Welcome!
Posted on February 18th, 2005 by Robert
This is a new blog with a bold ambition.
We are seeking ‘real business bloggers’ who have adopted blogs into their business marketing plan.
An initial short list of what we want to discuss includes the following:
- how the blogs have helped the business
- why did these businesses choose to launch a blog
- what are some of the strategies they are incorporating into their blogs
- how does the blog assist in customer relationship management
- does your blog drive sales
- does your blog support your products
- what value has blogging added to your business
This is the very first post and will likely change and adapt as we set up the blog.
Join us! This could be very fun. 
Just checking the comments! Come on, post your own.
[…] PR classes at Auburn University, has just started a new weblog called BLOGthenticity that invites business bloggers share how weblogs has impacted their businesses: We are seeking ‘real business blogger […]
I write the AutoMuse weblog for Vehicle Information Services, Inc.
Any business seeking to optimize search engine rankings is missing the (current) boat if it does not have a blog — unless it changes the content of its website frequently. Given that search engines periodically change the algorithms for their spiders and robots, and now give more weight to changes and additions in content than to other previous factors like number of links, blogs are a ready-made way to feed them. Today. So, if a company is looking to increase its web visibility, but doesn’t want to spend a lot of money on pay-per-click advertising, feeding the spiders is the best way to optimize webpage placement.
I think it is easier for smaller businesses to adopt the blogging model because they can make and implement decisions more quickly and they are less likely to have corporate political issues with which to contend. Large companies constantly manage the image projected to the consuming public and can’t afford to have someone wildcatting about the company without its express approval. I give General Motors great credit for overcoming this issue and for getting significant decision makers in direct contact with its audience by launching the FastLane Blog. In fact, before FastLane launched, I wrote about how the car manufacturers were wasting money on advertising, marketing, and surveys when they could have blogs through which consumers would tell them exactly what they liked or didn’t like about certain products, what they wanted to see in new models, what were important features to them, etc. Business blogs with the commenting function enabled are a company’s best friend. Think of all of the money car companies waste on products that flop. If they knew in advance that no one wanted a particular model, they would never spend the money designing and making it in the first place.
Blogs are the greatest communication tool since the printing press. Being able to be in direct contact with smart people who have resources at their fingertips is wonderful and time saving.
I like writing a blog, in part, because it gives me great freedom to write about subjects in a style that would not be acceptable elsewhere. As a lawyer, I have written lots of scholarly articles, weighed both sides, been intellectual about the subjects, and avoided using contractions. Blogs are just more real and, therefore, more fun. Again, I think this has limitations in large companies that need to manage the information released. After all, trade
secrets and planning information could be inadvertently blurted out on a blog if the author did not know that the information should not be released.
Originally, I discounted blogs as being a viable communication tool for businesses as I (wrongly) perceived them to be primarily online diaries for teenage girls and law students. Suddenly, however, I began stumbling across great pieces of information or witty commentary that I simply couldn’t find in the mainstream. I now read lots of legal and car related blogs and rely on them for thoughtful commentary, wit, and hundreds of other pairs of eyes and minds picking up information, condensing it, and helping me stay on top of subjects I simply do not have the time to monitor myself.
Thus, thanks to all of the business bloggers out there.
E.L.,
You only missed out one extremely vital component to blogging - their network effect. Having just checked round your blog, it’s come to my attention you’re from Bath in Ohio, which is but a stone’s throw away from where I’ll be moving to once I emigrate from the U.K. I was just talking to the father in law about the price of land in Medina when I was over in January.
You’re absolutely right about SEO and conversations being able to save you money in the long run. However, I love to see conversations going on in the comments boxes, otherwise it’s just an open-ended Q&A. It’s not just a case of post something then read all the feedback in the comments later. Engage your readers in a conversation in real time like I’m doing with you right now and see where it goes. I think GM are moving in the right direction, but I do have some reservations. But, if I’m allowed to make mistakes then surely anybody else is. GM have to be applauded for taking the risk.
Thanks for dropping in and leaving us that great comment. It’s exactly that type of conversation this blog is trying to encourage.
And, you never know, I might pop round for a coffee
Congratulations on this initiative. As an IT professional gone soft (I’ve reinvented myself as an ePublicist), I employ blogs as part of the “Internet Presence” in most my client’s publicity/marketing campaigns. To this end I continually study how others exploit this phenomenon in their business and organizational practices. I post the more “powerful” lessons I’ve learned on http://www.blogs4biz.com
I look forward to watching how BlogThenticity develops and making whatever small contributions that I can towards its success.
Yoel Ben-Avraham
ePublicist.ca
Thank you, E. L. and Yoel for visiting the blog. We appreciate your kind support. Please visit again.
E. L.: AutoMuse is a great blog/site. It is a very unique industry site. What a great idea. I agree with “Business blogs with the commenting function enabled are a company’s best friend.” I hope we can further that thought here, too.
Yoel: I enjoyed visiting your blog4biz.com/ePublicist.ca sites, too. It seems we have many ideas and goals in common, as well. I particularly like how your clients fit so well with the ‘conversation’ idea of blogs. I hope they are seeing benefits from implementing blogs, too.
I look forward to getting to know you along the way. Take care. - Robert