Note: This is a very important topic. While I have considerable skills in developing and designing websites, I am a novice blogger. One of Mark’s golden rules for successful blogging is to be authentic. Point well taken. In future posts, I’ll cover some of the technical aspects of blog software and offer advice. That is my world. But for now I’ll point you to his.

“Go ahead and bellyache about blogs. But you cannot afford to close your eyes to them, because they’re simply the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself. And they’re going to shake up just about every business—including yours. It doesn’t matter whether you’re shipping paper clips, pork bellies, or videos of Britney in a bikini, blogs are a phenomenon that you cannot ignore, postpone, or delegate. Given the changes barreling down upon us, blogs are not a business elective. They’re a prerequisite.”

Stephen Baker and Heather Green
Social Media Will Change Your Business
Bloomberg BusinessWeek

I agree with Baker and Green’s conclusion. Being a Microsoft.NET developer, I have been actively following the upcoming Windows Phone 7 smartphone. Let’s take a look at how blogging has impacted this product’s rollout.

On February 15th, Microsoft announces the rebranding of Windows Mobile. Industry watchers such as Endgadget immediately repackage the announcement on their blog, Windows Phone 7 Series is official, and Microsoft is playing to win and offer whatever details they can to their extensive readership. Shortly afterwards as the technical specs begin to emerge, posts such as James Riddell’s 7 Reasons Why The Windows 7 Phone Is THE iPhone Killer really get things cooking. Note the passion between the Microsoft haters and lovers in the nearly 300 comments. Over time, trackbacks and pingbacks such as Did AT&T Just Order 8 Million Phone 7’s?, allow the original post to evolve, keeping the blog fresh and relevant while maintaining high rankings among the search engines. Rest assured that Microsoft is an engaged participant in the blogosphere and closely follows industry analysts to both validate well-received design elements and features and to tweak or remove ill-conceived ones from the prototype. In this case blogging is a win-win situation for both vendor and content-provider.

Blogging isn’t just the realm of big business with large budgets and virtually unlimited resources. Small business owners can come to the party too. Consider Niall Harbison who has grown his small agency into an established internet brand mostly through using free online tools. A recent blog post How To Get Half A Million Visitors To Your Blog In Six Months – In Plain English offers sound advice based on Niall’s personal experience.

A 2009 Hubspot post Study Shows Small Businesses That Blog Get 55% More Website Visitors clearly demonstrates that blogging is an effective marketing tool for generating website traffic.

While blogs are usually made viewable to a global web, an author may target a far smaller audience. A consultant or real estate agent may wish to publish topics primarily of interest to the geographical defined readership that form his or her client base. These examples are less about driving website traffic and more about building your brand or reputation within a given community.

A blog is a low-cost option for initiating a web presence and can be part of an effective strategy in launching your business. Consider the real Julie Powell, of Julie and Julia fame. You may admire her or disapprove of her as Julia Child herself did. In either case it seems uncontestable that Powell’s story demonstrates how anyone, armed with no more than an a creative idea, some free software and most importantly the ability to connect with an audience, can turn an unrealized professional ambition into a reality.

Blogging is a smart choice for small business. However, as the old adage goes, “any job worth doing is worth doing right” and blogging is no exception. Great blogs are the result of hard work. While this realization may lead you to put it off until another day, you can bet that your top competitors won’t.