According to a tally by blog vendor Socialtext, just 40 of the country’s largest 500 companies have blogs. For many businesses, blogs remain a mysterious medium dominated by teenagers and technology geeks, says Information Week.
Most execs “do not read them, they do not understand why people write them,” says Charlene Li of Forrester. that will have to change if they want to stay current with customers. “It’s a different mind-set that they have to understand,” says Li in the Information Week article
This last week Bulldog Reporter’s PR University held their annual new media and advanced PR technology in practice seminars in New York City and San Francisco. There has been a big shift in the knowledge and attitude of the attendees. Last year they did indeed find blogs to be a mysterious medium. This year they are much more up to speed on blogs and why a business would or should blog, but it’s the social media aspect that has them flummoxed.
GM is one blog that gets it. They use consumer-generated content from YouTube and Flickr on their FYI Blog, and encourage people to lable images in Flickr with the tag GMFYI.
“Social media is a unique thing that’s going on on the Web right now, and it’s important for us to take part in it,” says Bill Betts, manager of Web services for GM communications.
This social aspect tagging and bookmarking content is the next thing companies need to get their heads around. Markets are indeed conversations and people are sharing content with each other and with the rest of the world. With all the new social media tools available anyone can do it, and they can do it in the blink of an eye.
A political pundit interviewed recently on TV about the John Kerry Iraq statement commented that in today’s world of lightning-fast communications, someone in the audience with a video camera on their cell phone can take a clip of a speech, or a corporate meeting, and it will be on YouTube before the meeting is over. Â
How can businesses benefit from all this? Make your content relevant, authentic and interesting. Then syndicate it. Make it easy to subscribe to the content and include social media elements that make it easy to share it.
Â
Suri isa Saalabi: Blogging is one of the best ways in which a company can get and stay in touch with their customer-base. Blogging allows companies to catch potentially dissatisfied customers and to explain how their products and/or services may provide a solution to that customer’s problem. A good resource is Bruce Brown’s “How To Use The Internet To Advertise, Promote, and Market Your Business or Web Site” (Atlantic Publishing Group) Don’t give up on blogging, just get smart about it.
– Suri isa Saalabi
Salaabi & Macke Consultants
Plantation, FL
Comment by Suri isa Saalabi — November 12, 2006 @ 4:06 pm
[…] Why I should have a blog for my business?Your business blog can increase your web presence, sell indirectly to customers, provide an area for customer feed back, write a press release, profile a new customer, upload photos of a new product, provide advice on your industry area and create and capture an audience. Hopefully by reading this post you can understand why they can be important. For more information see link belowWhy Business Blogs Are Important For many businesses blogs remain a mysterious medium […]
Pingback by Terinea Tech Tips » 50 Simple IT Ideas For Increasing Your Business Competitiveness & Productivity — November 16, 2006 @ 4:35 pm
[…] Sally over at the Business Blog Consulting reports that many companies within Corporate America still don’t get blogging. This is probally true across a cross section of non-tech companies. “Most execs “do not read them, they do not understand why people write them,â€? says Charlene Li of Forrester. that will have to change if they want to stay current with customers. “It’s a different mind-set that they have to understand,â€? says Li in the Information Week article“ […]
Pingback by Web Strategy by Jeremiah » Business Blogging still a Mystery to Corporate America — November 18, 2006 @ 6:02 am
I spend a lot of time talking with small business owners about blogs and my experience maps onto what you say. There is a lot of interest but not a lot of understanding.
Comment by Dave — November 18, 2006 @ 11:59 am
[…] For many businesses blogs remain a mysterious mediumBusiness Blog Consulting, NY – Nov 12, 2006According to a tally by blog vendor Socialtext, just 40 of the country s largest 500 companies have blogs. For many businesses … […]
Pingback by Videos » Blog Archive » Enthusiasts become journalists online, in print — November 26, 2006 @ 6:33 pm
Blogging is a fairly new concept so it’s not surprising that many businesses haven’t jumped right into it. That will change, I’m sure, as they find their competitors using blogging as a form of marketing and product promotion.
Comment by Ruth — November 27, 2006 @ 1:01 am
[…] Why I should have a blog for my business?Your business blog can increase your web presence, sell indirectly to customers, provide an area for customer feed back, write a press release, profile a new customer, upload photos of a new product, provide advice on your industry area and create and capture an audience. Hopefully by reading this post you can understand why they can be important. For more information see link belowWhy Business Blogs Are ImportantFor many businesses blogs remain a mysterious medium […]
Pingback by Terinea Tech Tips » 6 Things Your Business Should be Doing in 2007 — December 7, 2006 @ 11:04 am