Blogging is Not What You Think

Why are blogs gaining mainstream popularity so quickly this year? What's the attraction? Why are they so darn powerful when applied to business or politics?

The answer is simple when you consider the history of marketing and communication. A blog exponentially multiplies the world's oldest, favorite and most-trusted form of information sharing--word of mouth. People love sharing what they know with like-minded friends.

Think about it. Whom do you trust the most to give you advice, recommendations and information about opportunities, purchases or choices?

If you're like the vast majority of people, it's someone you know and trust--someone whom you feel is just like you.

That type of trust comes from personal communication, conversations and relationships built with people who share a common interest. When your blog is integrated into a complete new media marketing strategy, it delivers all that and more.

Blogging Myths Exposed
Blogs are not merely online journals (at least not for the savvy business owner or marketer).

Blogs are instant publishing tools that allow you to easily update your content, create relationships and build trust with your target audience.

The power of blogs is not in the technology. As cool and convenient as blogs are for business marketers, the power of blogging is in the two-way conversations that create personal connections.

A blog becomes a personal extension of the author, who builds relationships by responding to the feedback from clients and readers.

Blogs are not a billboard just for press releases, product updates or company news. Blogs are an open door to communication where customers and prospects can voice their opinions, contribute to product development and become part of your company family. Blogs are not to be ignored as a passing fad. Blogs are so popular and have grown to wield so much power so quickly that innovative marketers are now using them as accelerators for everything from SEO to hubs for a complete new media marketing strategy.

When mega-internet players such as Google and Yahoo! alter their entire business models to adapt to a "trend," you can bet it's not a passing fad.

Blogs provide the public with a more reliable way of getting news and information free from mass media manipulation and interruption marketing.

Blogs have moved beyond being a tool for publishing digital journals and commentary. Now, hundreds of millions of people are using blogs, some without even realizing it.

What this means for business owners and savvy politicians is that your markets are organizing themselves into tribes engaged in digital conversations. Consumers are more in control than ever before, and they are controlling the conversations on the internet. Blatant advertising and marketing messages are being shunned.

Consumers want a more personal business experience that allows them to ask questions, offer feedback and have more facts before purchasing (or voting). Consumers and voters alike want control. And now, thanks to blogs and other new media tools, they have it.

Blogs allow you to build relationships around your brand, your business, your products and your services. Relationships are the key. The rules of engagement have changed. Your markets are faster, smarter and more organized. Now, business blogging positions you where no web marketing 1.0 method has ever gone before.

Blogs are search engine magnets whose viral link-sharing capabilities allow ideas and traffic to be shared quickly and broadly. To get the benefits we've shared here, you must be business blogging as opposed to following the example of personal bloggers or your average political blogger.

A few of the practical ways you can use a business blog:

• Increase targeted traffic to your site;
• Reliably boost your search engine rankings;
• Build rapport and trust for more sales;
• Multiply the lifetime value of your existing clients;
• Prove your expertise as a respected authority in your niche;
• Transform your clients into raving fans and customer evangelists;
• Replace or complement your e-mail newsletter for 100 percent delivery; and
• Generate press exposure and offline media coverage.

Blogs are not just used for sales, marketing and buzz. There are dozens of business areas where blogs can improve information flow and increase efficiency. Here are seven ways that a business blog can boost performance internally in your business:

• Enhance collaboration among team members across the hall or across the world for project development and management.
• Centralize company information and distribution to eliminate duplication and redundant research.
• Introduce a nearly instantaneous client and customer feedback engine that allows companies large and small to nip consumer issues and complaints in the bud.
• Reduce e-mail overhead and improve general team management by answering a question once--and only once.
• Engage a low-cost, instantaneous update system that automatically distributes premium "must have" information to clients and customers--with no worries about delivery issues or spam filters.
• Organize and coordinate your in-house and outsource agent teams.
• Develop an online, creative think tank where internal company teams or industry peers from across the country can brainstorm on a topical basis.

There are actually dozens more. In fact, the number of business-boosting blogging applications is only limited by one's imagination.