Right about now, you are reading our blog. To us, this blog is essential in spreading information about our company and web design in general. We would like to think this provides our future clients with information on choosing EagleEnvision.NeT for their next web design need.
But who needs a blog? Should it only be tech-savvy people and only those who own a computer-oriented business? How does blogging fit into my business schema? These are probably questions you have thought of when thinking about blogs.
Blog Defined
Blog really stands for "web log". A blog is essentially a series of journal posts about you or your company. Think about a diary. When you were younger, you probably filled a diary with information about your daily life, your feelings, etc. almost on a daily basis. Blogs tend to work off the same principle. For businesses that embrace the Web 2.0 wave of computing, blogs are based off of their business experience.
Blogs are really picking up speed. There are MILLIONS of blogs on the Internet. Blogs basically fall under the Web 2.0 principle of "it's all about the user experience"!
Do I need a blog?
I haven't seen one of our customers directly say this, but I am sure some of them think it. A few of our customers say "yes... I would like a blog". Recently a client of ours said "I don't want a blog... I don't want to deal with it... no thanks." This is COMPLETELY fine! The fact of the matter is: not every business will benefit from a blog. It might be that you don't have time for a blog or maybe you just don't want your site to have a blog-like feel.
What a potentially blogger needs to realize is this: blogging is a choice. With choices come consequences, both good and bad. Blogs, believe it or not, can negatively impact your company's image. There have been many people fired from their jobs for blogging. Sometimes the person didn't do anything wrong and the company just didn't like the person blogging; but in some cases, the person fired is lucky they weren't sued!
On the flip side, blogging can actually speak volumes about you and your company. In cases, blogging will boost sales. Sometimes blogs tell what a normal website can't. When you read a blog, you get a better picture of the writer, since they are speaking from the first person perspective. Most times this is good for business!
Blogging Technology
There are a lot of great blog hosters out there. Blogger.com and Word Press are the most popular. They host most of the high-power blogs such as The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs (what a great read) and Scobleizer (Robert Scoble).
But being an ASP.NET powerhouse, we like to use SubText... an open source blogging platform for ASP.NET. When you want a blog and you choose EagleEnvision.NeT, we will most likely set you up a SubText blog. It's great... they do a very nice job with it!
The big question, "do I need a blog", depends on you. Does it work for you? That's something you'll need to evaluate. Weigh the pros and cons for your situation... you are the only one that can decide if blogging is right for you!