With the rise in popularity of new social media websites like Facebook and Twitter, can blogs still help a small business in any way? Even though firms no longer consider blogs their main online PR tool, many think that they’re indeed still valuable. Lots of home-based businesses started to change their internet sites only a few years back, changing them from static html sites that lacked interactivity to places where they and their clientele could connect. A lot of this exchange of ideas took place on a blog, where new products were pronounced or replies were made to purchaser input.

It’s well known in the business blogosphere the powerbloggers led the way and smaller businesses and small businesses followed. At first major blogs started more as media outlets, but ultimately became more social in nature, giving companies a way to keep track of shopper feedback, kudos, and complaints. Then when small businesses and other companies set up to receive comments on blog entries, the turnaround in its relationship with clients was extraordinary. Put simply, both major companies and smaller firms had similar experiences in this way.

A home business blog can offer a supplement to regular email newsletters too, although some consumers might still depend on the e-mails for updates and never think about visiting the website, while others are far more proactive and check blogs frequently to find current info. Businesses need to engage clients in many ways. If it’s updated continually, the blog can offer fresh information that won’t disappear down the page quite so speedily, say, as the more ephemeral tweets on Twitter. Up-to-date business stories can be posted in an amiable, casual fashion, allowing shoppers to ask questions or make suggestions. And their remarks w’t disappear down the page either.

Firms do need to be careful about raising consumers’ expectations, however. While a virtually one-on-one relationship might be possible between a home business and its purchasers, larger companies won’t be in a position to reply to all questions or complaints, and this may damage its reputation if it’s careless.

But another use for blogging, and one that businesses may not even consider at first, is for internal communication. Even though contractors can stay in contact through email, conferences or conference calls, an internal blog can target a single project, providing a central place for a team to get continual updates or make an informal record of their progress. This may keep these contractors up to date without their own email inbox piling up to an unmanageable level.

Blogs weren’t the first tool in the social networking armoury, but once the Net actually became established and blogging software was made to make online interaction simpler, blogs became convenient tools to help a business exchange info and feedback with its consumers. These web pages can provide recent stories, in a rather more permanent form than on other media, and keep the vital comms channels open.


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