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What are Blogs, and Why Your Business Should Use One
By Richard Zwicky
 
A few weeks ago I was involved in a very strange conversation 
with some pretty bright people. One publishes a widely 
circulated industry magazine, another was an industry consultant, 
and the last was the CEO of a major corporation in the same 
industry. I'm not sure how the conversation evolved, but towards 
the end the consultant mentioned that another journal had done 
an excellent job syndicating their content through blogs and RSS 
feeds. The comment was quite unremarkable in and of itself. What 
happened next was not.
 
"What is an RSS feed?" asked the publisher; "I keep hearing the 
term 'blogs' and 'blogging' but have not paid much attention to 
them, what is a blog?" asked the CEO. A deep moment of silence 
ensued, it was broken by the consultant's almost sardonic voice 
"Jeez man, an RSS feed means Really Simple Syndication you should 
know all about it, it is core to your business." The CEO got off 
a bit easier.  
 
You know what? They are not alone in their ignorance. Most 
people don't have a clue what blogs or RSS feeds are. Most don't 
need to, but a lot of people who use blogs on a daily basis 
don't even think twice about them, how they work or how powerful 
they are.   
 
So, before we go any further; here's a definition of what a blog 
is:
  
     A publication of content and Web links, sorted in 
     chronological order, with the most recent at the top. 
     The content reflects personal or corporate interests, and 
     is almost always written by an individual. Blogs were 
     originally called web logs or weblogs. However, as "web 
     log" can also mean a server's log files, the term was 
     confusing. To avoid this confusion, the abbreviation "blog" 
     was coined, and became the common term. 
            
Blog content varies dramatically. While often it reflects what 
is happening in a person's life, there are many blogs used by 
companies to distribute content. Some affiliate / reseller 
programs use them as a way to control what is published about 
their company and its offerings on partner sites.
 
There Are Literally Tens Of Thousands Of Blogs On The Internet Today.  
 
The natural question for most is, who started the first blogs, 
and when? While I have been unable to discover who the first 
blogger actually was, it does appear that they first appeared in 
the mid 1990's. However, they only really began to emerge from 
the 'underground' in 1998. Even at that, they only started to 
become broadly used in 2001/2002.
 
Originally, blogs were simply standalone web sites dominated by 
links and peppered with personal commentaries and observations. 
They were little more than a person maintaining a personal web 
site; much like someone would keep a diary, with links pointing 
to items around the World Wide Web that had caught their interest 
along the way.
 
Today, blogs are much more dynamic. Some major corporations' web 
sites contain internal blogs, where employees can post their 
thoughts, ideas and more; sometimes they are public, sometimes 
not. But mostly, blogs are hosted on independent web sites. When 
using one of these, the diary keeper, or blogger, logs in and 
starts posting his or her thoughts in real time to the Internet. 
Witnesses to events can comment on breaking stories faster than 
the mainstream media, which usually are at least one hour from 
being 'live on the scene'. Thus, bloggers can publish reports and 
commentaries live on the Internet, and provide information to 
the world faster than traditional media, all without a publisher 
or editor to review or approve their work.
 
Think about it, Monks used to have to handwrite lengthy text to 
record events. Then Gutenberg came along, and revolutionized the 
publishing industry by making it possible to mass produce their 
work. Systems got faster and faster for a few centuries, and then 
along came the Internet. It became possible for anyone with a
computer and a web site somewhere to publish their work and 
have it visible anywhere around the world in seconds. Now, 
anyone can spread their message, instantly. Aspiring and 
established writers alike can bypass the traditional publishing 
industry, and disseminate their work directly to the public. 

Of course, this lack of editorial supervision means that 
writers, good and bad, no longer have to fear rejection. No one 
has control over how or what they write and there's no one 
looking out for them to keep them out of trouble. 

As powerful as this may seem, the real power lies in syndication, 
which gives any writer the ability to broadly distribute their 
writings by plugging the content into an RSS feed: Really Simple 
Syndication. 

Imagine the possibilities. You can now have your content spread 
through the entire network in the twinkling of an eye, to build 
an audience overnight. You've just tapped into the ultimate in 
viral marketing and branding. 
 
This ability has brought forth a whole new type of guerrilla 
marketing. While at first blogging was simply seen as something 
neat to do, when the concept hit the mainstream, people realized 
that they could be used to build personal and corporate 
credibility that would attract customers.
 
If you are thinking about using a blog for your business, the 
key to remember in making a blog work for you is to focus on a 
topic that relates to your work and or expertise. 
 
Like any other communication medium, blogs' effectiveness 
depends upon quality of content and execution. If you plan on 
starting one for your business, below are some easy steps to 
follow:
  
     1. Keep it up to date, a blog which people will consider 
        relevant should be updated every few days. Concentrate 
        on providing the most current information on issues 
        facing your industry, or information of interest to your 
        marketplace at large. Also remember to post any breaking 
        news you come across as soon as you find it.  
            
     2. Ask for Feedback: Successful blogs encourage reader 
        participation. If you are afraid of criticism, or don't 
        want to host a debate forum on your ideas, or your 
        company policies, stick to publishing informative 
        articles on your website. 

     3. Link to numerous outside resources and to other weblogs 
        with like content. It shows your readers that you are 
        keeping up to date on what is going on elsewhere too.

     4. Keep it Simple, use very few graphics, and simple color 
        schemes. Focus on the text; that's why people come and 
        read your content anyhow. If you discuss many topics, 
        use categorical sections, and keep archives of older 
        material.  

     5. Remember, you too were clueless about blogs, possibly 
        not all too long ago. Many of your readers are probably 
        clueless regarding blogs, XML, RSS. In fact, many may 
        not know when they are even reading a blog. 

     6. Be Patient, expect a small readership initially, and 
        allow your audience to grow organically. The better the 
        content you provide, the quicker your audience will grow. 

Whether blogging turns out to be a passing fad, or if it proves 
itself to be a whole new way to communicate with existing and 
potential customers, you owe it to yourself, and your company to 
examine what the potential is for you.
 
Another good reason to consider blogging is most businesses 
hit a wall at some point, wherein they have posted so much 
information on their business online that they struggle to find 
new items to post about themselves which keep their web site 
looking fresh and attractive, and encourage visitors to come 
back. For any businesses that have reached this point, blogs 
may prove to be an answer. 
 
Content is a necessity for online businesses, because it gives 
visitors a reason to come back.  

There are many ways to build a successful blog. What it 
really comes down to is offering readers relevant, interesting 
information, and providing links to resources and news.
 
To succeed, it is essential that your blog provides readers more 
than just facts and links. You need to insert observations and 
commentaries. Your readers can probably get all the information 
you are presenting elsewhere. What they can't get is your 
commentary or analysis. If it's good, or humorous, people will
remember it, and soon come to consider you an expert in your 
field. 

In part 2, we'll examine blogs at work, and how they are a 
marketing goldmine.

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Richard Zwicky is a founder and the CEO of Metamend Software
(http://www.metamend.com), a Victoria, B.C. based firm whose 
cutting edge Search Engine Optimization software has been 
recognized around the world as a leader in its field. Employing 
a staff of 10, the firm's business comes from around the world, 
with clients from every continent. Most recently the company was 
recognized for their geo-locational, or LBS technology, which 
correlates online businesses with their physical locations. 
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