Blogging for Enterprise: Is It Worth It?
May 8th, 2008

Blogging, as a communication medium, has continued to expand to areas never originally conceived. Since 1999, both individuals and companies alike have turned to this more exciting form of digital interaction.
Although there is a staggering amount of new blogs created each day, the actual growth rate of the blogosphere has begun to level off in late-2007 and into 2008.
This begs the question, with so many blogs already out there, does starting a blog still make sense for today’s enterprise company?
To put it in plain English, yes.
The benefits of blogging for enterprise can’t be ignored. One simply has to look in Google , Yahoo, or Microsoft’s direction for confirmation, but the reasons go deeper than a simple ‘follow the leader’ mentality.
Blogs are a dynamic, personal and controlled environment. They allow for interactions without the commonly imposed borders of traditional media, and for the enterprise-level company, this could be a greater gift than you expect.
So what do I mean by dynamic? Or how about personal? It’s simple. The ability to respond to your customers and clients comments, questions and concerns immediately. Not through a press release or public relations executive. Instead, through a medium that allows you to be a positive source of information.
You would think the most important aspect to take away from this article is purely to blog. Instead, the real word to focus on is value.
Blogging is merely a venue to add value to your brand.
How? By creating a Triangle of Value, so to speak. You see, creating a blog and communicating with both clients and customers shows them that you value their attention. That you are aware competitors are just as easy to look up in Google, and you want to reward them by opening an avenue of communication that gives them both news and insight.
This value path then spreads, both from word of mouth between visitors and the tried-and-true practice of building up content and backlinks relevant to your brand. You have just increased your loyal customer base while, at the same time, increasing the size of your online footprint.
Completing the last leg of the triangle is where the real benefits make themselves apparent. The improved communication, online presence and word-of-mouth circulation your company now enjoys is bringing new customers and new clients into the fold. Creating a lifecycle that is self-sustaining and beneficial to all sides of the enterprise blog spectrum.
One last point I want to make reflects back on the sheer size of the blogosphere. Currently, Technorati is tracking over 80 million blogs. That is a seriously large number. Large enough that the signal-to-noise ratio is extremely low. Well-implemented enterprise blogs have no choice but to stand out.
Don’t worry about getting drowned out by all the other Joes and Janes. If you create a legitimate place to communicate, people will find it. Then all you do is build the Triangle of Value and your enterprise blog endeavor will be a success.