Online Sales Success

Blog, blog, blog, blog.

Businesses dig into the latest in useful tools

Erika D. Smith
Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal
May. 7, 2005 12:00 AM

AKRON, Ohio –
Feel all tech-savvy now because you know what the word "blog" means? Do you know what a blog could mean for your business?

Sage Lewis does.

The president of SageRock.com swears by blogging as a marketing tool. More people know what SageRock.com is. More search engines are attracted to its Web site. More clients see the company as an industry leader.

All of that, Lewis said, is because of the company’s blog.

"It’s really changing the face of what publishing and information awareness is to a company," Lewis said.

A blog is a journal that is publicly available online. Most are run by one person, but sometimes several people contribute. Some are silly. Some are serious. Some are quite personal.

For companies, blogs are an opportunity to tell clients and potential clients about the industry, products and services. Also, it doesn’t matter how large or small your business is.

Blogs can build an open relationship with customers and to make your company a resource about a particular subject. They’re good for spin, too.

"The first hurdle is convincing companies that it’s a useful tool," said Debbie Weil, a business-blogging consultant based in Washington, D.C. "It’s not just some silly thing for personal use."

The most important thing about a blog is the logistics.

"Blogging can be a great marketing tool if it’s used in the right way," said Shirley Shriver, vice president of marketing services for Hitchcock Fleming & Associates in Akron.

The "right way" includes several things.

• First, companies must commit to maintaining a blog. It sounds
obvious, but a blog that isn’t updated at least once a week is useless.
Running a blog takes time and resources but a lot less than many
employers may think.

• Second, business owners have to decide who’s going to write the
blog. A high-level executive is ideal, but if that person can’t string
together enough words to form a sentence, don’t bother.

If a midlevel employee is selected, employers should be clear about limits and about what the writer can spout off.

Don’t want your trade secrets all over the Web? Make it clear in a
written policy and review each entry before it is posted to the
Internet.

• Third, companies must decide how their blog will be written and what
it will include. At the least, every business blog should be useful,
have a point of view, have a way for readers to post feedback and
include links to articles from other sources, said Weil, who also runs
WordBiz.com.

Many companies put a link to the blog on their Web site or let search engines such as Google and Yahoo! draw in people.

Search engines love new content, and just putting a blog on your Web
site could push your company to the top of someone’s search results.

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