Blogging for Business

Maintaining constant and continuous communication with both prospects and clients is of the utmost importance to entrepreneurs. Sometimes, normal mediums such as newsletters or advertisements just aren’t enough. In today’s technology-driven market, a business blog may be the answer to not only connecting with prospects and clients, but also to opening up communication channels that might not have otherwise existed.

Defining the Blog

By definition, a blog (short for Web Log) is nothing more than a website. However, blogs differ from most websites in several key areas. A blog is updated on an almost daily basis, and the running commentary written in the first person makes up a vast majority of the content. As secondary content, blogs often feature short, one sentence off-site links to other blogs, thereby creating an extremely networked online community. Most importantly, they allow people to comment on each entry on the website, creating instant feedback and a community atmosphere.

This 21st century networking capability is what made marketers take notice and turn the blog from a personal site devoted to family stories to an honest reflection for their business.

The Success of the Blog

Today, major corporations are turning expert knowledge of their product or service into constant communication with their customers by blogging about their business. Chevrolet, Microsoft, CBS and American Express are just some of the companies that have turned to blogging to engage their customers. The blog search engine Technorati estimates that the number of blogs is doubling every five and a half months, with the total already topping 19 million.

And it’s not a surprise why. A study conducted in May of 2005 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 16 percent of the US population reads blogs. A recent Advertising Age article pinned the number of people who read blogs at work at 35 million, and the time they spent doing so at 4.8 billion hours a year. ComScore Networks estimates that 25 percent of all visits were directly related to their jobs.

Using the Blog for PR

The public relations value of the blog is that the people reading your entries are getting an unfiltered look into your company. There aren’t reporters selectively choosing what quotes to use in an article, or editors pre-selecting the topic. You are free to expound on whatever topic is of interest to you. It must, however, be honest.

“People who visit blogs have no qualms about calling you out in the comments section right below your entry,” says RJ Michaels, Inc. web developer Donovan Cronkhite. “If you’re attempting to pull the wool over your reader’s eyes about an obviously bad situation, it just won’t work.”

A recent Inc. Magazine article profiled an entrepreneur who tried to write as her company mascot. The plan backfired and her comments area started to fill up with angry responses to the idea that the writer was a character, not a real person. Instead, companies such as GM are having better luck with CEO Bob Lutz openly writing about the troubles facing the automaker.

“The method of public relations has been turned upside down on the web,” Robert Michaels, President of RJ Michaels, Inc, said. “Through the use of blogs, easily accessed messages can be sent directly to your customer base almost daily. This constant communication attracts readers who quickly turn from customers of your brands into advocates.”

Content for the Daily Report

The thought of coming up with a daily news release probably starts most small business owners’ heads spinning. However, this seemingly endless amount of communication is almost automatically generated by the opportunity the blog provides to open up communication channels that wouldn’t have otherwise existed.

“You would never send out a press release about an early stage prototype product,” remarks Michaels. “Post an entry to your blog about a specific feature of this product, and you’re likely to get customer feedback about what they like or don’t like about it. If you’re lucky, you’ll get ideas from your customers you wouldn’t have considered before.”

Don’t assume that blog readers are looking for trade secrets, or the opportunity to peer inside your company files. Often times it’s quite the opposite. The community built around the Lego company blog has readers who alert writers to leaked photos of prototype Legos posted elsewhere. This is the advocacy created by a feeling of just being involved.

Blogging Your Business

Creating a blog for your business can be as simple as visiting blogger.com and setting up an account. Pre-created templates take the work out of having to design the site and allow you to focus on writing the important content. A blogger.com account is free to set up and use as well.

“If you’re truly looking for a branded experience, you’ll want to have your blog be custom designed with your logo and company needs in mind,” explains Cronkhite. “Once the template is made, there are several free software packages that can be installed that allow you to update your blog without the need for anyone else’s involvement. Then, integrate this with your existing website, or even host it at its own domain.”

And with that, you’re in the blogging sphere, ready to put your expertise to work for you.