I truly believe this – *every business must have a blog*.
Well, to be honest, every business _should_ need a blog – I’m just not sure when we’ll go from “should” to “must”, so get one now and avoid disappointment.
Way back in 1995 I would tell anyone who’d listen that they *had* to have a web site because eventually everyone would use the web to determine what companies they were going to deal with.
As hard as it may be to believe, this was a radical idea at the time and many scoffed. Few would scoff now – can you imagine doing business with any company that had *no* Internet presence?
The next frontier isn’t the desemination of information via corporate web sites – that’s now table stakes. Increasingly businesses will need to convey authority and enter into conversations with their “fan club” (in the “Seth Godin sense”:http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/01/flipping_the_fu.html of the term).
That’s what blogs do.
Mark my words – by 2010 you will not trust any company, politician, pundit, author, or anyone else looking to promote an idea or service if they don’t have a blog. By default people will assume you have a blog and if you don’t they will say “they must have something to hide”.
Agree? Disagree? Are there some companies that will never need a blog?
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I don’t know if blogs are the solution, but I think you’re dead on with the idea that companies must use the internet to improve communications – not just to publish content.
If you run a corporate blog this corporate blog survey is looking for your feedback:
http://www.askaboutmarketing.net/2006/02/calling-all-corporate-bloggers.html
Actually the NEED for a blog will become a given. The tough part will be supplying the content delivery/subject matter experts to feed all of them.
Many companies (client of ours) simply can’t get on board to hire writers to supply content. They’ll hire boatloads of useless account people, but content falls down the requirements list.
There are more businesses that don’t need a blog than there are that do – grocery store, gas station, auto repair, landscaping, general contractor, paving company, florist, beauty salon, pizza parlor, etc. The list goes on.
These are businesses crowded in every neighborhood, in every community. Yes, they could all blog, but it wouldn’t measurably help their business.
Certainly, there are a number of businesses that benefit from blogging, mine is one, but the majority of businesses in existence won’t and as such should rate blogs low on their list of marketing tactics and strategies.