Who uses Blogs anyway?

To some, the word Blog has a connotation of some dude sitting in his mom’s home typing away at the computer expressing his thoughts on old school star movies (wars, trek, fighter, etc.).  Those people dismiss blogs as some hackjob website filled with ramblings.  Others view blogs as simply personal diaries and thus devoid of real information.  These folks are the same ones who hold the NY Times and the WSJ in high regard as some of the more prestigious newspapers. 

Well, newsflash – NY Times, WSJ, CNN, CNET, Fortune, Speak Without Interruption and many other newspaper and magazine websites are all using Blogging software.  Yep, its true.  Some of them are even using WordPress.  If you can read an article and submit a comment, then it is pretty much blogging software.  Blogging software essentially allows the newspapers to do something they have previously not been able to do – interact with their customers.  By allowing engagement, the writers can gain valuable insight into how their work is being read / misread as well as learn more about products than what they found in their research.  They can also use the comments as a basis for other articles, so it serves as a lead generation type of process as well. 

Television News sites and even regular TV shows are also using blogging as a way to engage with their fans / users.  Some even have areas where viewers can submit their own late breaking news items, or upload video or pictures that they took with their cell phones.  This expands the reach of news agencies exponentially.

But those companies already had established themselves as on the forefront of news, they are already legit.

That is true.  But if you haven’t noticed some newspapers have been laying off people right an left or closing down completely.  Why?  Basically because of the economics, but one trend that is noticable is that the companies that actually produce original content instead of just pulling all their news from the AP wire are the ones that are still running.  As far as the economics are concerned, some of the more profitable ads in newspapers are the classified sections which are being eaten by the likes of Craigslist and Ebay. 

The name of the game in newspapers and magazines has always been distribution.  The bigger the distribution, the more they can charge for ads, since they can promise a ad will be seen by X # of people each day.  Well, one of the great things about the internet, is that it allows advertisers to target just the consumers they want to reach.  So instead of paying $1,000 to be included in the newspaper and reach a wide population, they can spend a fraction of that and actually reach the intended audience.  A rock climbing store is going to see much more bang for their buck by advertising on Rock Climbing websites than in a newspaper.  People who visit rock climbing websites are interested in that subject and are therefore more inclined to buy Rock Climbing equipment.  Whereas a blanket ad in a newspaper reaches Grandma & Grandpa as well as a lot of other people who will probably never go Rock Climbing.

So where did all of those writers go? 

Well, some of them started their own online magazine and newspapers.  These sites still have great content, but without the hamstrings of politically motivated editors / owners and without the overhead.  Some have become freelance writers.  This lets the newspapers continue to provide content but w/o the hassles and cost of employees.  Some writers have decided to write books or have found other jobs with companies who do not produce paper copies of their newspaper / magazine.  The benefits of providing content online is that it is instantly deliverable.  It is also deliverable at will, since people can subscribe to RSS Feeds. 

Some have also become freelancers for companies wishing to develop the content on their websites.    For instance, a medical equipment supply company would like to build a robust website and rank well in the search engines.  In order to rank well, they need content, but more specifically they need relevant content.  The folks who run the company are of course business professionals that already have business projects to attend to, they are not writers, nor do they have time to create great content.  Enter the freelance writers.  With their experience in writing, knowledge of how to do research on specific industies, they can be quite valuable to a company trying to get fresh, relevant content.  Could the company use a blog?  YES.  As long as they wanted to continue to provide content or pay the freelancer to provide content, a blog would be a great addition to their site to enhance their search rankings.

Bottom line is that a Blog is just a content management system.  The software has made it very easy to create new articles and post them without having to know the technical aspects of loading html or using ftp folders.  It has also made it a lot faster.  Click Publish and you are done.  All of this functionality, and it maintains a consistent look throughout the site.  So if you were worried about what people would say when you tell them you run a blog, relax, many of the largest news outlets use blogs, and there is nothing wrong with trying to provide information for your user in an easy, user friendly format.

What types of things are you doing with your blog? 

Ben
Blogmaster General

Teaching you to Blog since yesterday.
You can follow me on Twitter – @JohnnyOptimist
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