April 16, 2005

There's Many Blogging Options But Don't' Get Confused With The Hype

The Associated Press writes that Blogs are Web sites where individuals can muse about politics, hobbies or everyday life. A November survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Project finds that about 27 percent of adult Internet users in the United States read them, up from 17 percent in February. About 7 percent of users have created blogs.

Dear Business Owner, blogs are NOT web sites where individuals can muse about politics, hobbies or everyday life. This is the FAD definition.

Blogs are simply tools that enable you to quickly and easily post content online to a web site. That's it.

If you post hobby information or customer service information, it doesn't matter a blog is simply a tool and the media often keeps getting this wrong.

In any case, blogs can be a powerful communication tool for your business. VERY powerful.

Investor's Business Daily wrote a VERY GOOD piece about blogs in business and writes There are no exact figures on how many companies are blogging these days. But it's estimated that around 45% of the largest 1,000 publicly held companies in North America have blogs or plan to start them sometime this year.

Proponents of blogs say the medium is an unmatched tool for getting your message to customers. That includes reaching existing customers, prospective customers and ones that might be under the radar.

Customers can sign up to get all blog updates or just postings relevant to certain interests. With some corporate blogs, readers also can post feedback or ask questions.

But with these opportunities come risks. Unlike a company Web page or press release, which is usually carefully vetted before it is posted, blogging is more of a spontaneous action. Blogs allow instantaneous posting by anyone with password access to a firm's authoring software.

Plus most blog postings are quick and short. They aren't typically written with a lot of reflection or caution.

In many ways, blog postings resemble e-mails. But with e-mail, the message goes to a specific group of recipients -- though it can always be forwarded endlessly.

With a blog, an inappropriate posting could do more damage.

Two reviews of blogging services are The Associated Press and myself for Cnet

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