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Blogging And Measurable ROI

This is from an article by Jan Norman in the Orange County Register, reprinted in the Hartford Courant.

About 37 percent of people on the Internet read blogs, often without realizing they are blogs, Zimmer said. That provides wider marketing opportunities than ever before.

Although blogs are text usually read on computers, the technology has quickly expanded to mobile phones - called moblogs - to video and photos to cellphones, MP3 players and personal computers - called vblogs - and audio for computers and MP3 players - called podcasts. Video podcasts are coming.

So not only does it look like blogs are here to stay, it looks like they're becoming more pervasive. Here's more:

"I'm a small-business person like you," Zimmer told the PCE members.

"Heather Green, who writes a column for Business Week Online, posted a question on her blog. I responded, and 20 minutes later she called me and then quoted me in her column. What are the odds I would get into Business Week?"

When discussing ROI, would being quoted in a major news publication be trumpeted? Probably not. But would anyone in their right mind say this had no value. Of course not. A corporate blog can help position you as a "thought leader" in your industry.

Blogs exist on virtually every topic, and those communities can be tapped to help a business, said Genevieve Anton, president of Anton Communications in Tustin, Calif. She worked on an account in which the product was criticized, resulting in a lawsuit. She was able to find a blog for people who were fans of the product. They came immediately and vigorously to the company's defense.

"We could never have mobilized that reaction with traditional public relations," she said.

The value of blogs, in my mind anyway, cannot be disputed anymore. The only question remaining is whether you're going to grasp this new communication tool and put it to work for your business.

If you want to, we can help you do it. ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

posted by John Palmer @ 9:30 AM