A few years ago most business people who had even heard of the word "blog" associated it with opinionated weirdos and potty-mouthed teenagers expressing their angst online for all the world to see. And that stuff is certainly still going on in a lot of places.
But somewhere along the way, blogs got serious. When newspaper reporters started finding blog entries coming up ahead of their well-researched pieces in online searches for terms like "war in Iraq," the journalistic world caught on. Now you can hardly find a mainstream newspaper whose editors and reporters don't have blogs.
And right after that, business started getting in the game. From giant car-makers like General Motors to small local businesses in every city, businesses of every size in every industry are taking advantage of the benefits of blogging. What are those$%:
- Create loyalty. Engaging your customers on your blog creates an ongoing dialog about your products and service that fosters loyalty
- Build trust. Being open and honest about your company invites trust among prospects, vendors, investors
- Improve customer service. Inviting direct feedback from your customers gives you first-hand information about how to make your products and services more desirable.
- Improve your search engine ranking. Search engines love fresh, relevant content. Keeping your blog up with news and information that adds value to your customers also make the search engines love your site.:%$nbsp;Blogging is now an approved part of any savvy SEM (search engine marketing) strategy.
I was proud to be invited to present this and other timely and surprising news about blogging at the NEOSA (Northeast Ohio Software Association) breakfast panel "To Blog, or Not to Blog" a while ago. Amazingly, nothing much has changed since then and it's already 2 years later!
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