Wednesday, August 6, 2008

About Us: What Is Wear-Dated?

I recently realized something. That I haven't really explained what Wear-Dated is and what it represents.

I realized it thanks to a 'Get To The Point' article from MarketingProfs titled "Blogging for Dollars." Not that any of us at The Carpetology Blog are actually blogging for dollars. It goes way beyond that.

We blog to showcase the better, softer, more fashionable and inspiring side of carpet. We blog to share information about what matters in carpet -- when you're exploring what's available, have decided to purchase a carpet style and then want to care for it.

You see, I wish the whole carpet buying process were at lot more fun and fashionable. I wish carpet were showcased in as exciting an environment and context as Brighton accessories or Hermes scarves or Zappos shoes!

That's why I blog here at The Carpetology Blog. To bring you up-close-and-personal to the latest carpet styles, to offer you resources for more information - including from the Wear-Dated website - and to make sense out of purchasing and caring for carpet.

I *hope* that when you explore carpet choices in retail stores that you'll want to see what's available with Wear-Dated carpet fiber. But, I also know that first and foremost you need to find the perfect carpet color and style before deciding whether to purchase branded or unbranded carpet fiber.

Getting back to 'Blogging for Dollars.' It's based on a post by Michael Martine from Remarkablogger titled "The 5 Elements Every Business Blog Must Have" where he says that a business blog must include "clear basic business info, highly visible and functional contact page, highly visible services/products pages, a killer about page, highly visible RSS and email subscription area." In other words, the basics must be covered.

So let me cover the basics.

Wear-Dated is Solutia's brand and warranty to the consumer on carpet made with our fiber. Solutia makes nylon 6,6 carpet fiber, the durable carpet fiber. Solutia is based out of St. Louis, MO. Wear-Dated is based out of Kennesaw, GA, close to Dalton, GA, the carpet capital of the world.

We don't sell anything directly to consumers. The fiber we make goes to carpet mills [like Mohawk, Karastan, Fabrica, Gulistan, Royalty and Tuftex] to be transformed into carpet that retailers purchase to then sell to consumers.

We test the carpet made with our fiber. It if meets our Wear-Dated construction and performance requirements [e.g., wear & soil resistance, appearance retention, and stain resistance, color & lightfastness, tuft bind, and static control] then it carries the Wear-Dated carpet fiber brand label and warranty to the consumer.

To contact us:
+ From The Carpetology Blog, you can leave a comment, or contact me directly at cbwhittemore [at] gmail.com
+ From the Wear-Dated website, you can reach us via contact us or emailing us at info [at] weardated.com
+ In the Wear-Dated website newsroom, we list media contacts, too.

Although we do showcase products, offer installation advice and care & maintenance recommendations in The Carpetology Blog, for an in-depth view of carpet styles made with Wear-Dated carpet fiber, I strongly encourage you to visit the Wear-Dated website Carpet Catalog, the Sales Assistant or the Retailer Locator. We also detail Warranty & Care information on the website, including filing a claim, a stain removal guide and general carpet care tips.

This blogpost officially addresses About Us. The Wear-Dated website also includes in the Newsroom a section titled About Wear-Dated with information explaining what is Wear-Dated, who are the People of Wear-Dated, corporate social responsibility, a Wear-Dated timeline and what's new at Wear-Dated.

Finally, subscribing.

If you check out the left sidebar of The Carpetology Blog, you'll see two subscription options: via RSS and email. We' ve also added similar subscription options for the Wear-Dated website Newsroom for any new press releases or news updates.

Please let me know if I've missed something. I'm hopeful that this tells you more About Us and gives you a better sense for What is Wear-Dated.

By the way, Shannon Bilby at FloorTalk! interviewed me about Wear-Dated [Thanks, Shannon!] so you can read more.



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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Better to do this in a post than never! However, what I meant was that this information should be built in to the design of your blog's home page.

You guys have a particularly challenging task to get this blog read. Your tag line does not communicate an immediate benefit to visitors. You have to instantly answer the question "what's in it for me?" In all seriousness, why would anyone want to read this blog, let alone subscribe to it?

Your audience is people who either sell and buy carpet professionally, or they're homeowners looking to buy carpet in the near future. Knowing what these people need and giving it to them is what you need to do to be viable.

If you're interested in how I could help you with your strategy, feel free to contact me: michaelmartine@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you!

CB Whittemore said...

Michael,

You make an excellent point. I've just added a Welcome message to better address WIIFM.

Despite that shortcoming, we have gotten an overwhelmingly positive response to the Carpetology Blog from readers and subscribers. Which suggests that we are providing value to our audience.

However, now that we better address WIIFM, perhaps our viability will no longer be questioned!

Thanks for visiting and commenting, and originally inspiring this post.

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