Is the Sun Setting on Business Blogs?
I know better than to contradict someone like Daniel Gross when he says, “… as businesses, blogs may have peaked.” But if this means that blogs are losing their edge as a business pr tool, I’ll have to cautiously differ. Small businesses and nonprofit organizations are just beginning to innovate successfully with blogs, and freelance professionals still can quickly leave a big footprint in the blogosphere.
What happens on a national scale with mega corporations may not impinge upon the effectiveness of your small business or non-profit organization’s use of a blog. However, since blogging is beginning to grow up and there is a glut of average blogs on the market, the truth is that success in blogging requires innovation.
Brief Case Studies
Two innovators that caught my attention recently prove the point that it hasn’t all been done already. Jim Boykin of We Build Pages (a client), and the Pennsylvania Tourism Office.
Jim Boykin: SEO Blog
Jim Boykin heads a prominent search engine optimization company in an industry with a reputation for shady dealings. His blog, launched in September 2005, builds trust and community by discussing current issues and keeping company followers in touch with the latest product offerings and free tools he has developed.
The result of his blogging is evident on this Alexa traffic detail graph. Has all this blogging paid off in terms of business? For a man who sells the ability to generate traffic, I’d say it is likely to help.
Visit PA
The Pennsylvania Tourism Office hosts a blog community called Real People/Real Roadtrips that unfortunately pays bloggers to chronicle their trips across the state of PA. The principle of paying a blogger goes against the grain of the blogosphere, but this still is a very innovative project that deserves attention. The front page of the site looks sanitized and marketing focused, but the blog posts are personal and authentic.
This blog community shows real people enjoying different types of tourism and will likely be an effective recruitment tool for the State of PA. I expect others to follow suit, and I am sure others already have, but there is still a chance to be at the forefront of blogging in a new industry.
For more information on tourism and blogging, search Google for roadtrip blog and tourism blog.
So while blogging may be peaking, especially in the mainstream corporate world. However, real opportunities to create positive PR still exist within the blogosphere.
February 18th, 2006
