Ng, D. 2005. What are blogs?. WiseGEEK. www.wisegeek.com/what-are-blogs.htm?referrer=adwords_campaign=blogs_ad=009301&_search_kw=blog (accessed August 9, 2005).
This article briefly introduces blog’s history, functions and features. Blog is first appeared in 1992. However, it has just started to become popular recently. Blogs, or weblogs, are journals or diaries which are written on the Internet by personal tone. Every blog has different subject. It can be used to record daily life, make political statements, promote products, or keep in touch with families and friends, etc. The system of blog is so easy to be used; therefore, everyone can be a writer on the Internet no matter who you are. The phenomena of blogging has become mainstream, “Newsweek�? magazine even recommends some famous blogs for its readers every week.
Gardiner, R. 2004. To blog or not to blog. Profit, 23 (5): 96. (accessed August 9, 2005, from ProQuest: Business (general) database).
This journal article discusses both positive and negative side of blogging. Blog is a cost-effective promotional tool for companies today, especially those small and growing firms. Instead of looking for customers, blogs draws prospects to the companies. For example, when people type certain words in Google search engine in order to fine some relevant information, Google displays websites such as blogs and other webpages which relate to these words. As a result, those blogs have chance to be clicked in and show what it contents. However, by doing this, blogs should be updated frequently and be written by a right person, as people does not need public relations hype but useful information and insider opinions. Real estate broker Fraser Beach is a successful illustration of using blog for business. His blog attracts 1500-3000 visits per day and yield sales.
Scott, M. D. 2005. Big business blogging. EContent, 28 (3): 48. (accessed August 10, 2005, from ProQuest: Business (general) database).
The author of this article believes that blog will develop rapidly in numbers and importance in the near future because it is “so darned easy�?. He explains why blogs are communicational tools which can be applied to many areas such as political election, organisational intranet, news and in-person presentations, marketing and customer service, etc. And because of the features of easy-to-use, informal, free-form and no deadline, blogs have become popular in many organisations. It is an ideal channel for CEO, employees and even customers to post their ideas and share information.
Dave, T. 2005. Blogging for business. Boulder County Business, 24 (1): 1-2. (accessed August 10, 2005, from ProQuest: Business (general) database).
Dave Taylor uses blog as a promotional tool wisely. In this article, he tells his personal experience of blogging for business. Taylor sells his book online to make a profit through blogging. His book covers the domain of HTML, XHTML,CSS and others, but he set up a blog to answer all of the questions about computer from his blog-readers. The purpose of it is to build his personal credibility and reputation online before selling the book. Once people trust his knowledge and skills, they are willing to buy his book or introduce it to others. The advantages of blog are low-cost and easy. User can have their own personal space by very low monthly fee and edit its entry with any programming and HTML tweaking. Therefore, many firms start to build its blogs to yield its website traffics.
Kharif, O. 2004. Blogging for business. BusinessWeek Online. www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2004/tc2004089_3601_tc024.htm (accessed August 10, 2005).
Six weeks later since Jonathan Schwartz started a blog for his business, he believes that blog is “a must-have tool for every executive�?. His firm has experienced network and boots sales because of blogging. Its customers have active and positive reactions toward what Schwartz’s word online. There are only about 20000 blogs for business online today, which means each of them has a chance to get a huge share of internet users. Schwartz said there is “no fundamental difference�? between making a speech to 3000 people and posting an entry on blog which might be read by several million people. Moreover, blogs support two-way communications. Bloggers can not only provide information but also receive responses from readers. As a result, blogs have become a wonderful source for business ideas.
Cross, J. 2005. Blogging for business. Learning Circuits. www.learningcircuits.org/2003/aug2003/cross.htm (accessed August 10, 2005).
The author points out that there are around four millions people have blogs in the world, and the number is growing dramatically fast. He said that blogs are useful for many areas. In bottom-up organisations, blogs propel cooperation and self-organizing reformation. In school, it can be used to develop relationship, hand-in assignment, and discuss topics, create project, etc. In newspapers and newsletters, it releases articles and receive feedback faster than printing. And another function of blog is to reach out to customers. Traditionally, a firm’s website is always protected from firewall and keeps their customer out. But with a customer blog, employees can build relationship with their clients easily. And the conversation between bloggers and readers can create exciting result and consumer loyalty.
Wuorio, J. 2005. Blogging for business: 7 tips for getting started. Microsoft. www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/marketing/online_marketing/blogging_for_business_7_tips_for_getting_started.mspx (accessed August 10, 2005).
Jeff Wuorio provides seven tips of blogging for business in this article:
Swartz, S. 2004. Blogging and business moving mainstream. USA TODAY. www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/2004-07-28-blog-biz_x.htm (accessed August 11, 2005).
Swartz gave some evidences to indicate that blogging is the main trend of the Internet world. Firstly, a blog is a social place which can enhance the communication between client, partner and employees. Many leaders of big companies such as IBM and Microsoft all notice this phenomenon. They held a conference to discuss about the potential profit of blogs. Secondly, new technology Real Simple Syndication (RSS) make browsing blogs has become more convenient. It helps blog-readers to subscribe to the blogs they like. In this way, instead of checking every blog, readers receiving a message whenever those blogs have been added new entries. However, the problem of plagiarizing and disclosing sensitive information of a company should be considered when blogging for business.
Cone, E. 2005. Rise of blog. CIO Insight. www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1397,1789118,00.asp (accessed August 11, 2005).
This article can be roughly divided into three parts. In the first part, Cone describes the development of blog and how it can be applied to business. He quotes from Tim Bray, “People flock to things that are easy to use and deliver quick results�?, to explain the thriving of blogging. He also points out the success of blog and wikipedia is due to “collaboration�?. And then, he talks about the power of conversation on blogs. Because blogs are personal spaces which can be edited freely by bloggers, some problems have appeared. For example, a Google’s employee has dismissed as he disclosed too much about his work. Bray suggests that rules in company such as keep confidential information and financial data as secret is suited to blogs, too. Finally, Cone refers to RSS. RSS can be regarded as a “push�? technology which helps bloggers to keep up daily news and information. In a company, RSS allow workers to obtain updated project and comment from blogs.
Heathfield, M. 2005. Why blogging matters to business. About.com. humanresources.about.com/od/businessblogs/a/business_blogs.htm (accessed August 11, 2005).
This article provides some reasons why blogging is so important to business or organisations:
--Chih-Yen Li 04:02, 12 Aug 2005 (EST)
