Thursday, July 7, 2011

Why Your Company Needs a Blog


At some point while perusing the internet, I’m sure you’ve seen these weird little blue boxes with the “f” and the little bird. If you haven’t, they look like this-   . It’s hard not to notice them, especially since they’re everywhere. Whether its company websites or news articles or TV commercials, there they are. The visual presence alone of these two boxes, representing links to Facebook and Twitter respectively, shows just how popular the social networks are and how many different people use them. While they’re popularity and usefulness to a business are undeniable, there is another social tool that often is overlooked- the blog. This may be because originally blogs were notorious for being online diaries, sources of conspiracy theories, outlandish political opinions, and other details that the majority of the public found to be either annoying or irrelevant, but that is only my theory. Regardless of the reason, blogs had a bad reputation long before Facebook and Twitter came around. Today, blogs have undergone a resurgence of sorts thanks to their utilization by businesses, both large and small. Blogs can be a great way for a business owner to communicate with customers in ways that are not possible through a company website. A blog is a great place to answer questions, disperse advice, or even tell a funny story. Blogs are a truly fantastic tool for a business owner, but only if used properly. Like Facebook, they are not meant to replace a website, but rather supplement one. A successful blog is one that is used as a space for information that doesn’t necessarily fit in the website and is updated frequently. If you don’t have one of these buttons next to the other two, what are you waiting for?