In my last post, I mentioned the terrific book I was reading on business blogging, Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel. One of the many interesting case histories discussed is that of a Savile Row tailor, Thomas Mahon, who sells custom suits for as much as $4,000. Talk about a marketing challenge: Mahon’s potential market may be as few as 10,000 people, scattered in all corners of the globe, yet he faces the economic challenges of any other local merchant.
To serve his US clients, Mahon travels to New York a few times per year. If he sells two suits, he pays for the trip. With three, he covers his monthly costs. Sell five suits, and he’s ecstatic.
On Mahon’s December 2004 trip, he sold only two suits. After he bemoaned his luck to his friend Hugh MacLeod, a former advertising executive, MacLeod had a suggestion: MacLeod would start a blog about the tailor and his work.
Ten weeks after the blog launched, Mahon returned to New York. This time, he sold 20 suits and eight sport coats – more than his entire sales for the previous year.
What’s more, thanks to “meeting” a well-connected public relations executive through his blog, Mahon landed coverage in the Sunday New York Times magazine section and CNN. In ten weeks, Mahon’s business jumped 300%. Pretty dramatic, eh?
If blogging can do so much for such a specialized business, imagine what it can do for you.
If you’re curious, you can have a look at Mahon’s blog at www.englishcut.com.
