I have had this blog in place since December 15th of last year. My staff convinced me that this was a powerful medium that would eventually become mainstream. Not to mention that Blogs, You Tube, Digg, Wikis, Social Bookmarking, Lenses and Tag Clouds along with hundreds of other entries into this Web 2.0 NEW WORLD are gaining in popularity.

As a business, it is important however to gauge and evaluate any new strategy with an objective point of view. I have taken a look at many blog entries and you tube videos and here are a few findings as too why this interactive medium is becoming so popular:

• Whiners – Many bloggers use this public format to discuss the things in their perceived world or in the actual real world that they like or mostly dislike. Everything from an opinion on Bush, The Iraq war to advertiser claims that they challenge or had a bad experience with.
• Power Mongers – Some of the blogs authors I have read appear to be on power trip where the author feels empowered by the ability to put his/her opinions into an open platform and expose it to millions (in their own mind)
• Need a Friend – The Internet has become the largest gathering of humanity in the history of the world. Online it doesn’t matter where you live, what language you speak, what you look like, how well educated you are, how popular you are or not or whether whatever you have said is actually the truth. The Net has now become the biggest Woodstock gathering in history. Free ideas, free love, free exchange, free, free, free.
• Wannabes – I have seen some pretty extraordinary writing on blogs, amazing graphics and animation on You Tube and some of the funniest bloopers ever online. It appears that this new medium has become a showcase of talent. It is not unusual to have a so so performance on You Tube seen 300,000 times and the net result a record deal. (It happened right here in Utah, go figure) Why bother with taking a beating from Simon, The American Idol “bad boy” judge. When you can post your own performance and then pitch it all over the net and then get paid for it. Amazing!!

Business reasons to have a blog as far as I can see:

• Marketing – This medium is an extraordinary way to alert clients as to changes taking place within your organization
• Polling – Online you have the ability to throw out a concept and then immediately get feedback on whether it is a good idea or a dud before you spend any money on it.
• SEO Aid – The emphasis on Google to unique and dynamic content bodes well with a blog. By it’s sheer nature the content is fresh and new. Furthermore an active blog is managed daily. Google is now penalizing sites that appear to have operators that are asleep at the wheel. No changes to content, image, look, or any new products or services. A blog connection to your site shows a search engine that you are actively managing your site with constant updates and additions.
• Platform for announcements – A blog becomes a unique way to alert your market as to new additions to your staff, new products being available or new strategic directions. Our clients that are publicly traded should be careful to make sure that anything you say is first reviewed by your SEC Lawyers however to make sure you don’t disclose something you shouldn’t. Other than that this form of communication gets a big thumbs up from me.
• Success Stories and Client Showcase – A blog becomes a great way to say thanks, congratulations or showcase your own success or that of your clients. Everyone likes to see a positive article about themselves online.

Conclusion – A blog is not for everyone because it certainly does take a bunch of time to manage. So far however the net result of this simple test for Utah Web Services and Utah SEO has been very favorable. I will continue to commit time to this project and also recommend to a number of clients that they do the same.