What is a Blog?

Thousands of people 'blog' every day.  (Blog can be both a noun and a verb.) I've been blogging this morning, and I believe blogs are the wave of the future.)   But, the cool thing is you can use it as a free website or as an easy (read cheap) way to spread the word about your business.

A blog is defined as a Website with dated entries, usually posted by a single author, with links to other blogs and sites with related content.  A business or person's diary or suggested reading list posted for the public.   Currently, blogging is one of the fastest growing trends on the Web.   But what's so great about this way of posting info to the net?  Blogs are personal, intimate and unfiltered.  Real people write them.

There are some good reasons for the explosion in the popularity of blogging. Everything you need to create your own blog is available, inexpensive and very easy to use.  Blogs make web publishing so simple anyone can do.

But more than that, blogging is an attractive tool for both business and advertisers alike. I read one explanation of the infinite reach of a single blog explained this way.  The average blog has links from it to ten other blogs; each of which had links to ten blogs, that had links to ten blogs . . . well you get the picture.   A single blogger might be able to eventually influence thousands.

You know the theory that anyone on earth can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances with no more than five intermediaries.  Your influence doesn't stop with the bloggers who visit your blog, it continues through the bloggers who visit their blogs and visitors to their blogs and their friends and so on and so on.

Blogs highlight useful information that you might never find on your own--or think to find on your own.   Could you get the same information from reading a book or a magazine? Not really - first, blogs are more succinct and engaging.  People have less time to sit down and read a whole book.   Second, because bloggers read each other's stuff, the best of the best of your topic of interest, sort of rises to the top (or maybe settles to the bottom) and eventually appears on the blogs you read.  Third, blogs are current.  The events of 9-11 began unfolding on blogs before CNN.  If you want cutting edge news and information, blogs should be your first choice.

So, the next question is  .  .  .  Do You Need a Blog?   If you have your own online business, the answer is a resounding YES!   And if your response to that statement is a whine of 'but I hate to write,' be prepared to pay for online traffic.   Most internet business owners market two products; the first is the product they sell, and the second is information related to the product they sell.   If you're not prepared to provide the second, you're going to pay through the nose to advertise the first.

Can you have an online business without incorporating a blog in your game plan? Absolutely!  Will a blog provide irreplaceable publicity and traffic for your business?   It absolutely will.  Blogs are as important to your online business as your newsletter and it's golden list.

Then, should you start a blog?  Well, that depends; the question really isn't 'should I start a blog?'  The question should be do I know how to use a blog to help my online business?'

Done incorrectly, you might see no advantage or worse still you could irrevocably damage your business.  Starting a blog is easy and can be done in a matter of minutes.  Starting a successful blog, however, is much more difficult.

So here are several do's and don'ts:

• Use your blog to promote your site, without sounding like an advertisement.   Give your readers information they're interested in but with lots of personality.
• Know why you want to start a blog!   Before you ever begin you need to be able to at least answer that one question.  Blogs can be used to market your business or as a place to vent your opinion.  BUT if you want to achieve success you have to be focused.   You can attract readers but first you must know what your audience wants and expects.  If you don't know why anyone should be reading your blog, then don't be surprised when nobody is.
• Find a service that will allow you to upgrade your bandwidth.  When your blog goes from 10 hits a day to 10,000 (it could happened; and we all hope it happens to us) you need to be prepared.  Choose service that will automatically charge you for surges in bandwidth. You don't want your site to crash under the weight of success.   If it's temporary it will only cost you a few bucks.  If it's permanent smile from ear to ear and sell Blogads.
• Do continue to post.  If you start your blog, be prepared to continue posting as long as you have your business.  Nothing says 'Abandoned Business' like a blog with no current posts.   You don't have to post every day; but you should post on a regular basis.

Now you have a working knowledge of blogs. If you'd like to know more about them and Blogging as a business read our  Articles  about Blogs.   And if you're interested in the #1 Blogging Product online today, check out Blogging to the Bank.