I have been adding links to other blogs to the blog roll as I read the book. Reason being...the book actually references many other blogs that seem interesting and are affliated with the topic at hand.
The blog roll helps to monitor blogs of interest. In addition, a company's blogroll can be used to link to other organizations as well as blogs of 'fans' of the organization.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
I am enjoying the book
I am enjoying reading this book. It is actually a pretty easy read. Most of what I read seems logical and the theories are understandable. Probably because I am somewhat familar with the use of blogs. I just finished reading Chapters 4 through 6 today. I found it interesting that there are companies and independants that instead of creating their own blog they piggy back on someone elses, or have bloggers write for them. This practice reminds me of when an author "ghost writes" (i.e. Stephen King wrote under the name Richard Bachman). It seems to work though.
The Advertising aspect to blogging is interesting too. Some of it seems like a pyramid scheme (multilayer progams where the blogger gets revenue for the first-level person who joins an affliate program as well as anyone else who joins as a result of the first-level person).
The Advertising aspect to blogging is interesting too. Some of it seems like a pyramid scheme (multilayer progams where the blogger gets revenue for the first-level person who joins an affliate program as well as anyone else who joins as a result of the first-level person).
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Chapter 4 Notes
Chapter 4: Monitoring the Blogosphere
- Organizations care about what the media says about them
- Monitoring media is important, and today that means monitoring blog
- Often bloggers are the first to right about new information
o Monitoring blogs allows you to know what others are saying about you
o Monitoring blogs can assess buzz around an organization
o Monitoring blogs allows an organization to know when it should contact someone directly
Respond to negative statements, inaccuracies, misinformation, and attacks
- Honesty is a must on a blog…if not, you will be corrected
- Blog swarm – many blogs, start posting negative material on a subject and feed off of each other’s energy
- In response to negative comments, it is important to choose the right form of response
- If your company has a blog, use it to address an attack
- If the initial attack is malicious in nature, you always have legal to turn to
Other will monitor your blogs
- Most blogs are extremely public
- It is possible to have a private blog (firewall or other limited access)
- Sometimes, when it comes to blogs, slips are made:
Inappropriate company information is released
Inappropriate personal topics are discussed - Company specific mistake – a blogger releases information that is not supposed to be public information
- Many bloggers have been fired for releasing inappropriate personal information on a blog
Because of the nature of blogs, many bloggers feel more comfortable behaving inappropriately on a blog
Search engines
- Search engines are very popular for monitoring blogs, several types exist like general purpose search engines, blog specific search engines, and RSS search engines.
- General purpose search engines – for example Google, Yahoo!, and MSN. These engines to show Blog results but are not optimized to search blogs. It’s important to know the difference in paid placement and organic results. Paid placements – usually show at the top of a results list or on the far right of the results screen. Organic – natural results driven by search. Two specialized search engines for checking on the blogosphere are Technorati and Daypop. Along with the two listed above, other general purpose search engines are described as examples.
- RSS search engines – search for information in RSS feeds. Examples are Google Blog Search, Feedster, 2RSS.com, and Blogdigger. Most blogs implement feeds.
Monitoring specific blogs
- Sometimes bloggers don’t want to search but rather read specific periodicals, newspapers, and books.
- There are many differences in traditional print media and blogs:
There are a lot more blogs compared to other media types, this problem is often solved by bloggers using “feedreaders” or “newsreaders”
Summary
Ideas from this chapter for our presentation
- I liked his many examples of companies and how they have passed / failed in their use of blogsSometimes what he is saying seems very common sense to me, like “it is important to monitor blogs to understand what people are saying about your company”.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Blogging for Business
Everything you need to know and why you should care…
Authors: Shel Holtz + Ted Demopoulos
Chapter 2: Business Uses of Blogs
• Help reach communication goals
• Build goodwill and attract new business, improve customer relations, enhance brand, recruit employees, build support for initatives
• Never launch a “let’s launch a blog”
Overarching Rationale: Engaging the Customer
• Nature of the customer has changed
• Customer = buyer, investor, partner, media, virtually everyone your organization touches
“Perfect Storm”
• Timelines come to a climax at the same time = perfect storm with customer at the apex. Timelines:
o Detachment of organization and customer
o Distrust of businesses
o Pervasive availability of the Internet
• Organizations disengage
o Customer has no input, connection to supplier (shoe buying experience example)
o Inability for a customer to influence the products and services available for them to buy
o Perceived lack of interest on the company’s part to listen to customers or communicate with them
• Skepticism
o Organizations have grown more distant from their customers
o Customers have responded to the deceit and greed of the business world with lower levels of trust.
o Customers need to engage one another AND the company
Social Software
• Vision of the internet:
o Everyone is a publisher
o Everyone is connected to everyone
• Social software:
o Software that enables the average person to collaborate with others online
• Blogs
• Wikis
• Social tagging sites (Flickr)
• Social networking sites (LinkedIn)
o New breed is easier to use = lower barriers to entry
Engaging the Customer
• Open a new marketing channel for products and services
• Reinforce the company’s brand
• Provide customer service
• Make company announcements
• EXECUTIVE BLOGS
o Blogs by senior company officials
o NEW PR contains more than 170 blogs by senior execs
o execs offer their perspectives on issues facing the company
Annual Report Blog
Appears once a year Appears frequently
Writing is Formal Writing is Candid
Cover Broad Issues Focuses on Specific Issues
You can’t respond Audience can comment
• COMPANY BLOGS
o Representative of a company writing on the organizations behalf
o Some companies hire bloggers
o Items that could be covered on the company web site….but a blog provides benefits such as:
• Speed
• Ability for readers to comment
• Presentation of information in a less corporate manner
o E.g. EDS Blog: The Next Big Thing
• PRODUCT BLOGS
o Updates about the product
o Issues affecting a customer’s purchase
o Address customer questions
o Announcement promotions
o Offer tips
o E.g. The Corvette Blog
• CUSTOMER SERVICE BLOGS
o Issues a product is facing
o How the company plans to address them
o E.g. Ebay Blog
• ADVOCAY BLOGS
o A blog dedicated to an issue
o Interested audiences get updates to company’s actions, position and reaction to developments
o E.g. AARP, Cisco Systems (gov’t relations)
• EMPLOYEE BLOGS
o Company blogs by any employee
o Lawyers may worry about what an employee may say
o E.g. Microsoft employee Robert Scoble Blog
Summary
Blogging is here to stay and can be a powerful tool for any business.
Ideas from this chapter for our presentation:
• Talk about the benefits of a blog for a business
• List all the different types of blogs
• Show examples
Everything you need to know and why you should care…
Authors: Shel Holtz + Ted Demopoulos
Chapter 2: Business Uses of Blogs
• Help reach communication goals
• Build goodwill and attract new business, improve customer relations, enhance brand, recruit employees, build support for initatives
• Never launch a “let’s launch a blog”
Overarching Rationale: Engaging the Customer
• Nature of the customer has changed
• Customer = buyer, investor, partner, media, virtually everyone your organization touches
“Perfect Storm”
• Timelines come to a climax at the same time = perfect storm with customer at the apex. Timelines:
o Detachment of organization and customer
o Distrust of businesses
o Pervasive availability of the Internet
• Organizations disengage
o Customer has no input, connection to supplier (shoe buying experience example)
o Inability for a customer to influence the products and services available for them to buy
o Perceived lack of interest on the company’s part to listen to customers or communicate with them
• Skepticism
o Organizations have grown more distant from their customers
o Customers have responded to the deceit and greed of the business world with lower levels of trust.
o Customers need to engage one another AND the company
Social Software
• Vision of the internet:
o Everyone is a publisher
o Everyone is connected to everyone
• Social software:
o Software that enables the average person to collaborate with others online
• Blogs
• Wikis
• Social tagging sites (Flickr)
• Social networking sites (LinkedIn)
o New breed is easier to use = lower barriers to entry
Engaging the Customer
• Open a new marketing channel for products and services
• Reinforce the company’s brand
• Provide customer service
• Make company announcements
• EXECUTIVE BLOGS
o Blogs by senior company officials
o NEW PR contains more than 170 blogs by senior execs
o execs offer their perspectives on issues facing the company
Annual Report Blog
Appears once a year Appears frequently
Writing is Formal Writing is Candid
Cover Broad Issues Focuses on Specific Issues
You can’t respond Audience can comment
• COMPANY BLOGS
o Representative of a company writing on the organizations behalf
o Some companies hire bloggers
o Items that could be covered on the company web site….but a blog provides benefits such as:
• Speed
• Ability for readers to comment
• Presentation of information in a less corporate manner
o E.g. EDS Blog: The Next Big Thing
• PRODUCT BLOGS
o Updates about the product
o Issues affecting a customer’s purchase
o Address customer questions
o Announcement promotions
o Offer tips
o E.g. The Corvette Blog
• CUSTOMER SERVICE BLOGS
o Issues a product is facing
o How the company plans to address them
o E.g. Ebay Blog
• ADVOCAY BLOGS
o A blog dedicated to an issue
o Interested audiences get updates to company’s actions, position and reaction to developments
o E.g. AARP, Cisco Systems (gov’t relations)
• EMPLOYEE BLOGS
o Company blogs by any employee
o Lawyers may worry about what an employee may say
o E.g. Microsoft employee Robert Scoble Blog
Summary
Blogging is here to stay and can be a powerful tool for any business.
Ideas from this chapter for our presentation:
• Talk about the benefits of a blog for a business
• List all the different types of blogs
• Show examples
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Chapter 1 notes
Blogging for Business
Everything you need to know and why you should care…
Authors: Shel Holtz + Ted Demopoulos
Chapter 1: What is a blog?
• A content management system (CMS)
• A very simple Web site that has some features “traditional” Web sites will have once they mature
• Organized into short posts or articles
How does a blog differ from an E-zine or Newsletter?
• An e-zine or newsletter is a document periodically emailed to its subscribers
• Blogs furnish new content more often, are less formal, and often less tightly focused
• Both mediums have valuable content for their readers
How does a blog differ from a Bulletin/Message Board?
• A blog has more control as opposed to a Message Board
• Blogs tend to have one or two authors and people are allowed to comment
• Message Boards act as more of a collage of authors posting various things
• A blog inherits its authors personality
How does a blog differ from a Wiki?
• Wikis allow a group of people to collectively work on documents without the need to download and create copies of documents
o Anyone can add / edit content
• Wikis have info organized according to the needs of its readers
o Ideal for organizing info that is not time sensitive
• Blogs have info organized according to the time of the post
o Ideal for providing a flow of time sensitive info
The Blogosphere – the community of blogs
• A term that refers to all blogs and their interconnections
o Blogs are connected to each other via comments, trackbacks, links, blogrolls and more.
• There are also A-list blogs
• How do we know if a blog is credible?
o Blogs build credibility from the people that read them
o Readers tend to trust blogs that they frequently read
o Blogs should build credit just as any other publication could (i.e. Wall Street Journal)
How are blogs different from Podcasts and Vlogs?
• Podcasts are audio posts on blogs with 2 key characteristics:
o A show-like structure
o Users can subscribe and download new content automatically
• Podcast blogs are blogs that contain podcasts and supporting material
• Blogs are easy to browse, Podcasts are not
• Podcasts can be listened in some situations that blogs cannot be read
• Vlogs – blogs in which the main content is video
• Both podcasting and Vlogging are in their infancy today
The anatomy of a blog
• Blogs are simple web sites, or parts of web sites, with some defining characteristics
• The typical blog:
o Name of the blog
o Blog description
o Author’s picture
o Sidebar on the right containing misc. info
• Elements of a blog
o Name / Title – blogs tend to have names that make one think “Anything goes”
o Description – a descriptive sub-title is usually included
o Posts – also called articles, contain the content. Dated and displayed in reverse order
o Comments – key distinguishing feature of a blog. Without this piece, there would be no interactivity with the blog’s readers
o Trackbacks – allow a blogger to automatically know when another blogger has commented on a blog
o Permalink – a permanent link or URL to a blog post. Allows bloggers to know that the URL will not change when linking to another address
o Sidebar – narrow areas containing misc. info on the right or left side
o Blogroll – a list of other blogs
o Archives – a list of the most recent posts, usually 10
o Categories – allow organizing posts by content, each post can belong to more than one category
o Search – often on the sidebar, the capability is common for most blogs
o Syndication – allows us to track more info in less time. Info can be syndicated into a feed (a file that contains a list of what’s new on a web site
Summary
Blogs are powerful tools because they are easy to use and offer a range of features.
Ideas from this chapter for our presentation:
• To list all the different information mediums and briefly describe how they differ from blogs
• Describe how blogs can gain credibility (to me very important, can even describe how things are cited for credibility)
• List the elements of the blog
• Discuss the writing style of the author(s) – a little different to me is how Holtz always speaks for Demopoulos, and you really never hear from Demopoulos in first person.
Everything you need to know and why you should care…
Authors: Shel Holtz + Ted Demopoulos
Chapter 1: What is a blog?
• A content management system (CMS)
• A very simple Web site that has some features “traditional” Web sites will have once they mature
• Organized into short posts or articles
How does a blog differ from an E-zine or Newsletter?
• An e-zine or newsletter is a document periodically emailed to its subscribers
• Blogs furnish new content more often, are less formal, and often less tightly focused
• Both mediums have valuable content for their readers
How does a blog differ from a Bulletin/Message Board?
• A blog has more control as opposed to a Message Board
• Blogs tend to have one or two authors and people are allowed to comment
• Message Boards act as more of a collage of authors posting various things
• A blog inherits its authors personality
How does a blog differ from a Wiki?
• Wikis allow a group of people to collectively work on documents without the need to download and create copies of documents
o Anyone can add / edit content
• Wikis have info organized according to the needs of its readers
o Ideal for organizing info that is not time sensitive
• Blogs have info organized according to the time of the post
o Ideal for providing a flow of time sensitive info
The Blogosphere – the community of blogs
• A term that refers to all blogs and their interconnections
o Blogs are connected to each other via comments, trackbacks, links, blogrolls and more.
• There are also A-list blogs
• How do we know if a blog is credible?
o Blogs build credibility from the people that read them
o Readers tend to trust blogs that they frequently read
o Blogs should build credit just as any other publication could (i.e. Wall Street Journal)
How are blogs different from Podcasts and Vlogs?
• Podcasts are audio posts on blogs with 2 key characteristics:
o A show-like structure
o Users can subscribe and download new content automatically
• Podcast blogs are blogs that contain podcasts and supporting material
• Blogs are easy to browse, Podcasts are not
• Podcasts can be listened in some situations that blogs cannot be read
• Vlogs – blogs in which the main content is video
• Both podcasting and Vlogging are in their infancy today
The anatomy of a blog
• Blogs are simple web sites, or parts of web sites, with some defining characteristics
• The typical blog:
o Name of the blog
o Blog description
o Author’s picture
o Sidebar on the right containing misc. info
• Elements of a blog
o Name / Title – blogs tend to have names that make one think “Anything goes”
o Description – a descriptive sub-title is usually included
o Posts – also called articles, contain the content. Dated and displayed in reverse order
o Comments – key distinguishing feature of a blog. Without this piece, there would be no interactivity with the blog’s readers
o Trackbacks – allow a blogger to automatically know when another blogger has commented on a blog
o Permalink – a permanent link or URL to a blog post. Allows bloggers to know that the URL will not change when linking to another address
o Sidebar – narrow areas containing misc. info on the right or left side
o Blogroll – a list of other blogs
o Archives – a list of the most recent posts, usually 10
o Categories – allow organizing posts by content, each post can belong to more than one category
o Search – often on the sidebar, the capability is common for most blogs
o Syndication – allows us to track more info in less time. Info can be syndicated into a feed (a file that contains a list of what’s new on a web site
Summary
Blogs are powerful tools because they are easy to use and offer a range of features.
Ideas from this chapter for our presentation:
• To list all the different information mediums and briefly describe how they differ from blogs
• Describe how blogs can gain credibility (to me very important, can even describe how things are cited for credibility)
• List the elements of the blog
• Discuss the writing style of the author(s) – a little different to me is how Holtz always speaks for Demopoulos, and you really never hear from Demopoulos in first person.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Blog for Blogging for Business!
This blog has been established for a group of Samford MBA Students to blog about the book "Blogging for Business". Here we will capture our thoughts and ideas about the book, as well as generate content for our class presentation on July 29th, 2008. If you have read this much....please feel free to post any comments you may have about the book if you have read it, or if you would like more information!
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
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