Small Business Blog Review: Naturally Curly

(www.businessandblogging.com)   Today’s post is the second in our series of reviews of real live small business blogs.

 The first was Mani’s on Fairfax.

I particularly like this example because it shows how blogs can help support the long tail of marketing.   Chris Anderson wrote about this concept in his book The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More As the title suggests,  there is increasing profitability in selling to small, targeted niches.

Naturally Curly  sells hair care products exclusively to people with curly hair.  In fact, within this niche they have identified 8 smaller niches – all based on the level of curliness in a customer’s hair.

Their site uses several community building techniques including an active forum, a Q&A area, salon reviews and to my delight, a blog.

The blog is only updated a few times a month, but the articles are amazingly varied considering they all center around curly hair.  There are stories about self-esteem, dating challenges and reality television.  In fact, the topics are pretty similar to the type of small talk you’d share with your stylist at a salon.

Despite the infrequency of updates, the Naturally Curly blog works because it is a complement to the other interactive aspects of the site. It gives a little extra personality and familiarity to the business, and makes the customers feel more connected.  Currently, there’s no opportunity for readers to comment on the blog (although there is plenty of opportunity at the forum).  Adding a comment section would be a nice touch that would further increase the site’s sense of community.

Does your business cater to a niche market? How are you using web 2.0 to reach your target market?

photo credit: mbtrama

(If you have a small business blog that you’d like reviewed - please contact us!!!)