Worker Bees Blog

Laboratory rat, otherwise known as eBay blogger, Jeremy Wright, has written a post that answers the question: why hire someone to be your blogger?

Jeremy boils it down to 3 primary values in a blog:

1. Information aggregation
Whether for internal or external purposes, blogs represent a centralized place for people to get the right info right now about your company.

2. Knowledge management
A blog is some place you can position yourself as an industry leader and expert every day.

3. Feedback loop
A blog allows for comments, and therefore conversations with your customers, with your partners...whoever.

Now I often position the value of blogs (and their divergence from web sites in general) in three categories too, two of which seem to fit into Jeremy's and one that doesn't. Mine are:

1. Immediacy
This is somewhat encompassed in his first two items above. So often web sites are static; brochures get outdated, contact info changes, and things fall through the cracks. A blog can always be up to the minute.

2. Interactivity
Well, clearly covered by his third item.

3. Informality
Jeremy doesn't really address this issue, but I think one of the big edges a blog gives you is that it doesn't feel like marketing-speak. It feels authentic. It makes a connection between the blogger and the reader. And any consumer is more likely to buy more when they feel a connection to the product, to their sales person, to a company's values. Sometimes purchasing is an emotional decision. Like voting, it's not always dictated by pure logic or reason. We are human beings.

I really like Jeremy's attempt to explain blogging's value in a business setting, even if I think there's even more to be said. Do check it out.