Blogging  

Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption.

 Blagging

Verb: blag (blagged, blagging), informal, persuade or deceive in order to get something for free.

 Why blog for business? (http://www.corporateblogging.info/basics/why/)

From a business perspective there are several potential reasons to blog. But, as always, it depends on what you want. Blogs are no different from channels like video, print, audio, presentations and so on. They all deliver results – but of varying kind. The kind you can expect from blogs is mainly about stronger relations with important target groups.

• Become the Expert
• Customer Relationships
• Media Relations
• Internal Collaboration
• Knowledge Management
• Recruitment
• Test ideas or products
• Rank high in Search Engines

Become the Expert
Position yourself and your company as the thought leader of your business.

Customer Relationships
In a forum where your main objective not is to sell, you’ll have a more personal relationship between you and your customers. Blogs are a fast way to join the customers’ discussions, provide tips and insights or receive feedback.

Media Relations
It’s every PR-consultants dream to create a channel where media regularly check what you have to say, instead of media just being passive – sometimes indifferent – recipients of press releases.

Internal Collaboration
Use blogs as a workspace where project members keep each other updated without wasting time writing reports or searching the Outlook inbox.

Knowledge Management
Blogs works in two ways. First of all, they’re an easy way for the readers to find information and resources they want or need. That’s obvious and could be used internally in many organizations. Second, blogs are a kind of “university light” for the blogger. Blogging is on-the-job learning.

Recruitment
If you establish your company as a thought leader, people in your business will pay attention. They’ll read and discuss what you have to say. Chances are good they will see you as an attractive employer.

Test ideas or products
A blog is informal. It’s part of a conversation where people (often) can comment, and the blog can provide you with a measure of value. Publish an idea and see if it generates interest. Does anyone link to you? What do they say?

Rank high in search engines
Well, this has nothing to do with relations. But Google and other search engines rewards sites that are updated often, that link to other sites and most importantly, that have many inbound links. Start a blog at your regular site and your ranking will boost.

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The two main objections to business blogging also apply to business websites – if it is not fresh and updated reasonably frequently, the site looks stale – and once out of date will alienate more people that it attracts.  When a website or blog relies on only one person to update it (common in small businesses with few staff and little time) it can easily become tiring and an unwelcome challenge in a busy life – or worse the site becomes a rant – or a personal diary… instead of being an interesting way of drawing people into your business. Of course, some rants work – they can even achieve cult status and bring people to your site (that may never be interested in your business) – but that in itself is usually counter productive (unless you are both very lucky and a gifted writer who intends to publish at some future date)!

The solution for a website is to keep the content true to your core business and to show only the information that rarely changes – your core business proposition, your address contact details and opening hours… Boring, the same as a small classified advert, but safe!

However, the solution for a blog may rest in the type of interaction you want with your clients and how much you are prepared to let your blog take on a life of its own (very important if your principal objection to running a blog is how little time you have to manage/control it):-

• A blog can be set up to allow your visitors to automatically register themselves onto your site – typical levels of registration that you can set up as your automatic default include –
  • Basic subscriber – gets emails when the site is updated so they can follow your news and posts
  • Basic Contributor – can comment on existing posts – but can’t write new pages
  • Author – can start topics, write pages, reviews, upload pictures and documents and has full control over their own contributions (but cannot edit or delete other people’s posts)
  • Moderator – can delete, ban or block anyone/ anything – but cannot alter the site
  • Administrator – total control over every site feature and can moderate, set up, upgrade or delete users

So how can I use a blog to generate business and bring in customers?

• To begin with – for those of us with modest marketing budgets, it is an incredibly cheap way of advertising that lets our customers take the lead – giving feedback and interaction, even after hours when the business has gone home to bed or is playing poker in a local bar, for example…
  • For an online shop, with constantly updated stock, your blog solution may be to tie the blog to your new stock and latest offers – the blog gives you a way to offer specialised product/ service reviews and to allow customers to add their comments and opinions (may need moderation) – as basic subscribers they get instant emails every time you add new products – but cannot alter anything or write anything on the site… as contributors they can give you feedback (negative and positive) to which you can respond.
  • For an offline shop, used in a similar way as above, but with pictures and more product info – it may be a way of enticing customers into the shop – not everyone wants (or has the resources) to be Tesco’s online – but they may have a superb offer on shampoo or cakes that they would like to shout about – and that is what a blog can do – particularly as it is very Google friendly…
  • For a business offering a service that doesn’t photograph easily and that has restrictions on how it can be advertised (IFA, Insurance, Investment, legal advice, banking etc) then regular “professional updates” that demonstrate expertise can be a real draw – giving away a little bit knowledge free (especially when that knowledge can be found by any layman with a mission to trawl the net) – in a friendly accessible way is an excellent way of increasing one’s professional reputation and prestige in a very competitive world… Use it in a similar way to the “regular” columns that various local businesses supply newspapers and radio stations – or even better – give selected local media permission to copy and reprint your blogs when they need a professional slant on a topic you have covered, provided they give you the credit… You have then got a supply of ready made articles (press releases) that they can tap into. If you are prepared to take the risk of allowing contributors you have the added opportunity to include “real” general question and general answer sessions that could generate sound business leads…
• If your time is limited or you are very dubious about maintaining a dedicated blog for your business and being able to even add a couple of articles a month to keep it fresh – share a blog-site with other people – so between you there is always someone adding fresh information to the site…
  • The danger with this is that you could end up being the main “Author” and end up “carrying” your competitors – or that your voice is so overwhelmed by others that your posts are barely visible…
  • However…
    • The first advantage – if you pick a blog-site that is geographical or more general – you may be set up as the resident expert in your field, very quickly  – but if you are rushed and miss a week, your older articles are still up there shouting your business details and as other people are keeping the site fresh for you, your occasional lapse may not be noticed
    • The second advantage – someone else is worrying about the site details, administration and moderation – not you!
    • Thirdly – other people in other businesses will be promoting the site, with you, so that your combined minimal efforts turn into a potentially powerful marketing tool

So where can I experiment with blogging – without committing myself to another headache – but where it may help my business?

If you are a Marina Alta Business Club Member – we have now started our own newsletter blog – http://www.mabc.biz/Bulletin  – it is fully searchable – you can register yourself on it with your own login and password – all new users are automatically registered as subscribers – so non-members can follow what we do, without hassle – all members will be upgraded, automatically (by the Club Manager), to full Author level shortly after registering. No Blagging!!