Business and Promotion

Blogs are kept for all kinds of reasons: a playground for the writer's own amusement; for an audience of friends and family, or for dazzling and entertaining the entire blog-consuming world (the 'blogosphere').

But some bloggers are using blogs for more than just to keep an on-line diary. Businesses now use them for marketing and promotion. Because they are easy for customers to read they are more likely to come back daily to see what more you have to say tomorrow. They are also easy for you to write and keep up to date, so if you have a website that you don't often change, a blog can be used for all kinds of up-to-date self-published material.

How about these ideas:

What's new and noted/What's changed pages

If you have a company website but either controlled by someone else or is just difficult to change (for whatever reason!),then a blog can be used to log any updates, or 'new and noted' items you might want to highlight. Much quicker than redesigning your web page.

On-line reputation

A blog can be used to record your personal comments on the happenings in your industry. This is a good way to build an on-line reputation and a way of showing a more personal angle on your business. Websites can often be a little lacking in personality and human interaction. Writing for a blog is usually first-person. More about projecting an a flippant blog from the same writer here.

Frequently asked questions

These are perfect for writing as a blog: as the frequently asked question gets answered, they can be added as entries to the blog. And because they're searchable, your users can find information quickly.

Developer Notes

If you're in a dynamic company that's creating new products, then a 'what's in the pipeline' section can often be fascinating for your customers - they get to see what the designers are doing and how new projects might be progressing, building customer communication and brand identification. Similarly, a private password-protected blog can be a great way to mediate a dialogue between a client and a development team.

Competitions

A ongoing competition can be run as a blog, with regular blog updates and feedback to the competitors.

An Extended Resume

If you specialise in a field, then a blog can help you establish your on line reputation as a subject matter expert, and hence is another way for you to impress a potential client or employer. Another tip: subscribe to a google news alert for your specialist field to stay up to date. Then you can use these alerts as a springboard for your own comments.

Blog advertising

Now you can advertise specifically on blogs: pheedo

read more about blog marketing here: http://www.businessblogconsulting.com/2004/07/informationweek.html

and here for a blog about the business/blog cross over:

http://www.businessblogconsulting.com/