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03.02.06
Business
Blogs: Fad Or Long Term Communications Tool
 By
Wayne Hurlbert
Business blogs are often referred to as being a fad. You know the line. It usually
includes terms like "fad", "personal diary", "self important", and of course "waste
of time and resources".
Variations on those themes appear all of the time in print, online, and broadcast
media. You will also hear them quite frequently in
personal or daily business conversations. Can a blog really be compared to that
very famous fad, the hula hoop?
The questions usually revolve around the blogging content, the blog value in the
near and long term, and the overall staying power of blogs. These are legitimate
questions, and indeed, they deserve answers. If we business bloggers are serious
about speading the word about the value of blogs to companies of all sizes, we
must consider the objections.
First of all, business blogs as a marketing and public relations communications
tool are still in their relative infancy. The number of blogging businesses is
still very small. The number is so low that a new corporate blog still makes the
news for its alleged innovative aspect. If that's the case, then blogs still have
a long way to go to entirely permeate mainstream business and media thinking.
My good friend John Jantsch (pictured left) of Duct
Tape Marketing considers the possibility that while blogs may have had a "fad"
period, that time
has already passed into history.
John
Jantsch says this about business blogging as a fad:
Blogging as a business fad seems to be passing - and that's a good thing.
Now maybe people will settle down and look at a blog, at using a blog for business,
for what it is. Just another, albeit powerful, marketing tool.
Yes, every business needs a blog, not so they can say they have one, so they can
finally say something because they have one. Now I'm not saying that you can't
have open and transparent conversations with your clients and prospects through
other means, I'm just saying that people don't.
As John says, blogs are being recognized for their value as marketing and public
relations tools. As a communications medium for sharing the company's ideas and
vision, a blog is a very powerful tool. Along with company specific data and facts,
a blog also provides general information on the industry, other knowledge sources,
and product use assistance. The concepts provided by a business blog are limited
only by the writer's imagination.
Blogs definitely have the potential to grow as a information sharing tool. They
are informal in tone, introduce a real person instead of the cliche of the faceless
corporation, and are timely in their presentation. The flexibility offered by
blogging is one reason that blogs will last in the business tool box.
The blog's purpose and presentation can be changed over time to reflect new business
goals and realities. The very nature of blogs is to evolve to fit new conditions.
Unlike the blog, a fad item is fixed at a certain time and place, and lacks the
built-in flexibility to develop new uses. The fad never changes from its original
purpose, and so it disappears with time.
The next time you are faced with someone stating that a blog is merely some new
fad, you can provide an alternative picture. Perhaps you will create a new convert
to the field of blogging.
As a blog evangelist, you will have achieved your goal.
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