The internet revolution is thanks to two of the dumbest names in business. The first is "Web". Try telling grandma what you do with that name for a living. Next is "blog". Most people have heard of blogs (short for Web logs). There are millions of them - most with little commercial value, but many with significant social, political or cultural merit.
However, Guest Posting that changes. The business community is beginning to embrace blogs for their marketing and commercial potential. Business blogs that are well written, focused on topics relevant to customers, employees and interest groups are becoming the new corporate "voice".
Blogs offer a new way of communicating with clients, potential clients and potential stakeholders. Popular forms of business communication include press releases, newsletters and e-newsletters, websites and e-mails. But these are all one-way communications. Blogs offer an opportunity to interact and create a dialogue about a product or service.
More recently, email newsletters have helped "push" business messages to an "opt-in" audience. But spam filters that combat the increased number of unsolicited e-mails can prevent a message from reaching its intended destination. Today, people come directly to blogs for information. There's a twist. They subscribe to Real Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds that notify a subscriber's news aggregator (like blog lines) that the blog has new posts.
Business blogs can be simple, light-hearted stories, straightforward informational articles or short comments on news and issues. Each opens up an opportunity to discuss your product or service.
Blogs also serve as resources for journalists who cover specific markets such as insurance, automotive or consumer goods. Using blog aggregators, they can follow your blog and quickly browse your posts for story ideas. Wouldn't it be great to get a call from the Wall Street Journal asking for your expert opinion? Increasingly, journalists are finding the uninhibited, self-expression of blog writers to be better sources than the hand-picked and prepared "experts" provided by public relations agencies.
I became a blog "evangelist" at Idea Star and supported the creation of two new blogs - Idea Star: The Flip side and Insurtech. The 'voice' of the blog is very important - who is speaking, and what is the message? We decided that the "voice" for the Idea Star blog should be in the third person, reporting on the funny, quirky and personal side of our company. Through the blog, our clients, potential customers and business partners can get to know us personally. This is important for service companies like Idea Star. We leave the more formal stuff to our website and e-newsletter.
The other blog, Insurtech, is written in the first person. Mike Wise, Idea Star's Vice President of Insurance Technology, shares his thoughts, real-world insights and examples—good and bad—on the use of internet technology in the insurance industry. Idea Star has built a national reputation in the insurance community for excellence in web-enabled services. The blog helps establish Mike as an expert and opinion leader. As the number of contributions increases, we expect to start a dialogue in the market.
I seriously started my own blog over a year ago. It's a personal blog. I post photos, music or gadget reviews and some social commentary. But most importantly, my blog serves as a way for me to understand this new tool from a user's perspective.
For example, I posted a few photos of the Cleveland Cavaliers that I took. As usual, I captioned every shot, including one of LeBron James. This particular photo was captioned: "This would make a great wallpaper." Within days, my blog was in the top ten on Google for LeBron James wallpaper. This is fantastic from a marketer's point of view. (But not from a personal one. I took a picture of it the other day.)
Like the internet itself 10 years ago, blogs are here to stay. Figuring out how to create an effective blog takes practice. Better to get your hands on this new technology now and see what it does than to wait. If not, the next revolution in climate technology will be with a stupid name that we have to learn.
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