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Blogging for your Business
By Marilee Veniegas

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:

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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.

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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.

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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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