ONLINE INFLUENCE what blogs mean to your business

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ONLINE INFLUENCEwhat blogs mean to your business

• Susannah Gardner
• Nov. 15, 2005

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I called West Elm and spoke with a really nice
sales person who without truly admitting it,
implied that mine wasn't the first call she'd
gotten RE the bed. She offered to send me a new
middle piece and assured me if it didn't work,
West Elm would take the bed back and issue a full
refund. I agreed and thought, "okay, well that
was simple enough. I'll get the new piece and all
will be fine again." After that, I came to the
sad realization that even a new piece would most
probably not fix the problem This bed was just
not made properly Submitted by a reader of
ApartmentTherapy
POSTED 10.27.04 117 comments through 08.05.05
I can't believe I am reading all of this. I just
went to the curb.com site because someone from
their company is speaking at a conference I am
attending, and I see this West Elm bed problem on
the front page of the site, and I am thinking I
just stupidly bought this bed last week. As
someone else suggested - you get what you pay
for. Posted by sherry at 10/27/04 853 PM
http//www.apartmenttherapy.com/main/archives/0013
16.html
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05.04.05
I work at West Elm Chelsea and have never heard
of any problems with the bed frame as of
recently, and I even own this frame without
problems for quite some time. All of the
employees are West Elm are extremely concerned
about the company's image and really love the
products, and speaking for myself and the many
others I work with, we really strive hard for
customer satisfaction if you are not satisfied
with a piece of furniture and you don't have a
receipt you can still bring it back for a
replacement without hassle Posted by notsaying
at 05/04/05 420 AM
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THE FACT IS

• CONSUMERS DONT TRUST TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING
  METHODS

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how many of these words apply to the customers
you know?
doubtful
DISBELIEVING
BORED
cynical
jaded
DUBIOUS
MISTRUSTFUL
suspicious
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CONSUMERS DONT BELIEVE ALL BUSINESSES ARE RUN BY
LIARS
but they dont NOT believe it, either
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FOR TODAYS CONSUMER, THE IDEA THAT THEY CAN TALK
TO REAL PEOPLE WITHIN A BUSINESS IS REFRESHING,
NOVEL EVEN EXCITING
bring on the BLOGS
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more than 100 million blogs in the world from
23,000 to 80,000 new blogs a day 30-40 millions
blogs in the U.S.
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most businesses use blogs to

• interact conversationally with customers
• provide information, demonstrate expertise,
  generate interest
• get feedback, including criticism
• change public opinion
• create buzz

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some businesses also

• drive sales or action
• develop products and services
• handle crises and negative publicity
• extend their corporate culture to those who work
  with the company

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10 STRATEGIC BENEFITS OF BLOGGING

• search engine marketing
• direct communication
• brand building
• competitive differentiation
• relational marketing
• exploit the niches
• media public relations
• reputation management
• position expert status

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HOW BLOGS WORK

• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Blog posts
• Blogroll
• Permalink
• Blog post titles
• Relevant content

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REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES
http//protectionblog.com/
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http//blog.qumana.com/
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Building Buzz with Bloggers Examining Marquis
PayBloggers Program.
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character blogs
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TRACKING THE BLOGOSPHERE
http//www.technorati.com
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oops

• Mazda M3 blog

"If you fudge or lie on a blog, you are biting
the karmic weenie," says Steve Hayden, vice
chairman of advertising giant Ogilvy Mather,
which creates blogs for clients. "The negative
reaction will be so great that, whatever your
intention was, it will be overwhelmed and crushed
like a bug. You're fighting with very powerful
forces because it's real people's opinions."
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understanding the blog mentality
TRUTH telling honesty TRANSPARENCY human
connection
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defusing the bomb

• acknowledging mistakes
• apologizing
• removing the corporate mask

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ready to start blogging?

• Understand why you would want to use a blog
• Consider its core message
• Determine who is going to write it
• Determine if you have in-house talent
• Determine whether you are prepared to engage the
  conversation without controlling the
  communication
• Determine company blogging policy and establish
  posting guidelines
• Monitor what is being said about your company and
  your industry
• Decide on a blog platform
• Determine ways to market your blog
• Develop a plan to track statistics

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required reading

• Want Truth in Advertising? Try a BlogFortune
  Magazine http//www.fortune.com/fortune/fastforwar
  d/0,15704,1017715,00.html
• Why There's No Escaping the BlogFortune
  Magazinehttp//www.fortune.com/fortune/print/0,15
  935,1011763,00.html
• Blogs Will Change Your BusinessBusiness
  Weekhttp//www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/
  05_18/b3931001_mz001.htm

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blogs you need to know

• Gizmodo http//www.gizmodo.com
• Engadget http//www.engadget.com
• Official Google Blog http//googleblog.blogspot.c
  om/
• BoingBoing http//www.boingboing.net/

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legal issues? maybe not.

• "With a company like Google that's growing
  this fast, the verbal history can't be passed
  along fast enough," says Marissa Mayer, who
  oversees the search site and all of Google's
  consumer web products. "Our legal department
  loves the blogs, because it basically is a
  written-down, backed-up, permanent time-stamped
  version of the scientist's notebook. When you
  want to file a patent, you can now show in blogs
  where this idea happened."