To many people, both in the consumer and business worlds, the term “blog” (a shortened version of weblog) still sounds like an off-the-wall concept.  But just look around and you’ll find blogs almost everywhere, including in this year’s presidential campaign.  

Back in 1999, Jorn Barger, who is sometimes credited for coining the term, defined a Weblog as "a web page where a weblogger (sometimes called a blogger, or a pre-surfer) 'logs' all the other WebPages s/he finds interesting."  Blogs soon evolved from a log of web sites to what they are commonly known as today:  personal journals posted on  web sites where the authors can log, on a regular ongoing basis, their individual thoughts on any topic they choose.  Because of this apparent freedom of speech, blogs can often be quite controversial in their nature and there is a hard-core community of techies that are trying to preserve this true nature of blogging. 

But like any good technology, the business world is beginning to recognize the many benefits blogs offer. Consequently, they are becoming quite prevalent as a way to communicate information to large groups of people.  Both George W. Bush and John Kerry each have a blog on their official campaign sites.  While quite different in their presentation, together these blogs offer a good insight as to what blogs have to offer.  By examining both, you get a good sense of how you could use a blog in your own business.

• Frequent updates, in a brief, easy-to-read format.  Both blogs provide daily updates on their campaigns, with a “What’s Happening” posting each day on the Bush site and with various news stories on Kerry’s site.   
• Reader feed back.  Each site offers a different option for readers’ comments.  Kerry’s blog is the more traditional example, with a link to comments at the end of each posting.  The numbers of comments seem to range from a few to several hundred, depending on the nature of the postings.  Bush’s site offers a “Send Your News” option for submitting comments that are a “news tip or something worth highlighting on the blog” and you see these submissions as part of the daily postings. 
• Easy-to-access archives.  Kerry’s site has a directory, with recent postings, postings by the week, and postings by category.  Bush’s site has a blog search engine capability and archives by category and by month.  Kerry’s site also contains a traditional blog feature, which is a listing of other related web sites.  In this case, there is a listing for political blogs as well as “Unofficial Kerry Sites” and “Unofficial Kerry Groups.”

Ongoing, interactive reader feedback, and a log of archives – that’s what blogs are all about.  Imagine using this kind of tool such for communicating to your project teams, sales channels, or customer networks.  Simpler and easier to follow than email or discussion forums, companies like IMN customer Symmetricom, are finding that blogs quickly becoming a key part of corporate communications. 

If Bush and Kerry can do it, so can you and your company. And now you can try a blog for free, with our special offer of a 15-day trial of DirectBlog.  If you’re interested, sign up now or request more information!