Dec 2010
Communications and Blogs
With over 35 million blogs running on the web, is blogging a viable strategy for your business or interest? Yes I write a blog, but as you can see - I do not have the time to update it regularly.
Blogging is still seen as
THE activity that defines the Internet Age. My work with Hostopia provides partners with a basic package that includes the EasyBlogBuilder - but is it a good use of your time?
A blog is an abbreviation of Web Log - a sort of diary of your thoughts and activities. It has progressed into a means of sharing information that others have created or found. Micro blogging has also increased with services such as Twitter, but the concept is the same.

How to start blogging


It is really easy to start blogging, but if you are doing it for your business, you need to plan what and how you are going to do it.
Think about what you want to communicate and the audience you wish to communicate it to. Also look at how much time you are likely to be able to devote to it. If you Tweet, you may need to do more blogging, but of smaller volume.
Once you have planned what you want to do, you should use the programme you are using to set up the distribution methods for your blog - the most popular being Technorati.
Keep your blog on track, make it interesting and follow up on any questions and information that flows from it. If you are linked to networking sites such as LinkedIn, post the link to your profile - your contacts will then have access to it, and you will expand your reach.

Note of caution


If you do not have the time, inclination or interest to continue a blog, my advice is don't even start. You can follow blogs through RSS links, and by becoming a Twitter follower, but leave it to people with more time than yourself.
This does not mean that you need to remain silent. If all you have time for is an hour or so every month, why not think about an e-newsletter. There are many programmes available - again, at Hostopia we offer Announcer Pro for this.
An e-newsletter has a double benefit in that a copy of the newsletter is stored on the website, as well as being sent to the inboxes of the people in your distribution lists.
Newsletters should not be long affairs, if you have long articles think about a headline introduction, and a link to the main body of the article on your website. This provides your website with traffic that the search engine love.
If you want to set up an online marketing communications policy, whether it is via a blog or e-newsletter, why not contact
Jack Marketing Solutions to help you realise your potential.
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