This is a draft of a guide paper from the IIA's Social Media Working Group. The paper is intended for Irish businesses and organisations considering the potential applications of blogging within their communications and marketing strategy. Our hope is that when you have finished reading this article you will have an understanding of:
- What a blog is and why people engage with blogs
- What are the potential business uses and benefits of blogs
- What are the potential pitfalls and how to avoid them
- How to get started with blogging
We hope that you find this paper informative. If you have any comments or feedback please let us know by clicking on the COMMENT button. We look forward to discussing this paper with the attendees at our workshop on December 5th in the Digital Depot.
1 - An Introduction to Blogging
1.1 - What is a blog?
A blog (an abridgement of the term web log) is a website with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. A blog is often similar in appearance to a traditional website but differs in that the format is generally less formal and a blog is designed to be interactive and encourage comments and engagement of readers.
Allowing users to "subscribe" to a blog for alerts when new content is published is a core part of the success of blogging. Subscribing is facilitated through a technology known as RSS (really simple syndication) which enables the automated distribution of updates directly to a subscriber's desktop or web browser.
Most blogs are primarily text based, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting).
The fastest way to become familiar with the world of blogging is to find some blogs with topics that are either of personal interest to you or fit into your business area. As well as searching in your favourite search engine (Google's blog search for example) – try some of the specialist blog directories such as:
- www.irishblogs.ie
- www.irishblogs.info
- www.irishblogdirectory.com
- www.blogarama.com
- www.technorati.com
Micro-blogs
Micro-blogging is a form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually 140 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, phone, email or via the web.
One of the most popular microblogging services is Twitter.com. The popular social networking websites Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and LinkedIn also have micro-blogging feature, called "updates" or "status updates".
Commoncraft, an online resource explaining new media in simple terms, have made a video available on YouTube entitled why blogs are such a big deal and a separate one dedicated to explaining Twitter in Plain English.
1.2 - Why do people blog?
Blogging is essentially about sharing – sharing experiences and common ground. The types of blog vary enormously ranging from personal diaries, fiction, hobbies, experiences, opinions (professional and personal), and reviews. Many personal blogs start off as online diaries to keep family and friends up to date on activities. As readership and confidence grows, the content often develops or matures featuring more thoughts and ideas.
Blogs are not restricted to personal opinions as many evolve into thought leadership platforms within the area of expertise of the blogger e.g. technical reviews, photography, art and so on. The blogosphere (a group term referring to all blogs as one unit) , like all social media, is very much a community of engagement inviting interaction and dialogue. When asked why they blog, the majority of Irish bloggers cite responses such as "joining the conversation" or "being part of the community". Indeed, many blogs are used to mobilise a given community such as arts organisations or charities to inform readers of upcoming events and relevant issues.
Blogs are appealing to writers who simply want full editorial control over their own publication. Writers in the broadcast and print media must sometimes conform to a strict editorial stance. Bloggers do not have a ‘big brother’ to censor content and blogging therefore appeals to millions of people who want to find their voice and be heard.
1.3 - How big is it?
Technorati, a leading worldwide blog directory, is currently tracking 112.8 million blogs. These figures tend to account for English language blogs alone so the number is in reality far greater. In the US it is expected that by 2012 more than 145 million people—or 67% of the US Internet population—will be reading blogs at least once per month. The number of people creating blogs in the US will also grow, reaching 34.7 million people by 2012— 16% of the Internet population, up from 12% in 2007. (eMarketer 2008)
22% of Irish Internet users regularly read blogs (Edelman, 2008). According to a research by ComReg, 14% of internet users have created or worked on their own online journal or blog. 15-24 year olds are the most frequent users of the Internet as a creative community medium, and are currently far more likely to engage in blogging.
2 - Blogging and Business
2.1 What's Happening?
Many Irish businesses are already blogging either with a traditional blog or on micro-blogging platforms such as Twitter. The following are some examples of Irish companies and organisations that are using blogging as an integrated element of their communications, engagement and marketing mix:
Tast.ie blog
Deborah Hadley, a corporate financier, started the Humble Housewife blog just under two years ago as a project to ‘keep her sanity’ after becoming a stay-at-home mother. The blog featured her large catalogue of delcious recipes juxtaposed with a small amout of personal content about her family. The Humble Housewife blog had about 300 subscribers and received between 20-30,000 visitors per month. To leverge the success of her blog, Deborah then, with the assistance of the Offaly County Enterprise Board, launched Spicendipity.com in June 2008 and renamed her food blog to Tast.ie.
Spicendipity is an artisan food business which sells homemade, 100% natural spice mixes, baking mixes and a range of sauces over the internet. Both the Tast.ie blog and Spicendipity website have been met with considerable success since their launch and Deborah plans to exploit this attention by further expanding her product offering. Tast.ie is a classic example of a blog born out of the blogger's passion for a topic which later became a viable business model.
RecruitIreland on Twitter
Vicki O Callaghan, Website Development Manager at RecruitIreland.com wanted to personalise the experience for their website users, interact more with them and build a community feeling on the website. RecruitIreland felt that this was the way forward and wanted to be the first of the recruitment websites in Ireland to adopt this thinking. They began to microblog on Twitter initially to give the website a personality, the fact that a real person is behind the tweeting, answering questions from candidates and companies who are recruiting they feel makes a huge difference.
RecruitIreland tweet about the things they feel their customers would be interested in; salary surveys, hot jobs on the site, or general office banter – their aim is to keep it as fun and relevant as possible. They had their first advertising sale via Twitter resulting from a “twitteroo” asking for rates via Twitter. When asked about the benefits Vicky says "we have had suggestions from candidates about how to do things differently or feedback about usability which is invaluable. The benefits change daily to be honest but in general I think it makes us more accessible and interactive, gives us another invaluable way to communicate with our users".
Ice Cream Ireland blog
Kieran Murphy of Murphy's Icecream manages their Ice Cream Ireland business blog. The blog has generated much publicity and helped get the company's message out to both customers and the media. There have been dozens of articles written about the activities of the company as well as multiple radio spots, all as a direct result of the blog.
The blog has brought customers to their retail shops, helped facilitate comments, complaints, and suggestions and sense of community among customers. Hearing their opinions and suggestions helps Kieran and the team keep their business fresh and current. Kieran suggest that "A blog is a great tool for hearing from customers who wouldn't otherwise keep in touch. It also has greatly enhanced our web presence, and the blog receives as almost 10 times the traffic of our website, murphysicecream.ie."
Aside from the direct publicity, the largest tangible benefit has been The Book of Sweet Things, a Murphys Ice Cream cookbook, that happened as a direct result of the blog.
The blog was awarded the Best Business Blog in the 2008 Blog Awards and according to Kieran has brought real benefits to the Murphy's Ice Cream business including:
- "More connection with our customers.
- Wider visibilty on the web, especially through search engines.
- Lots of press.
- A book deal.
- Customers - both for our retail shop and wholesale business."
Cully and Sully blog and forum
Cully and Sully is one of Ireland’s fastest growing new food businesses, producing a range of fresh soups and pies which are sold throughout the UK and Ireland. Earlier this year, they became the first Irish company to win the prestigious overall Sial d’Or award in Paris. The Cully and Sully website contains a number of social media features including their blog "Diary" and a discussion forum "Foody Forum".
The site receives about 6,000 unique visitors per month which is considerable traffic for a food manufacturer. The blog is written entirely by the two founders. Their rationale is to allow their customers to get to know the people who are preparing their food. The blog features posts on their food products and ideas, letters and responses from customers and it also details activities the team are up to, including their love of surfing. The popular discussion forum is an online community for foodies (food lovers) to share cooking tips and stories. They have big plans to expand their web presence, feeling there isn't yet a central or portal food community celebrating food in Ireland and Cully and Sully plan to fill this space.
Other case studies
There are many example of Irish businesses and organisations that are blogging and we are very happy to include more of these here. If you would like to share your experiences with other businesses by having a case study of your blogging activity featured here, please don't hesitate to contact us.
2.2 The Business Case
There are many ways that organisations can use a blog to support their business communications and marketing plan. Here are some of the ways in which business can use blogging:
- Building brand Many companies' primary use of blogging is to build "brand communities". These are non-geographically bound communities of brand advocates; connected to the brand and to each other. This community approach is pursued as it is understood as a way to build deeper connections with customers and support longer term brand loyalty.
- Reputation management Negative news stories, customer reviews and rumours spread at lightening speed online. The web is, for many, the first port of call to research products and services from companies. By engaging with bloggers and dealing with critical comment via their own blog many organisations have found a new way to express and protect their brands online. Companies who have been able to do this successfully have seen the benefits of attracting their ideal clients, new business opportunities and future employees.
- Customer service and engagement Many organisations use a blog connected to their website as a place to share with customers new product or service developments, to answer questions, to deal with feedback, and to showcase the work they are doing with other clients or customers.
- Providing thought leadership A blog can be used to express your business's expertise in your given area, answering questions that are of importance to your clients and prospects, providing resources and information that will be of interest and even as a place to showcase your programmes, services and products.
- As a platform for research A blog can be used to create a conversation and engagement, blogs can be used as a market research platform to ellicit feedback from customers and prospects.
- Being more human Increasingly blogs are being used as a way to bring a more accessible and personal voice of the company to life. Blogs are always personal in that they are written by a named indiviudal or set of individuals. The tone and format of blogs differs from traditional brochure or PR communications in that it is informal, open and conversational. They can therefore help to offer a more personal and human view of an organisation to customers.
- Search Engine Optimisation Due to the nature of RSS feeds used to distribute blog updates, Google and other search engines can very quickly pick up changes to blogs. Search engines can give higer rankings to websites where the content is updated regularly. Blogs, integrated within the main part of a website, can support increased visibility of the website within the search engines.
- Content management and publishing Some, often smaller, businesses choose to use a blog rather than a traditional website as their main web presence. Blogging software makes it particularly easy to publish and manage content in a very inexpensive manner.
- Internal communication Blogs can be used inside the firewall of your company. An internally hosted or password protected blog provides a valuable tool for communicating policies, procedures, and developments to dispersed teams. Internal blogs also provide opportunities for more staff to become active communicators; sharing knowledge, experiences and building connections with colleagues. PwC has been using internal blogs to solicit ideas and suggestions for how to make the company a better place to work.
- Online training Professional trainers use (password protected or private) blogs as a resource to support their training programmes. Content, such as lecture notes, links to other online resources, imagery, audio or video recordings of classes can easily be published to the blog. The comments sections are then by students seeking to clarify questions, share results and continue the dialogue on the subject covered.
- News updates Because of the lack of technical knowledge required to use blogging software and the immediacy of the articles becoming live you can use a blog platform to post articles with helpful tips about your products and services, resources you recommend, events that you think that your readers will be interested in, details of your products and services and even press releases or breaking news about your company, products and services.
2.3 Risks And Concerns
Before a company starts a business blog they may have a number of concerns about what they perceive are the 'potential risks' associated with creating your own blog. On closer examination however, many of these can actually be turned into advantages:
- Losing control Many business owners are concerned that losing control of their brand image if they engage with blogging because it allows others to potentially comment negatively on the brand. A blog can, in fact, be used to gain additional control over a brand image by creating a central repository of facts and comments that support that brand. Responses to comments build up a relationship with customers. Comments that are abusive or otherwise inappropriate can be moderated or deleted altogether - although it's better to refute them if possible. By having your own blog you have the opportunity to quickly deal with the issues people may have. This level of control if not available is the conversations are happening elsewhere.
- Breaking etiquette Blog users form a virtual community with their own rules and etiquette. New entrants can find that they easily overstep the often invisible boundaries in terms of what is acceptable or appropriate. This can often engender a negative backlash against the offending blogger or business. Some simple etiquette rules and acceptable behaviour guidlines are listed here:
- Don’t spam. Ever. Before adding a comment on another blog take the time to consider if it’s really helping the discussion on that blog.
- Don’t hard sell. Your readers will quickly realise if your blog is intended to be an advertising channel and is not providing any useful resources or information. Promoting or recommending your products and services can support you in marketing online, however, it needs to be undertaken with the right tone.
- Be honest. If there is any chance of a conflict of interest then make it clear on your own blog entries and on comments you make elsewhere. Don’t fabricate stories for use on your blog. Any attempts at deceiving your audience will backfire if you are caught. If your company has hired a blogger to blog for you, disclose the fact - don't pretend that you CEO is blogging if they are not. You will be found out and as a result this will impact your credibility.
- Be yourself. Don’t create fake ID’s to leave comments. Always use your name and not just your company name when leaving comments. If you can’t – then reconsider if you should be leaving a comment at all.
- Stay on topic. Don’t try to twist a conversation on another blog to match a topic that promotes yours. Staying on topic within your own blog posts will also help make them clearer.
- Don’t steal other people's work. Make sure to give attribution and reference any original source material you use on your blog.
- Own up to mistakes. If you cross the line with an etiquette issue – then own up to it. Be aware that ignorance is not considered an excuse on many blogs – make sure to review other people’s comments before adding your own. If you are covering an issue where your business has made a mistake - use the opportunity to keep your customers up to date and inform them of how you are dealing with the problem.
- If you ask, listen. If you contact other bloggers for advice – be prepared to listen to that advice. Don’t ask for links back to your own material. If the content of your blog is good enough then this will happen automatically.
- Do engage with other bloggers. Authoring a blog provides you with an entrance into the blogosphere. Engaging with other bloggers, for example by referring and linking to them in your articles and taking the time out to write comments on their blog posts, will not only grow your audience but it will also ensure that other bloggers will be more positively disposed toward you.
- Inappropriate tone One of the first risks that a business faces when creating their own blog is not taking it seriously enough. The general atmosphere within blog communities is very relaxed. It’s important to remember however that the contents of a blog can reflect on the business in both positive and negative ways. It is important to ensure that the blog is aligned with the needs of the business and the customers and avoid the use of language that you would not use in a normal business situation.
- Inappropriate content This can be linked with the inappropriate tone but can also include issues with the comments that people leave on your blog. Publishing a blog comment policy in relation to how you will respond to blog comments is recommended. Many businesses set their blogging software so that they approve comments before they are published on the blog.
- Cost: The software required to run a blog is available at no cost. The equipment requirements are minimal unless the blog becomes very popular. A very popular blog will require a good web service and some optimisation but that can be offset against the publicity gained.
- Time commitment: The setup costs for a blog can be low in terms of capital outlay but there is a time commitment needed to ensure it’s a success. Well written articles take time to research properly. If you can’t make the time commitments to keep a blog up to date with fresh content, approving and responding to blog comments and connecting to other bloggers then don’t start it. External companies can be hired that will assist with the blog creation, development, design and even moderation but you still need to be able to spend time on the blog to get the appropriate tone and passion that is expected.
- Technical knowledge requirements: The initial setup of a blog does require some technical steps but after that it is very easy to maintain. Adding new posts is no more difficult than creating a webmail.
3 - Getting Started
3.1 How do I do it myself?
Research and planning
It is important to spend some time becoming familiar with the styles of blogs in use and to use that time to plan how you wish to present yourself. When reading blog entries - make a mental note of which articles have caught your attention. Have they inspired you or motivated you to take some action? Are you looking forward to the next posts from the author? If you enjoy reading some particular articles on a blog then consider leaving comments. If you find a blog in a specialist area that interests you, visit other blogs they mention or look at their Blogroll (list of recommended blogs).
As you start reading multiple blogs - the effort of bookmarking them and switching from one to another can be quite tiresome. Many blogs give you the opportunity of signing up for email updates. These have the advantages of being easy but are not necessarily the most effective way to follow a series of posts. RSS Feed Readers have the advantage of gathering all your reading material from a wide variety of blogs in one place.
Once you are familiar with the various types of blog and blog entries that are available it is time to decide whether you want to create your own blog. Creating a personal or business blog because everyone else has one is not a solid basis. A successful blog requires a substantial commitment in time - both to write posts and engage with other bloggers - and passion - for the topic and tone of your blog.
Start offline by finding a specific topic area for your blog that you can initially focus on. Keep notes of topics you would like to discuss in more detail on your blog.
Hosted services
The easiest way to start a blog is to use a hosted service. There are numerous providers that provide fully hosted blog solutions.
Each of these don't cost any money to get an initial blog up and running at a website address such as http://joesblog.wordpress.com or http://marysblog.blogger.com. Each of the hosting services will provide full easy to follow instruction of how to set up a blog on their platforms. It is important to check the terms and conditions as some of the hosting services restrict the use of their services. Charges may apply for additional functionality.
Hosting your own blog
For the purposes of attracting customers to your website and raising your profile in the search engines it is recommended that you host your own blog. This means having the blog as either a section in your website or using the blog to create a complete website. The website address of your blog in this instance would be http://www.joeswebsite.ie/blog.
Hosting your own blog generally entails installing software on your servers (such as wordpress.org), setting up a database to store the blog entries, and adding some script files to your website. Most web site hosting companies allow you to do this via their control panels. Hosting your own blog requires more maintenance and technical skills but gives you a lot of freedom to design the layout and add any extras that you feel may be useful. However, you don't need to become a technical expert to host your own blog as you can outsource the set-up and free yourself to focus on content creation.
Branding your blog
Just because it’s your blog doesn’t mean it has to called My Blog or My Company Blog, Don’t be afraid to give your blog a title and brand it like any other publication. For corporate blogs, it is recommended that you:
- Invest in the customisation of your business blog so that it connects with your visual brand identity online.
- Make sure that your customers can easily find your blog from your main web site - add a link to your blog from the main navigation of your website. And of course make it easy for people to find your main website by linking to it from your blog.
- Use language that connects with your audience. If you don't think that the word 'blog' works for your audience, you could call it the 'news' section or 'articles'.
3.2 - Outsourcing
Blogs are generally managed by individuals and can be setup without any technical know how. Areas that advice might be sought are:
- Technical Issues involved in setting up and maintaining the blog
- Copywriting and language usage
- Assistance with researching for posts
- Graphical design
- Programming of add-on modules
Some questions and issues you may wish to review if you were going to outsource the implementation of a blog:
- you would want to see examples of their work
- do they have a blog and what have been the results they have enjoyed
- what their design experience is if you want them to customise the look and feel of the blog
- if they use standard or premium templates of if they will design your blog from scratch
- what experience they have of installing and guiding on business blogs versus personal blogs
- what platform they support
- if they provide training following installation
- if they have a continuity programme - if you are hosting the blog you will have to update the blog as new versions of the software come are released - especially as some of the updates are for security reasons
- what recommended plugins they suggest for functionality
- will they give you the information to add to your blog in terms of blog comment policy, copyright etc
- if they will assist with submitting the blog to the blog directories and if so how many
- if you or them will purchase the domain name - especially if they are a one person company you want them to give you the admin of that moving forward to avoid the risk of the domain name not being renewed
^^
Glossary
The following clarification on some terms will be helpful when planning and creating your blog:
Posting: Posting refers to updating the blog. This can be a completely new entry (or blog posting) or adding a comment to a blog entry that already exists.
Posts vs. Pages: Blogs can have pages or posts. Pages are just like normal web pages and are generally used to provide supporting information to the blog. These can include background information on the author or details of services provided. Pages don’t provide for the same level of interaction as blog posts. Posts are the blog entries that you will be making on a regular basis.
Title: Each blog post should have a title that provides a short indication of what the blog entry is about. The reason is twofold – first the title must be meaningful to the reader and secondly should contain the keywords likely to interest the SE robots. This title will appear in emails or RSS feeds that your readers have subscribed to.
Tags: Tags are a set of words or phrases that provide an overview of the most important topics covered in the post. They help in the organisation of your blogs and help your readers find posts.
Category: A category allows you to group your posts into different areas. This can be very useful for your readers to navigate your blog if you cover numerous areas in your blog.
Themes/Template: Themes (also known as templates) on a blog refer to the visual style and layout rather than a subject area. The blog posts etc are stored separately from the design of the blog. By applying a new theme you can change the look of the blog in an instant. Customising your blog to connect with your visual brand identity online generally involves designing a suitable template. This is not a trivial task. If you don't need to match a visual brand identity then there are thousand's of sample templates available.
Blogroll: a list of blogs shown at the side of the page, which the author recommends.
Wordpress.com vs. Wordpress.org: Wordpress.com is one of the services that hosts blogs. Wordpress.org contains software that allows you to add a blog to your own website.
Recommended Reading:
Cully and Sully are not blogging. They have a news page.
contributed by on Dec 1 4:50am
Your "case studies" are primarily made up of observations from within the companies themselves? I just don't much in the way of tangible guidance or advice to other companies, other than to say "blogs are good, they've worked for us". For example: "The site receives about 6,000 unique visitors per month which is considerable traffic for a food manufacturer." That's fine, but what food manufacturers are we benchmarking against? How does 6000 unique visitors translate into a return on investment/time spent? Statements such as "the blog receives as almost 10 times the traffic of our website" are meaningless in the way of generalisable advice. If you have no clear compant strategy, and no online presence that expresses that strategy, and consequently your site gets 100 unique visitors a month - then 10 times nothing is still nothing. I just don't see that this demonstrates a principle that a company could take action on.
contributed by on Dec 1 6:56am
Your section on Search Engine Optimisation is, as is the trend with writing about SEO, vauge guesswork
"Due to the nature of RSS feeds used to distribute blog updates, Google and other search engines can very quickly pick up changes to blogs. "
This is just not true. Having an RSS feed will not increase the frequency your site will be spidered by a search bot.
"Search engines can give higer rankings to websites where the content is updated regularly."
Again, not true. Your site will be spidered periodically along with other sites on the web, and while you can tweak the frequency through things like Google Webmaster Tools, the control you have is minimal.
Read http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/11/googles-seo-starter-guide.html for some very simple tips. You should blow in a way that entices human beings, builds loyalty, offers a rich experience of your products/services, adheres to some basic SEO practices.
"Blogs, integrated within the main part of a website, can support increased visibility of the website within the search engines."
This is just silly. Blogs can increase search traffic because people like them, link to them, refer to them in their own articles and maybe tell their friends about your blog/site/product/service. If you blog in a way that adds no value and entices nobody, you will not drift up the search rankings just because you have a blog. Saying that they "can" support increased visibility is silly; your blog is just text on a page to the search engine. Having an effective blog, writing effectively, offering rich & valuable content - these things are important.
contributed by on Dec 1 7:15am
I spelled vague vauge. Sorry folks.
contributed by on Dec 1 8:11am
Well done guys
A very good first cut. My comments are based on those who might be coming to this document for the first time, and not on the minutiae of indivudal sentences - well, for the moment anyway..
1. In Section 2.1 of the four case studies, three relate to epicurean enterprises. while blogging is perfect for such businesses, I think this focus is too much. I think there needs to be a representative sample (if that is possible) of businesses that could start blogging - without necessarily being a startup online or in traditional bricks n' mortar.
2. Though not mentioned in the text, could you make a point of mentioning the blogger=journalist debate. i personally do not believe that all bloggers (and of course business bloggers) want to be known as an online journalist. I have heard this premise raised a few times over the last while - and I don't believe it to be true. Could this be clarified?
Thanks
Kevin
contributed by on Dec 2 2:20am
Great to get the feedback. The more detailed/critical the better so we can ensure that we give the best advice possible. So keep it coming please. Thanks again.
contributed by on Dec 2 4:35am
If this post appears twice apologies as my browser crashed half way through.
Great first stab. Some other sections I think this would benefit from include:
How to Write for Blogs
Avoiding cut and paste. Linking to content and adding insight etc. Uploading media rich content such as audio and video through Podbean, YouTube and plugins such as SlideShare for presentations.
How to Promote Your Blog
From linking to others, submitting to directories, using technorati including checking your authority. Including on email signatures etc should also be covered.
Hosting Your Own Blog
This section could be more comprehensive and is an area where guidance can really help. Irish companies such as Blackknight have blogger packages but guidance on buying the domain name and uploading/updating the wordpress database can be tricky if not following guidance. Even if awareness of what you need to know would help.
Dealing with Spam
I received over 600 spam comments in a hour last week and as I deleted I removed actual comments. Wordpress does have a service to help but it needs to be activated and is not intuitive
contributed by on Dec 2 7:09am
You might want to update the link from irishblogs.info to irishblogs.com
contributed by on Dec 2 12:22pm
Also maybe including something about trackbacks and more about linking back to your blog or referencing other blogs ?
contributed by on Dec 3 7:06am
I think this is a great introduction, especially the business case section.
A couple of points - and apologies for crossover into points already made:
Under "What is a blog", I think you need a more indepth explanation of what a blog is in a business sense. Firstly, it is a publishing platform, an online tool and a marketing/communications area - you get from it what you put in. It may help to have a description along the lines of "A website, or part of your website, that allows you to share your business news or updates, get customer feedback, introduce new products and services and promote what it is you do to an online audience in order to prove your expertise. A blog can be at once your portfolio, a dedicated online newspaper and an interactive platform to communicate with your customers, prospective clients and an online audience. It is used most effectively as part of an integrated online campaign where the approach is reader focussed."
Under the business examples, some relevant ones may be:
Companies:
Pix.ie
Nononsense.ie
Rabodirect.ie
blacknight.ie
"Sole traders":
Mulley.ie
Sabrinadent.com
Patphelan.com
In the arts / entertainment area
On the record - Irish Times
Noradunnegallery.com
Templebar.ie
Poetry Ireland
Finally, under 3.1 how do I do it myself, maybe a how to write a blog post section might help? Specifically - understand what it is you want to talk about, talk about it clearly and simply as if you were talking to a friend who didn't know about the subject then write about it.
Mulley, being one of the only Irish bloggers I know who writes about this stuff has some great posts I'd consider essential reading for anyone serious about it:
http://www.mulley.net/2008/07/08/dipping-your-toes-in-the-business-blogging-water/
http://www.mulley.net/2008/06/26/words-dont-come-easy-what-to-blog-about/
http://www.mulley.net/2008/04/07/fake-blogging-ghost-blogging-and-your-business-blog/
http://www.mulley.net/2008/04/15/community-managers-room-for-them-in-ireland/
http://www.mulley.net/2008/10/18/i-trust-more-i-dont-trust-as-much/
http://www.mulley.net/2008/09/03/case-study-irish-businesses-and-twitter/
http://www.mulley.net/2008/09/01/7-ways-on-how-blogs-in-ireland-can-make-money/
http://www.mulley.net/2008/08/21/online-marketing-the-art-of-being-subtle/
http://www.mulley.net/2008/08/20/a-blogfeed-reading-list-for-irish-prmarketing-people/
http://www.mulley.net/2008/07/16/pr-and-media-training-for-irish-tech-companies-startups/
http://www.mulley.net/2008/02/19/how-not-to-interact-with-bloggers-if-you-are-a-ceo/
http://www.mulley.net/2008/01/21/how-should-pr-companies-engage-with-irish-bloggers/
and
http://www.mulley.net/2008/03/25/dealing-with-the-media-the-interview-stage/
Catch you all at the meeting later.
contributed by on Dec 5 1:18am
Well done on this document.
Just like to add a few points from my perspective as business bloggers for our business, PuddleDucks. The primary benefits for us are
- adding credability to our business
- adding brand awareness to the business
- any SEO benefits we happen to get along the way
PuddleDucks is an ecommerce site and from our experience business blogging does not directly increase sales. If that is what a business directly requires from a blog I'd say don't do it. It may increase sales indirectly by helping SEO or by convincing potential customers to shop with you, but the primary purpose of the blog should not be to sell.
As it says above "hard selling" is not recommended in a blog. Readers will soon get fed up if that is what you are doing.
As a business blogger it is important to find the niche audience for your blog. Once you have done that, you need to spend time writing interesting posts for that audience. Any business benefits you get will then follow "automatically".
I'd be very happy to do a more in depth case study on our experiences of business blogging for another iteration of this document.
Aedan
http://blog.puddleducks.ie/
contributed by on Dec 5 4:47am
Good document so far, and some great discussion at the workshop on Friday.
My own thoughts:
The document is good, but doesn't quite pass my personal "so what" test - so what's this telling me, what's in this for me, why do I need to know this? I feel the business cases for starting a blog need expansion, with worked examples, case studies, and a more studied analysis of the business benefits of each case.
In addition, I'd also recommend expanding on:
- "Risks and Concerns - Losing Control" - I believe it cannot be stressed enough that the primary reason I've seen to date behind starting a business blog is to increase the information coming out of a company to position the company as a thought-leader, to increase transparency through the release of said information, and to begin a dialogue with an audience. If a company is not ready to open a dialogue with their audience, and take the lows with the highs that this may bring, they shouldn't even be thinking of starting a blog.
- "Getting Started" - the research and planning section should firstly (and most importantly) help companies decide whether or not a blog is a suitable platform for what they wish to do within their greater web strategy, and if so, then help them to decide what success looks like for the blog - number of posts, increased perception in the marketplace of the company as a thought-leader, etc, while pointing out that a blog - and most forms of social media marketing - can lead to sales, but are not easily measured without some lateral thinking and experimentation.
Without stressing that a business blog should only be created a part of your larger web strategy, with a defined set of goals in mind (and not simply "better rankings" and "more sales"), metrics planned around these to determine success or not, and an acceptance of the time and effort that needs to go into achieving those goals, I envisage vast numbers of business blogs starting up everywhere, and a lot of people putting little or no time or effort into them when they don't see increased search engine rankings, or sales increases within a short period of time.
contributed by on Dec 7 3:26pm
Just curious if the White Paper deals enough with professional ethical issues like those present in www.mulley.net/category/funny - clearly not 'funny' for somone ...
What will the IIA do to ensure that Irish SME's business are not pillaried by soi-dissant heros of the blogisphere ??
contributed by on Jan 27 5:03am
Congratulations to all involved in this paper. I have been actively encouraging Tourism SME's to get online and blog via http://www.talktourism.wordpress.com . I have added a link to a recent blog that I have written following experiences of some small tourism enterprises who have taken the first steps in to the blogosphere. There not going to win any awards yet! BUT its a start and as long as they keep to some of the basic's I think both blogging & tourism SME's will be winners.
contributed by on Mar 12 8:18am
Thanks you so much for the helpful links Andreas. You have been giving us much knowledge with your posts.
Ed Hardy Active Wear
Mens Ed Hardy T-Shirt
Mens Ed Hardy Tops
Mens Ed Hardy Hoodies
Mens Ed Hardy Jeans
Ed Hardy Swim Trunks
Mens Ed Hardy Underwear
Mens Ed Hardy Shoes
contributed by on Dec 3 6:24pm
give your opinion or make remarks on the topic. Ideally you should be bold and edit / append your ideas into what others have written already. If not someone will do it for you.
Abercrombie Scarves
Abercrombie Fitch Scarves
Abercrombie and Fitch Scarves
Abercrombie Hats
Abercrombie Fitch Hats
Abercrombie and Fitch Hats
Abercrombie Caps
Abercrombie Fitch Caps
Abercrombie and Fitch Caps
Abercrombie Bags
Women Ed Hardy Swimwear
Women Ed Hardy Shoes
Women Ed Hardy Jeans
Women Ed Hardy Hoodies
Women Ed Hardy Tanks
Women Ed Hardy Tops
Women Ed Hardy T Shirt
contributed by on Dec 4 5:07pm