employees to open up and share their work lives by creating a blog. Not just one or two members, but everyone.

“January is typically a slow time for our commercial photo studio but the economic downturn only added to it.” Instead of announcing a layoff, which is what many companies were doing at the start of the year, Gehl used the downtime to challenge each employee to help others in the business world become more aware of Image and its award-winning staff. “With everyone trying to do more with less in this economy, we wanted to do the same by finding new cost efficient ways to communicate our services.” The commercial photography studio has been in business for nearly 45 years and works with clients such as Kohler Company, Harley Davidson, Gulfstream, Meredith Corporation, and Kimberly-Clark among others.

The company-wide project got even more interesting when Gehl asked nearly 50 customers, friends, and savvy bloggers to weigh-in and critique the blogs once they went live. “It was a little like a game show and created a fun way to introduce our staff. There was so much to learn from the feedback we received, not to mention what we learned about each other.”

Photographer Michael Leschisin showcased a video shoot for Tempt Printing, while Food Stylist Karla Kaphaem showed how to make flowers from cake frosting, and Photographer, Glen Hartjes posted his work of master luthier Bruce Petros. Shane VanBoxtel who is often on location, let readers in on his New York photo shoot with famed jewelry designer Stephen Webster.

Gehl noted, “We are a creative business in a creative industry and every employee has great experiences and visuals to offer, which makes us so unique as a business and it shows in our blogs. Our goal is to use the posts as another vehicle to tell people what we are creating today, and how we are doing it.” Gehl went on to say forging a tighter bond as a company while the economy continues to struggle is a welcome benefit for getting through this unprecedented economic time.

(photo credit: Newscom)