The startup world is exciting.
If you’re into business and entrepreneurship you probably check in on the startup world from time to time.
I know I always like seeing the great new ideas people come up with. It truly seems like we’re living at a time when people are really free and driven to come up with all kinds of great ideas.
But a great idea is not enough on its own. In order for a startup to find success, products and services have to be developed. Customers need to be found and the business needs to show potential to bring in profits.
It’s not an easy world, but it’s exciting and one thing many startups today are doing in order to bring in new customers is a blog.
Here are some of hottest startups today that are using blogs to help grow and market themselves to the public.
1. Blue Apron
Blue Apron delivers food to your door and gives you what you need to fix it for yourself and your family.
I love the Blue Apron website. It’s a really cool design with bold colors and they promote their blog right in the main top navigation.
And with their blog they take a great approach. They create lists of recipes and other things related to the food industry and making food for oneself. Lists always do well and so do how-to posts, which is another type of post often posted on the Blue Apron blog.
It’s also frequently updated. there are posts multiple times each week, which keeps people coming back again and again.
Visit: Blog | @BlueApronMeals
2. Codeacademy
Codeacademy is one of a few sites that provides a way for people to learn how to code. I’ve made it through a few of the lessons, but I’ve been slacking lately. I need to get back in here and learn more coding languages. I only know enough to be dangerous.
Kids are learning how to code at incredible rates and they don’t even need to go to school when there are free programs like Codeacademy.
Their blog hasn’t been updated in a few months, but there are some good blogs on there. They mostly talk about where the program is being used and places it’s been mentioned in the media.
There is more opportunity, but they’re doing a great job of promoting the site with the blog.
Visit: Blog | @Codeacademy
3. WillCall
WillCall allows you to find live local events to attend. It’s pretty cool because if you live in a city it can seem like there are millions of events going on that you don’t know about. You usually have to hear about them from friends or maybe still on the radio, but with this app you’re always in the know. They’re only in a couple cities for now, but do seem to be growing.
Very cool blog as well. You can imagine that they can do all kinds of things with their blog. They have artist interviews. They share favorite music. All that stuff brings in traffic from search and those artists probably also retweet and re-share the posts on their own social profiles. That sends fans to the blog where they can signup for the service.
4. Hired
Hired is a marketplace for tech workers. There are a bunch of marketplaces for just about everything these days so it’s hard to succeed. One of the things Hired does to stand out is to blog.
If you’re an engineer, designer or something like that you can signup and have companies fight over your services. In a growing freelance world this service makes sense.
The blog has posts on how to hire the best people. There are a bunch of tips and insight into how companies can find the right people for their organization. It’s an important blog because hiring the right person can make your company while hiring the wrong person can break you. It’s a great service and I’m sure they’re attracting attention as a result of the blogging efforts.
5. Estimize
Estimize covers a bunch of different information about stocks. If you’re in the market then this is the program for you.
As you would guess, Estimize has an active blog where they talk about stocks. But they also discuss all things in the world that might affect consumers and the business world. I think that’s the really cool thing about the blog. They talk about how people interact with brands and businesses, which provides insight into the companies that might succeed in the future.
6. Thalmic Labs
Thalmic Labs creates cool gadgets and tech items.
Their newest item is Myo, which is an armband gesture device. You control things by moving your arm. It’s pretty cool and another startup perfectly fit for a company blog.
I like that they provide some company updates on their blog, but what I like even more are posts like this where they talk about companies outside of theirs. It’s a great strategy for growing the popularity of your blog and your business.
7. Lyft
The shared economy is really growing.
Lyft is a ride share startup that is gaining traction. You can signup to be a driver and you can signup and hitch a ride if you don’t want to pay for a car. It’s a simple idea. I don’t know where it originated, but I remember seeing the bulletin board for ride sharing in college.
The blog is updated frequently. There are multiple posts each week or at least every week or so. They post news about the company and also share some tips and advice for using the service.
8. littleBits
This is pretty cool – littleBits has a bunch of different electronic modules that allow people to experiment and create really cool things.
It’s like Legos and the Erector sets. You know kids are going to like this and they can learn about science and prepare for something that might turn into a career.
Apple started out of a garage with kids working on circuits and things like that. Maybe the next great inventor will start with a collection of littleBits.
Visit: Blog | @littleBits
9. Leap Motion
Here is one of the really cool tech startups out there.
Leap Motion creates software that lets you move things with your hands. It’s like Star Trek and Stars Wars-type stuff. I guess it was a logical next step from things like the Nintendo Wii and other gaming consoles, but this looks pretty sweet.
The Leap Motion blog has some great things going on. It’s regularly updated. They’re feating lists and companies related to the software. Those things all work to grow the blog and the company. They also weave in mentions of their brand and how it’s being used in the market. Another key way to make blogging successful at growing a business.
Visit: Blog | @LeapMotion
10. RocksBox
RocksBox is a subscription service that handpicks jewelry for you. You can get new jewelry. You pay for only the items you keep and you can swap your items if you get sick of them and want something new.
The RocksBox blog has a pretty big opportunity. The fashion industry is very large. There is a lot of online traffic and attention devoted to the fashion world. People are always looking for the latest trends and they look to those entrenched in the industry for guidance.
That’s where RocksBox looked like it was going with their blog. They have some great posts on there. It looks like maybe they got too busy to maintain the blog, but hopefully they’ll come back to it because it offers them a big opportunity.
Visit: Blog | @myrocksbox
Conclusion
These are only 10 of the startups out there using blogs to grow. It seems that many companies – new and established – are seeing the benefits of blogging and inbound marketing. It’s a great way to invest in an asset that can bring in traffic and customers for a long time. It’s different from traditional advertising and it’s changing the way business find customers.