The growth and popularity of blogs in general has been phenomenal
within a very short period of time. Blogs or web
logs as they were previously called is where all the action
on the World Wide Web is, right now.
It is amazing how quickly websites have been relegated
to the back seat. Actually the role of websites
is rapidly being re-defined but it is clear blogs
will be the place where all the traffic will be
congregating for a long time to come. What some
thought was a passing fad is clearly here to stay
and is a permanent development that has already had far
reaching effects on communications and the way we transmit
and receive information.
Yet most entrepreneurs who have quickly jumped onto
the blog bandwagon do not seem to fully understand
and appreciate what blogs are really all about.
Worse still, many of those who have remained away
have no idea what all the fuss is about.
A clearer understanding of blogs is bound to benefit
any e-commerce business owner or online entrepreneur.
Everybody can be a publisher or media owner.
Probably the most
significant impact of blogs is the fact that it
is rapidly changing mass media, as we have known it since
the invention of the printing press in the 15th century. Powerful
media companies have been in the hands of a few people
who have carefully controlled what we see in our media.
Sometimes deliberately to achieve their corporate goals
and objectives. Blogs are effectively transferring that power
back to the people and away from the hands of a few.
This era of blogs means that anybody can be a publisher
or media owner and effectively transmit whatever
information they want and push whatever cause is
dear to their hearts. The impact of blogs in politics
for example has been a clear demonstration of the
power of blogging. We have some blogs covering
politics that have a couple hundred thousand visitors
on a daily basis.
This may be a scary development to many folks including media
owners but it presents a number of excellent opportunities
for entrepreneurs to reach huge audiences with
their messages at a tiny fraction of what their budgets used
to be in the days when blogs did not exist.
Breaking news, courtesy of the blog community
Further power
of blogs to handle breaking news in real time,
complete with photographs and video clips, has clearly been
evident in retimes. For example during the Tsunami tragedy
last December. Footage of the damage being caused
by the giant waves was seen in blogs long before the
traditional media channels got wind of what was going on.
This opens up a whole range of new opportunities that
can be tried out in the years to come. Not many
entrepreneurs have realized this yet.
Anybody who didn't have a site can own a successful
blogBlogs are so easy to set up, maintain and run that
a new breed of online entrepreneurs is on the rise.
It consists of many individuals who for one reason
or another were unable to set up and maintain heir
websites.
We are now in an era where an online entrepreneur needs little
else other than lots of creativity, there is actually
so much that he or she can do without a single
cent in capital.
Distinct advantages of having a blog
Blogs tend to
get lots of traffic. Lots more than websites do. Besides
search engines seem to love them. Blogs are also able
to build up links much more easily than websites. Thus it
is no longer surprising for a nobody-novice to suddenly shoot
up in stardom and recognition.
No entrepreneur can afford to be left behind
The benefits of
a business having in it's stable a blog or two that
is capable of attracting huge traffic, is very important and
can be extremely useful in helping a business to achieve
its' marketing goals and objectives.
Any entrepreneur whether online or offline who does
not have a blog to help promote their business
is making a very serious mistake that they will
definitely live to deeply regret. In fact even
playing catch-up with a blog that already exists
will continue to be more and more difficult.
There are a number of advantages that blogs have which will
continue to be extremely useful to entrepreneurs and webmasters.
One of them is the fact that they easily allow for
customer comment and anybody can be able to post a comment
at your site. In a way this is a form of research and
sampling because it enables the business to get feedback
and thus be able to gauge the sort of response they
will receive when they finally roll out their product
or service into the market.
Start using your blog more carefully and watch your
traffic and revenues steadily climb as a result.
Article
by David Callan. David is the leading search engine
consultant with AKA Marketing.com's Search Engine Optimisation team. AKA
Marketing.com provide full SEO services as well as telephone
based consulting for those preferring the DIY approach. |
