A business might wonder if blogs are of use to them now, especially with the new popularity of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. Yet blogs still have a valuable place. After all, many companies realized a few years ago that customers were turned off by fact-heavy websites that looked like pages from an Annual Report. Once they made their sites more interactive, often by means of blogs, the whole company-customer dynamic changed and became more positive and interactive.
It’s well known in the business blogosphere that Dell Computers led the way, being one of the first companies to make such a change. Even as successful a business as Dell was, a barrier still existed between the company and its customers, many of whom had frustrating complaints that weren’t being addressed. When the company set up to receive blog entries, the turnaround in its relationship with customers was remarkable. General Motors, too, had a similar experience.
And for anyone considering building a home business online the benefits of blogging can be enormous.
Blogs can even work in tandem with email newsletters. Many customers of a business will check the website regularly for the latest business info, and appreciate not having their inbox clogged with email. Others might still prefer the emails, so the company will need to use all the different ways of reaching out that are available. But the information on a blog will be less ephemeral than short Twitter updates that quickly vanish from a webpage. And customer replies will remain equally visible.
Businesses do need to be cautious about raising customers’ expectations, however. While an almost one-on-one relationship might be possible between a small business and its customers, larger companies may not be able to respond to all queries or complaints, and this could damage its reputation if it’s not careful.
But another use for blogging, and one that businesses might not even consider at first, is for internal communication. Even though employees can keep in touch via email, meetings or conference calls, an internal blog can focus on one department or a single project, providing a central place for a team to receive regular updates or make an informal record of their progress. This will keep these employees up to date without their own email inbox piling up to an unmanageable level.
Even though blogs are now in many ways less active, they still have a purpose in giving up-to-date business information and news to customers and receiving feedback from them. Belonging to the more tried and true internet establishment, they provide information in a more permanent form than other media, yet allow a business to remain in fruitful, friendly contact with its customers.
