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Blogging for your Business
Depending on who you ask, blogging has become either the web's
great equalizer or the next spam. You don't have to be a whiz at
any fancy scripting languages or know what "" means to have
a blog. Although often associated with personal journals or as
an extension of a discussion forum, blogs are easy ways for
companies to connect internally: employee to employee, and
externally: company to customer/client.
Although blogging is a comparatively young, its use is
flourishing all over the web. Forrester Research reports that
"online consumers who regularly read blogs increased from 2% in
2003 to 5% in 2004."(1) Though this reported 2004 number is
relatively small, just Google the word "blog" to get a real
sense on how blogs have proliferated the web.(2)
Blogs are seen as unfiltered honesty, because of that visceral
truth to their immediacy, opinions of bloggers are highly
valued, but blogging is more than just opinions and updated
"what I'm doing reports," the best blogs blend both editorial
opinion and passion on a given subject. So, how can blogs
benefit your business? They can help create new way to connect
with your clients/customers.
For example, if you're a doctor attending a medical conference.
While away from your practice, getting caught up with the newest
and latest drug therapies and medical techniques you're unable
to connect with your patients. With blogs, you'll be able to
relate those incredible new treatments to your patients. In
turn, they can read that post, comment to it and later call or
email your practice to make an appointment.
Blogging creates a new way to relate to your business to others.
It creates a two-way relationship with those reading your blogs
each of you contributing to a common dialog. In the eyes of your
blogging readership, this makes you accessible. Staying
connected in this manner also strengthens existing relationships
those patients, clients and colleagues.
Blogging is egalitarian; you don't have to be a company CEO to
get a message out. Blogging can be an effective workflow tool
when used within an organization. Internal organization blogging
(or dark blogging - blogging behind a firewall) can extend
project discussions long after a meeting has adjourned, and keep
track of discussion threads that project or various other
important work topics.
Blogs compared to databases are cheap and compact:
"Instead of deluging in-boxes with email... or dropping twenty
grand on some dreaded knowledge management system for
'enterprise class corporate environments,' businesses can
install a blogging application behind the firewall for a couple
hundred bucks or point employees to a free blogging provider and
encourage to 'do their thing.'"(3)
Not all company assets have to remain under lock and key.
Sometimes you do want your digital assets to be a public
announcement, and when you're ready to do so, blogging can be a
profoundly effective communications tool. Finding a balance
between showing your company's a pubic face and putting a human
one to it, can be overwhelming, below are some resources to get
you started:
- - - - - - - - - -
Blogging Resources:
* Blogger - http://www.blogger.com
* Live Journal - http://www.livejournal.com/
* MovableType - http://www.movabletype.org or
http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/
* Web Logs Inc.(recently purchased by AOL)
-http://www.weblogsinc.com/ * Xanga - http://www.xanga.com
* Word Press - http://www.wordpress.com
* BrokenKode - Rin a Manji custom tempate for Word Press
http://www.brokenkode.com/manji
* Flickr (to share company photos) http://www.flickr.com
* Blog on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog
* Yahoo 360 - http://360.yahoo.com/reg/whatis.html
With any commercial company venture, blogging for your business
should be well thought out and intelligently executed.
- - - - - - - - - -
End Notes:
1.) Charlene Li, "Blogging: Bubble or Big Deal?" Forrester
Research, 5 November 2004, http://www.forrester.com
2.) When Googling the word "blog" search results returned were
475,000,000 as of 7 October, 2005. 436,000,000 as of 3 January
2006
3.) Biz Stone, "Blogging in Business," Who Let the Blogs Out?
(St Martin's Griffin: New York, NY. 2004), 155-156.
- - - - - - - - - -
About the author:
Ms. Veniegas is an alumni of the University of Washington.
Marilee joined the Marketing team at Essential Security Software, Inc. in 2005.
She also serves as one of the ESS site editors for "I Want My
ESS!" a stolen work and SMB resource site.
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