Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Should Small Companies Blog?
It's an interesting question and challenges us to think about how and why blogs are or are not an important tool for companies. Fast Company argues that blogs are just one more way to gain some visibility. That is certainly a reality today, however the analysis leaves out two important points. One, that blogs are obviously more useful to companies that can sell their products across the country or across the world than companies which are inherently local (as in the Fast Company example). Also, Leads360 recognizes that a blog is a more appropriate forum to have a more wide-ranging conversation with our customers than our website. A friendly conversation with your a car salesman about the NCAA tournament might brighten your outlook and deepen your connection to the product but it would not be appropriate on the manufacturers main website or advertisement. Blogs are accepted as an "informal" mode of communication which can be valuable to any business that values their customers.
Should Small Companies Blog?
I scrolled through Technorati today looking for a blog topic, and I simply typed “technology” to see what would come up. Not surprisingly, the search engine produced a wide variety of sites from a guitarist offering online guitar lessons to a blog about online college degrees.
Nothing intrigued me enough and I continued to look down the page and I noticed a blog titled “Meet Dr. William Boothe.” Unless you’re from Dallas, TX or in the eye-care industry, you might not have had any reason to click on the title. But I grew up in Dallas, and Dr. Boothe’s name is plastered on billboards, his commercials are all over the radio, and he even sponsored prizes at Dallas Mavericks games. My thunder-sticks could not escape his campaign. In Dallas, no one could flee his advertising conquest, but now I can read about him in a blog! Yes, a little slice of home from my work computer in New York.
So, obviously, I click on the site to see what someone had written about the man who helped pioneer the LASIK eye-care industry, but, to my dismay, Dr. Booth wrote his own blog, about himself. A slight self-call, but not unusual in the “blogosphere,” although, somewhat unusual as an advertising technique I assumed.
Blogs have become a tool small businesses must use, according to allbusiness.com, a site that gives advice to small businesses and entrepreneurs. While, I slightly disagree with the comment because I do not think many people will read a blog about a floral company, produced by that floral company, I do think this tactic would work well with those in private practices, like Dr. Boothe. Lawyers would also be great candidates for blogs as well.
In Dr. Boothe’s case, his blog reads more like a resume, or an informational section on his website, but I can’t find a link to his blog from his website. Slightly strange, but then I click on the section titled “About Dr. Boothe,” and I realize he just copied and pasted the words from his website to a separate site for a blog. In effect, he realized that having the blog on the website did very little because those people on the website can read the website to learn about his company. By making the blog separate, he connects to other people who would not have heard of him, or had any reason to look for his name.
This strategy reflects his overall advertising technique in Dallas. Advertise everywhere available. His name pops up on Google as the first choice when you search directly for him, but not when you search under “technology.” He has created a new way for other people, worldwide, to know him and access his accomplishments by creating a blog. People, who have no reason to look up LASIK eye-care can see his name simply by looking under “technology” on technorati.
Of course, does all this work? I don’t know; I used Dr. George Joseph.
http://blog.fastcompany.com/archives/2007/03/28/should_small_companies_blog.html
