This document discusses whether you should create a blog for your business. It defines what a blog is and outlines the main types of blogs. It then discusses how blogs can benefit businesses by building relationships with customers, promoting products/services, and showing expertise. The document provides instructions on setting up a free blog on Blogger.com and offers tips for developing content such as finding your company's voice and creating a posting schedule. It emphasizes that the key to success is developing an audience and engaging readers.

1. Should You Blog?
By Debbie Laskey, MBA
Marketing, Website & Communications Consultant
marketingczar@att.net

2. What is a Blog?
Blogs have been around since the early 1990’s, but do you know
what they are?
According to Wikipedia, a blog is a type of website that is usually
maintained by an individual or individuals with regular entries of
commentary, event descriptions, graphics, or video. Entries are
often displayed in reverse-chronological order, and unlike
corporate websites, visitors can post their comments in an
interactive format. The community of blogs is referred to as the
“blogosphere,” and as of December 2007, the blog search engine
Technorati tracked more than 112 million blogs.
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3. Blog Search Engine
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4. Types of Blogs
• Corporate blogs – created by companies for marketing or
brand-building purposes
• Personal blogs – created by individuals as a forum for
expression
• Genre blogs – created for any topic – examples include
travel blogs, education blogs, music blogs, book club
blogs, animal blogs, etc.
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5. Example of a corporate Blog
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6. Example of a cartoonist’s Blog
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7. Example of a personal Blog
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8. Example of a political Blog
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9. Example of a medical Blog
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10. Impact of Blogs
Over the years, Blogs have become more mainstream:
• By 2004, politicians, news outlets, and political consultants
used blogs to express opinions and increase outreach (for
example, Howard Dean and Wesley Clark)
• In 2004, blog posts were instrumental in the Dan Rather
“Rathergate” scandal that led to his resignation as anchor of
the CBS Evening News
• In 2008, Israel established an official government blog, and
questions and answers from a world-wide press conference
were posted on the blog
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11. What could a Blog do for your business?
• Build a two-way relationship with customers
• Build brand awareness
• Promote your company’s products or services
• Provide a forum for customers to provide feedback about
products or services and/or make recommendations for
improvement
• Keep a pulse on your industry in real-time – if your
company needs to act, it can do so quickly
• Increase traffic to corporate website – improve search
engine marketing (PPC) campaigns
• Showcase your company’s expertise to a large audience
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12. How To Get Started
Once you make the decision to create a
blog, the easiest way to get started is by
using the website that is associated with
Google: www.blogger.com. The
instructions are easy-to-follow, and set-up
takes only minutes.
Then, the fun begins: start blogging!
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14. With a Blog set up, now what?
1. Find your voice
– If an individual: this will be easy, just write as you speak
– If a company: find your company’s voice and make sure
that the senior management team approves
2. Develop a timeline for updating Blog
– Daily may be too much work
– Weekly or monthly may be better options
3. Create a strategy for content
– Decide on key themes or topics
– Future topics will be derived from visitor feedback
– Research industry-specific venues for additional ideas
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15. What are the results once you have a Blog?
AUDIENCE
AUDIENCE AUDIENCE
BLOG
AUDIENCE AUDIENCE
AUDIENCE
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