Marketing 2.0

Blogs as marketing tools

Here's a good article from David Kirkpatrick at Fortune on the use of blogs for marketing communications. Kirkpatrick offers insight on how blogs are changing the relationship between companies, their customers and the traditional advertising world.

Link: David Kirkpatrick - Fast Forward: Want Truth in Advertising? Try a Blog - FORTUNE.

GM FastLane Blog

Here is proof that blogging is becoming a mainstream corporate communication strategy. The GM Fastlane blog is published by Bob Lutz, the Vice Chairman of General Motors. What's really fascinating is the direct contact with customers and fans of GM and their very candid comments to Bob's posting.

In the past, companies would hire consultants to conduct focus groups and get customer feedback on new product development plans. Mr. Lutz is hearing directly from both customers and critics via this blog. While the feedback is not as neatly summarized as a consultant would present it, there is a value in hearing the unvarnished opinions from all who read the site and care to respond.

The big benefit to me in this type of blog is that it starts and sustains an actual conversation with customers, rather than the traditional monologues of public relations and advertising.

Link: GM FastLane Blog: Saturn: Product Will Reign.

Blogbox.com

For those of you maintaining blogs, I direct your attention to Blogbox. They provide free, open-source applications you can add to your blog. Photoblox allows you to show personal image slideshows, while Soundblox lets visitors to your blog play MP3 audio. There's also applications for displaying time and weather.

Link: Blogbox.com.

Corporate Blogging Guide

Here is a guide to corporate blogging written by Fredrik Wacka and originally posted on his Corporate Blogging site. The primer is a basic guide for those of you who are thinking about getting started but not sure exactly how to use a blog for business applications. It's a nice complement to my presentation on business blogging posted on this site in September.

Download corporatebloggingprimer.pdf

Blogging for Business

Here is the presentation I delivered this week to the Ithaca Marketing Group, titled "Blogging for Business." We had a good meeting and participants learned more about weblogs and how to apply them for business communications. If you'd like to learn more about using a weblog in your organization, please contact me.

Download blogging_for_business.ppt

What a Business Blog Can Do For You

Here's a good article on the benefits of a blog, especially for small businesses.

What a Business Blog Can Do For You

elise.com: On the Job: An Overview of the Weblog Tools Market

Elise Bauer has prepared a good overview of the tools available for creating and managing a weblog. She's also done some market research to determine popularity and usage levels. This is a good guide for anyone thinking about starting a blog but unsure where to go.

elise.com: On the Job: An Overview of the Weblog Tools Market

Fast Company | Professionals, Publishing for the Public

David Weinberger is the author of Small Things Loosely Changed: A Unified Theory of the Web , co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto , and an all-around insightful thinker at the crux of business, society, and the Web. Other hats include strategic marketing consultant and most recently, Internet advisor for the Dean campaign (remember those days?). Back in January, on the afternoon of the New Hampshire primary, Fast Company pulled Weinberger in from the cold for a phone chat about blogs in business. Here's an excerpt of the conversation transcript.

Fast Company | Professionals, Publishing for the Public

The future of Weblogging

The rise of Weblogging has been a cold shower for the complacent mass communication industries. Although the Weblogging pioneers are due much praise, their own rhetoric deserves examination, and they could also raise their sights higher. Nico Macdonald reports, and concludes with a radical proposal for the future of Weblogging.

The future of Weblogging | The Register

10 Rules for Corporate Blogs and Wikis

Here is good advice from Nick Wreden on building effective corporate blogs and wikis. The focus of his article is using these tools to achieve your branding goals.

10 Rules for Corporate Blogs and Wikis