Bloggers are trying to sell to non-bloggers. That is what we do at Lion Buzz™: sell blog services. Bloggers see all kind of great potential in using blogs. Non-bloggers wonder what they are missing. Bloggers see the Internet as a whole new way of communicating. The blog being the first format in the WEB2.0 or social media revolution. Since blogs are a new format, a platform and communication method, explaining blogs may take many approaches. Some people have to see a blog in action to fully understand what is the communication innovation. Bloggers say to the world:
- Blogs are informal and direct: it gives people a forum to say everyday things, it’s like a water-cooler conversion or a chat in a bar.
- Blogs can be written and read by anyone: it is like Microsoft Word on the Internet. You do not have to mail it to your friends or customers, it’s just “there”. Anyone can read them and comment. Like a global bulletin board.
- Blogs are for everyone: the company CEO can write about corporate strategy and governance. The marketing manager can write about product features and when the next release is coming out. The support manager can write about bugs and how to get around them. The financial executive (CFO, VP of operations) can write about how the company profits are accounted for and how strong the balance sheet is.
- A blog will get you started with WEB2.0 and social media: with focused content and targeted audience you start creating communities. You develop a style and a voice, you start interacting with people who are interested in your opinion or your product.
- A blog can be a network or community building tool: you can gather people of all kind and get them interested in what you have to say. You can have people exchange ideas between them, you provide the place. You can become a moderator (facilitator) of conversations about ideas, opinions and even knowledge.
- A blog can be a repository of knowledge, opinion and ideas: this is one of the most popular uses in blogging. All by yourself you can start gathering “content” a catch-all phrase for material. If you have your own writing, photography and videos.
All these are great ideas which is what drives a communication shift. Some go as far as calling blogging a communication revolution. About 25 years ago, when the Internet became popular, the main form of communication was e-mail. For the most part, e-mail is a one-to-one communication method. It is also a “closed” format. People were not able to have their e-mail messages publicized so anyone can read them. The e-mail format has limitations which a blog solve: you need to know someone or at least have their e-mail address before you can reach them. Managing large mailing lists is a time consuming task. Even if you have a group of 1,000 people (who want to receive your messages), you still have to manage changes in addresses and people who want to stop reading your messages. The effort of mailing to each person has gone away in a blog, anyone that knows about your blog can read it. Another popular format in WEB1.0 days was the personal web page. It turns out, that creating and maintaining a web page is hard. Making a personal web page interesting and useful is also very hard. Very few people have a popular personal web page. A more elaborate web site takes much more technical and writing effort. This makes web sites a group activity which require professionals. Professional developers and writers benefited the most from the early Internet (WEB1.0.) Now that we have WEB2.0 we call the early days of the Internet WEB1.0. Everything from stock trading (Schwab, e-Trade) to used items you would find in garage sales (eBay, Craig’s List) to the worlds biggest book stores (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders) to computers (Dell, HP), electronic gadgets and used musical instruments you can now buy on the Internet. Software like tax preparation (Intuit) and virus protection (McAffee) is primarily sold on the Internet. But opinions, small news items, specialized information (specially technical), organization of groups did not benefit from WEB1.0 as much. Amazon will let you write a book review, but what if you want to write an opposing opinion? Amazon has the final say which comments are published. They can take out your comment or “bury it” among hundreds of other reviews so no one will find it. Then came blogging and now social media sites. Now individuals can publish their knowledge, ideas and opinions just by writing. But it turns out that most people still need help blogging and social networking.
Non-bloggers probably know most of the benefits in blogging. What they see is also the amount of time it takes and new effort of learning new skills. Non-bloggers still have a point. It takes resources and time to start a new blog. Blogs also are not a solution to all communication needs. They say:
- Blogs are not accepted as serious communication: it is still to early to use a blog to be a business’ main internet site.
- Blog format is simple and linear: it is just one article after another, there is a need for two dimensional format.
- Blogs require a big commitment in writing and editing resources: a company blog is like running a newsletter or developing a web site every month. We simply do not have the resources or the skills.
- Social media is just a fad: after you connect with hundreds of people, the initial buzz fades. Then you are stuck with a blog that needs writing and promotion. There is no guarantee of continuing interest.
Who is right? Which opinion is more accurate? Is it an issue of which markets or fields of communication can use blogs and which can’t? Is it a matter of a massive communication shift that will take years to infiltrate? Is social media, the combination of grouping people and communication among them, just another format? (web sites, portals, retailing will stay as is?) Great questions which both bloggers and non-bloggers need to think about. In the next few articles, we will give examples. Both good blogs and not so good blogs. Blogs can be a wonderful form of communication. They can give small organizations a strategic and tactical communication tool not seen the last 25 years. They also give individuals a voice where one did not exist before. On the other side, there are millions of abandoned blogs. People and companies who worked for a few months and gave up. There are trivial blogs which are neither interesting nor useful. Knowing a little about the opportunity and the needed investment in resources and time will help non-bloggers understand what and how blogs are developed (and promoted.) Bloggers also need to clearly show and explain how blogs are developed, what can be done with them (in terms of promotion) and how to use them effectively.
I find myself trying to sell all kind of new ideas about blogging to all kind of people who don’t blog. Every new idea, specially as far reaching and blogging, is not going to be easily accepted.