Blogs and Your Business

There are 600+ corporate bloggers at Microsoft. They use blogging as one of their greatest marketing assets, generating an astonishing amount of online and offline word of mouth interaction. Microsoft takes blogging seriously and these blogs are all linked to the corporate site. They help put a human face on the corporation by injecting individuals passion for the company. What they are really involved in is building relationships on behalf of Microsoft.

A blogs or 'weblog is a regularly updated internet journal of organized personal thoughts made usually by an individual. In the business world this may be either as an official corporate blog or in an unofficial capacity. Business blogs usually incorporate news, issues, and ideas and speak to customers, vendors and employees. What makes blogs unique is that they link with other blogs and websites and solicit comments making them the ideal platform for an ongoing dialogue. Blogs are inexpensive, easy to set up and use, and require no technical skills such as HTML. The collective term for blogs is the blogosphere.

The blogosphere continues to grow. Technorati the leading web search engine is currently tracking 19.6 million blogs. About 70,000 new blogs are tracked every day. The total number of blogs continues to double every 5 months or so. There are between 700,000 and 1.3 million blog posts made every day. Both Google and Yahoo are introducing blogs search engines. Yahoo is currently showing a beta version of blog search results alongside their news results.

News travels fast through the blogosphere. In times of disaster such as Hurricane Katrina or the London terrorist attacks, blogs were instrumental in getting news, photos and opinions out at a remarkably fast rate. They often beat journalists for the scoop on news or scandals. In fact you can be sure that these days journalists keep a close eye on blogs and use them as a source for stories.

What does this growth in blogging mean for your business? It means that you should give serious consideration to adding a blog to your business. However you should also consider whether a blog would fit in with your business objectives. Because of the different tactics that blogs can be used for you may want to weigh up the options as to what benefits it can offer you and your business.

Increase your Web Presence

If you have an established online business you can add another vehicle to communicate your message and pass information on to your clients. Because blogs continually have new content they are indexed regularly by the search engines. It is another way to get your name and your products out into the search engine space. You can also use your blog to target additional keyword phrases.

Interactions with Customers

Your blog can be used to build stronger ties with your customer base. The opportunity to exchange information and expertise is one of the main reasons that explain why corporate blogs have grown in popularity in recent years. Corporations have recognized their customers are using blogs to self publish their opinions about products and services. This has led to customers getting actively involved in business situations such as product development.

Branding Tool

Use your blog as a branding tool for your business. Its an effective way to get your brand message out there. Your brand represents an exchange of ideas between you and your audience. It is a relationship. Brands exist in the mind of your customer therefore brands that aren't in touch with their customers miss out on innovation opportunities.

Corporate Communications

You can use your blog to speak directly with the media. There has been an ongoing debate as to whether blogs should replace the press release as the main corporate communications vehicle. As far as I am concerned both will do a good job and each has their own unique value.

Business Marketing

Blogs are being utilized more and more as a business marketing tool. And this is creeping into more and more business areas. Word of mouth advertising and independent testimonials are two major benefits of running a marketing focused blog. This is a great alternative to advertising. Blogs can also attract and develop a regular audience for your message and foster an atmosphere of trust.

CEO Blogs

A CEO blog is a way to speak directly to customers and vendors. And it can be used to advance industry issues. There are pitfalls of course. Saying something controversial may be picked up and reproduced in many locations. However some controversy is good as it gets people engaged.

A blog does require a commitment from you. Remember that writing and maintaining a blog take time. You should really have an interest in writing and communicating with your readers. A blog also requires an injection of personality.

Blogs are a increasingly common way to communicate about your business. As Businessweek magazine said in their article on business blogs catch upor catch you later

Copyright James Peggie

James Peggie is the Director of Marketing for Elixir Systems a search engine marketing agency located in Scottsdale, Arizona. Their website is located at http://www.elixirsystems.com and their blog is http://searchblog.elixirsystems.com

What is the Blogging Secret?

When you start blogging, the natural questions you ask yourself are things like this: What should I blog about? How can I get people to actually read it? Is it possible to make any money from it?

All of these questions have received a good deal of attention recently, and if you just do a quick search around, you will find literally thousands of people giving their own opinion. I think I must have read just about every one of those thousands - it certainly feels like that anyway! I have picked up a few tips along the way, but there is one thing I have learned that I consider is the most important of all in blogging.

This article is coming out so that I can share that truth with you.

You see, when you read what other people have read, you just have to add a little pinch of salt. I am not saying that these people are lying to you - far from it. Of course, there may be some liars and scammers out there, but you do not ever have to have anything to do with them. To use the current phrase, you do not have to invite them into your experience. But I am not talking about such people, I am talking about the people who have tried something, found it to work, and now they are telling YOU that if only you do exactly what they did, then you will get the results they did.

Often this promise comes with a condition, by which I mean that one of the steps involved in reaching your success, in making money from blogging, is to buy something from them, some software, or a template or the like. Now I am not saying they are wrong to do this. Everyone is entitled to try and make a living in any way they can, and I have no doubt that some of this stuff may well be effective, given the right circumstances. What I am saying is that going along with their scheme is not necessarily going to take you where you yourself want to go, it will take you along their rails like a little train carriage.

The internet is absolutely huge and there is a lot of room for diversity. What works in one situation might not work in another, even if they appear to be very similar. And by the same token, lots of ideas and techniques which at first may not seem very promising have suddenly gone viral in their popularity. What I mean to say then, is that if someone tells you that their way is the only way, then you should reserve judgement until you know a bit more about it, because what they said is just not true.

For the people who are saying this, the important thing for them is to get you doing the same thing they do, so that they can be lifted up by what you do. This is called "duplicability" in the parlance of our times. However, at least for bloggers, duplicability is not necessarily the most desirable goal.

You see, we bloggers are in a uniquely powerful position. Most of us are posting on a blogging platform for which we do not have to pay so much as a dime, we can pick and choose what we want to advertise, who we want to affiliate with, when we choose to work, say what we want to say with no corporate agenda controlling us. We are the people, and blogging has given us, for the first time in history, the opportunity to do and say whatever we want to.

So now I come to what I want to share with you. In blogging, the key thing is to experiment for yourself. Keep trying new things. Keep yourself as free as possible from commitment to anyone else's scheme. That way you have no vested interest in whether it succeeds or fails. Be like a scientist and try out ideas and adapt ideas to see if they work in your own context. Do not be discouraged if such and such an idea does not work - learn from it. It is possible for you to make money from blogging, but don't expect it to come in very quickly at first, you need to be patient. Just keep trying things and finding out what works for you. Reject what does not work and keep going with what does. Your success will eventually arrive.

Then you truly will be your own boss.

This article was first published on Qassia. Robert Paterson writes for "About Blogging" with advice, help, tips, ideas, information. Read more at http://phe-about-blogging.blogspot.com/ and please feel free to leave a comment there.

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Horse Racing Handicapping by Following Selected Horses, the Pros and Cons

How well do you know the horses that race at your local track? It may be the best system for picking winners. At one time, many people followed individual horses and got to know them pretty well, including their likes and dislikes and conditions. Year ago, a handicapper could look at one of his or her favorites in the paddock and know whether it would be a good day for that runner based on its condition and mood.

As horse racing has evolved over the years, more and more horses are bred every year. In addition to that, it is now possible to play many more tracks due to simulcasting, off track betting, even internet betting. Therefore, other than the people who work with the horses every day, most people are unfamiliar with the horses they wager on. To them, it is just a name and a number attached to past performances.

If you are a person who just likes to gamble and doesn't pay much attention to the animals as athletes, that's fine, but some people really like the idea that horse racing is a sport and involves living creatures and not only that, knowing the animals may result in some good information.

Years ago people followed horses and jockeys at their local tracks. I believe it is still more common in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Europe.

While the only drawback to actually following each horse is the time it takes, there are several good reasons to follow the horses and watch them closely. For one thing, it may make horseracing more enjoyable for you. Another benefit is knowing when to bet and when to lay off a horse, no matter what you see on paper. There is no substitute for inside information when it comes to horse racing handicapping. Knowing the horses and your own track is still the best system for picking winners.

The most consistent horse racing systems have to have the basics and a handicapper must understand the basics. I have been around horse racing for 50 years including as an owner. Without the basics the rest is not going to do any good. If you want to learn how a horse owner and insider handicaps just go to http://williewins.homestead.com/truecb.html and get the truth.

Bill Peterson is a former horse race owner and professional handicapper. He comes from a horse race handicapping family and as he puts it, "Horse Racing is in my blood." To see all Bill's horse racing material go to http://williewins.homestead.com/handicappingstore.html, Bill's handicapping store.

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