Corporate Blogging as a Gateway Drug
I was in a great brainstorming session with some talented people at work today. I love the energy that comes from a good brainstorm and the way that ideas always become better in groups.
The main topic of our discussion was our entrance into the business blogging world with a small blog that is focused on helping affiliate marketers. The general idea is to give affiliates, those who work with us and those who do not, a place to go and get information about online marketing. While we see a great deal of value in this blog, we see it as a testing ground for our next blogging effort, which will target the business community that we service.
When we started talking about the potential for the business community blog, people started to get really excited, but it was not because of the blog concept itself.
The brainstorming session came alive with other ideas, add-ons, and services that could be coupled with something like a business blog that focused on our customers.
The excitement seemed come from the realization that with a communication form like a blog, our company was stepping into a realm where we were no longer just pushing product to our customers. The blogging concept acts as a virtual stepping stone to changing our business to one that openly communicates with our customers and provides our customers with the information and services that they need to succeed.
We saw that the real benefit to something like a business blog goes well beyond the start of “the conversation.” The idea actually takes us to a place where we are creating new business offerings that both our customers and employees can get excited about. The best part is that the new offerings that we create will no longer be dictated by what we think our customers want but what our customers tell us they want.
Of course all of this new stuff is a way off. We are launching our first business blog on Monday. We all see the blog as a starting point to something bigger and better. And that brings the real excitement.
