Live On Top Of The Rock!

While I stated in my last blog why companies need to scan the internet for customer’s opinions of their products and services, I slightly mentioned that maybe a company should get a blog of their own. Well according to The New Influencers, “corporations shouldn’t blog unless they know why they’re doing it”(p84). Blogging requires a goal and drive. Having a poorly maintained, boring blog could only hurt a company. According to Paul Gillin (author of The New Influencers) blogging does not make a company hip. Microsoft and Wal-Mart are not considered “cool” yet they have blogs. Apple, which is just about as hip as you can get, (actually living in Austin you can’t really be what we call a “hipster” without having an Apple computer) does not even have a blog.
So if coolness is what you desire, a blog might not help you. Buuuut if you want to reach your customers in a more advanced way then sending a Hallmark card with a kitty on the front, then blogging might be the answer for you.
Here are some ways (complements of The New Influencers) that blogging can help a large company out.

Customer Relations – blogging, along with other social media aspects, is the most cost-effective customer feedback mechanism ever invented.
Media Relations – If you start a blog you will most likely automatically go on the reading list of every journalist who covers you. This is a better way to release news then through a press release, which probably just sees the inside of journalist’s recycle bins.
Tell Your Story – You are able to speak DIRECTLY to the customer.
Tackle an Issue – you can take a stand on controversial issues. This could get messy through traditional media when tends to bends words to make a “story”.
Feed a Frenzy – Having a blog is like adding lighter fluid to the fires of your passionate customers. Remember the 80/20 rule, which my dad likes to tell me about at least 9 times a year, 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers
Promote a Product – self explanatory.

So if you can hire someone to start a blog for your company and maintain it, I say go for it. Orrr you can ignore all the benefits and go back to living under a rock.