blogosphere – Sustainable Marketing Solutions

Only five percent of the 133 million blogs tracked by Technorati were updated in the last four months. So maybe some bloggers have been on extended vacation and perhaps others just abandoned their blogs altogether. And maybe a few are business bloggers who aren’t getting the proper support for maintaining oxygen flow into the lifeblood of their company blog.

If you’re a business blogger, here’s important advice to consider as you strive to evolve your blog and fulfill your business objectives by leveraging the wonders of Web 2.0:

How your company perceives its own blog is just as important as how others view it.

Don’t be tempted to think of your new blog or any other social media resources as “technology” tools; think of them instead as communication vehicles or brand extensions for creating conversations, building relationships, and generating new, highly qualified business.
A blog by itself does not a social media strategy make. Please continue exploring multiple online channels and creating multiple, synchronous touch points in the Social Web Sphere – all of which are necessary to leverage the boundless opportunities associated with Web 2.0. Your blog is just one component of a much larger universe of opportunity.
The hardest part about joining the blogosphere is not deciding whether or not you should blog, learning how to blog, launching the blog, or even generating traffic to the blog (although this is definitely not easy, it is also not the hardest part). The hardest part is engaging readers, inspiring loyalty and building relationships, and this comes from the quality of conversation you create – not only on your blog, but also throughout the blogosphere. Many companies prefer to maintain the “built it and they will come” perspective when it comes to blogging. But even if “they” do come, what matters in blogging is whether or not they’ll stay.

Ultimately, your company’s perceptions can make or break whether or not you leave a meaningful brand mark in the blogosphere. So, how does your company perceive blogging?

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“…the fact that your voice is amplified to the degree where it reaches from one end of the country to the other does not confer upon you greater wisdom or understanding than you possessed when your voice reached only from one end of the bar to the other.”

– Edward R. Murrow, quintessential journalist and pioneer broadcaster, at the 1958 RTNDA conference

Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of Mr. Murrow’s speech at the Radio and Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) conference in 1958. It’s ironic how time stands still about some subjects and flashes forward for others. My guess is that Mr. Murrow would have been pleased and proud of our technological advancements, which led to the creation of our awe-inspiring blogosphere.

Note: If you haven’t already, treat yourself soon to the movie Good Night and Good Luck. The film positively inspires the unearthing and sharing of plain truths, particularly for those fortunate enough to tote a global megaphone.