Blogs are those things that we’re all hearing about everywhere we look, it seems. Political campaigns have them, news organizations have them, regular people have them, and businesses have them.
A blog is simply a place on the Internet that you can update anytime you like with new information. And from the business standpoint, they’re a way to connect more often with customers and potential customers. They’re your way of communicating when you wouldn’t normally be communicating, and that’s a great way to increase sales and keep up client relationships.
The beauty of blogs is that they are what you make them. You can use a blog to update customers on what your business is doing—new special pricing, new products, how the office has changed. There aren’t rules other than those you choose, so it’s entirely up to you what your blog becomes. The blog can be an extension of your company’s current website, or it can become your company’s website. It all depends on how you want to use it.
To get started, have an idea of what you’ll do. Look around. Find other blogs from companies in your industry and see what they do. Then you can either talk to your webmaster about getting one started, or just visit one of these places for a simple solution:
- Blogger.com
- Wordpress.com
- Typepad.com
- ExpressionEngine.com
There are many other solutions, but these are some of the more popular. Some are free, some are not. The most important thing to remember is that it doesn’t matter what you use, just that you use it.
For more about blogging, see the presentation Ryan gave at the November 28, 2007 Sierra Graphics Network dinner.