The Business Value of Blogging, #356

It seems the insight and discussions around blogging in the biz-0-$phere have a long ways to go before being done. The Wall Street Journal put up an e-debate today between Alan Meckler of Jupiter Media and Jason Calacanis of Weblogs Inc. The third millennium is revisited here by a “failure to communicate.”

I found this topic over at GigaOM.

Really, the whole point of this debate was something of a canard I think because there are basic fundamentals that can predict the answer. Duh. Take any activity or enterprise, and for now, there is a predictable response curve aka pyramid: a few will make it to the very top by whatever measure you choose to use, and the rest will be happy or miserable at various steps down below, depending on their nature and their goals. Leave it to traditional media to pick a blatantly silly and almost irrelevant topic to engage two influential thinkers.

However! It highlights something I think about almost every day. The digital divide between those who are embracing the internet and those who are either ignoring it or dismissing it.

I don't want to be an agist, but I think older people who were raised on last century business practices are really having a hard time "getting it." To get it means, in my mind, not having any guaranteed idea where the internet is taking us and how it is transforming our lives, not to mention the business landscape. That is one of the subtle and striking observations I notice when reading these sorts of articles as well as talking to clients. And mind you, I am 53 so I have the tendency towards status quo too. But as I rebelled against it then, I am reveling in the potential of the internet now.

If you get it, you don't have to predict it. You are just open to the possibilities and you are in on the game. The jock is no longer the shoe-in; the nerd may win by sheer force of personality.

If you don't get it, you dismiss the game as temporary and insignificant. Read this dismissive comment from Alan Meckler, CEO at Jupitermedia, "an Internet media research and marketing firm:":

"Blogs are really the "diaries" of yesteryear." No actually they are the opposite. Diaries were highly guarded caches of personal secrets and gossip. Blogs are highly public fonts of (mis)informed (both) opinions backed by supporting citations with the power to affect elections among other things. Not to mention direct revenue generators of various proportions.

To which Jason replied: "You are correct that the majority of folks are not going to make a living from blogs, but that's because they choose not to try, not because they couldn't. If folks focus in on a niche and own it there is a good chance they could make half a living from blogging."

The internet truly does bring more power to the people. If you're a person, you too can enjoy more power by participating on the internet.

My bottom line is that it's not life threatening if you don't get it. One of the most powerful aspects of the internet is that it has allowed us to bare our souls and insecurities and come out stronger on the other side. You're actually on the road to getting it by admitting you don't get it. And that's altogether different than thinking you get it, and then dismissing it. You got that?

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mary Schmidt
URL: http://www.maryschmidt.com
DATE: 04/20/2006 02:32:02 PM
Um, I think I got it. Or, at least I know that I don't got it, but I know what it is. Or, something like that.

I agree that it could be partly a matter of age (and I'm 48, so I'm not age-bashing here.) I was talking to an older colleague this week about blogging and the Web, and while she said she wanted to learn more, she then said "I'm amazed when you tell me about all you do on the Internet. I just don't have the time to play on the computer all day." Of course, I called her on the "play" and she quickly backtracked, said she didn't mean it that way. Freudian slip there, methinks.

But, we all have to find our own level - in life, business and technology, don't we?

Business Web Sites: Think Glocally, Act Locally

Certainly one of the big appeals about a business web site is the theoretical opportunity to reach customers anywhere in the world. Web 2.0 makes it easier than ever. But what’s easily forgotten is how to make your site useful to local customers as well.

#1: I'm here. Are you there?

People (that's you and me) are in front of our computers several hours each day. I go to a search engine to look for information, not the phone book. I am often frustrated by web sites (especially in the retail sector) that don't have the basic information a local customer wants:

• Phone number
• Address with nearby cross streets (or a link to a Google map!)
• Hours of operation
• Current sales or in-store specials that might get me stop in
• Details about merchandise and services available, so I'll know if you are likely to carry what I want.

This can all be provided virtually free of charge on a web page, while costing thousands of dollars a year in the phone book. Or should I say books, as there are so many competing publications. As a side note, if you are a "local only" company who has been putting off getting a web site, now is the time to re-think that decision.

#2: Local Search. Close and Convenient on Your Computer
One the hot internet business buzzwords this year is "local search." Google now allows you to search locally, and also will display "local" links on many of its searches.

Try This:
Go to Google and search for "dry cleaners albuquerque".
At the top of the page, you will see a master link for dry cleaners. If you click on that, it will take you to a listing of the dry cleaners, adjacent to a map that shows you where each one of them is located! Sometimes I can even find hours of operation, if Google has been able to "scrape" it from other web sources.

That's not all though. If you click on one of them, a little graphic displays on the map showing the address and phone number to that location. Plus, you can send the info to your phone, or get driving directions. Of course you can print the map as well and take it with you in the car as you go out on your errands run.

#3: Local Search Ads. Follow the Money.

As local search gets so refined and useful, local search ads are following right along. Borrell Associates reports that local ad spending is apt to double in 2006, reaching $1 billion. Get details here.

This is coming at the expense of traditional ad media (think radio and TV). As more and more people look online for local products and services (see point number 1) then more and more companies will be advertising locally online. BTW, did you know you can buy adwords that are displayed only in certain zip codes? (BTW = By the way)

So the next time you are updating your company web site, be sure it's just as informative and friendly to your local customers as it is to those billions out there in cyberspace!

Bonus Tip!
If you have customers who call in from other areas and don't seem to understand time zones, you can create a custom link on your site that will display the current time in any specific location. Here's a link to the current time in Honolulu. This is great for home-office professionals who get those East Coast power brokers calling you before you've had time to let the dog out.

Thanks for stopping by SmallBizAmerica!

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In many cases, the Lannan recording is one of the only live recordings made by an individual. The majority of the programs that are being released were recorded live in Santa Fe, New Mexico at the Lensic Theatre.

One of the things we love about working with Lannan is their willingness to push the envelope in so many ways. They support those individuals who are out speaking against the mainstream babble and they have embraced the internet (and their own web site) with the same determination and curiosity.

It has been our challenge and our pleasure to work for them over the past six years and to help them dramatically extend the reach of their work.

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