July 5, 2005

Should Your Business Have A Blog: Yes, With Caution

NY Times photo caption reads: Melissa Payner, chief executive of Bluefly.com, said her company's fashion-related blog "is bringing some very positive things."

A good way to decide if you should do something is to consider what other people have done. The New York Times has a look at the decision to blog or not to blog of several online retailers, including Bob Parsons, president of GoDaddy.com.

A blog, overall, can be VERY useful for your business as a communication tool and easier way to attract search engine listings. However, be careful of WHAT you or your employees post to the blog.

The NY Times writes "There's a lot of good stuff in doing the blog, and some not-so-good stuff," said Seth Greenberg, chief executive of the company, which is based in La Mirada, Calif.

Mr. Greenberg said the blog allowed eHobbies to project the homespun image that sometimes eluded even small companies like his, which has only 25 employees. "It lets us pull back the curtain and show how we're a company of hobbyists who love participating in the things they're buyers for," he said. "It humanizes us."

In addition to featuring the link to the blog at the top of the eHobbies home page, the company will soon begin promoting the blog in e-mail messages to customers, and hiding coupon codes in the blog to give people incentives to visit, Mr. Greenberg said.

"Hobbyists are a little strange," Mr. Greenberg said. "They'll like things like that." Read the full NY Times article here

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