Assignment #1 -- Why blog?

3) Based on reviewing the various articles given, I have formed my thoughts of blogging and business. I feel that blogging is a great way to get opinions across, leak new ideas or information, and create a buzz on a certain topic or product. There are many different reasons on why blogging would be great. However, I feel that although it can help a business, it may hinder it. A blog formed by a business to promote, discuss or inform of certain elements of their business would be, most of the time, a positive thing. There is also a bad side to blogging – posting negative or ill information, views, or false stories on the company by an outside source, angered worker, dissatisfied customer, etc. may give the business a bad image, and may influence minds of others who were not originally loyal to the business. Internet chatter travels very quickly, and “online word-of-mouth” is quick to damage or help a person or business.

A list of some possible uses for blogs are as follows:
-de facto news
-marketing blogs
-blogs as learning tools
-blogs for discussion
-helpful question-and answer blogs
-corporate blogs
-fictional blogs
-news / press release blogs
-entertainment blogs (for music/film production companies to create buzz)


Side note: Marketers of a business can use blogging to reach out to the general public and let them know of a new product or service being offered. It is a good way to create a buzz, and have it travel worldwide! I have actually used this method myself, to promote and advertise new music, when I worked for various entertainment companies.

4) Blogs should definitely not look or feel like traditional marketing and advertising. A lot of times, ads are unwanted, and disliked. The average person comes into contact with thousands of advertisements a day, unknowingly. For instance, if one were to hear a jingle on a radio and pay no attention to it, the next time that jingle comes on and that person is able to sing the words along in his or her head, he or she may become uneasy and frightened as to how they knew that jingle when they can’t admit to ever consciously hearing it. The same goes for print ads and commercials. We view countless ads that contain sexual themes, references to drug usage, etc. Many of us would rather not come across these things, like for instance, parents. Parents would not want their young children to be exposed to commercials advertising adult products.

Summed up, some advertisements and marketing are unwanted. That should not be one’s feelings toward a blog. Most of the time, a blog is like a journal entry, or article. Many times it is someone’s opinion. We involuntarily encounter many ads per day. It is unlikely that we would choose to go to a site just to view commercials, why would we check out a blog just to be exposed to advertising such as commercials or still ads?

5) I don’t feel that blogs are a fad, I feel that it is something fairly new, that is growing in popularity. Many major corporations have found that is a great way to communicate, and have received many benefits from blogging. I feel that they will continue to have an impact for marketing, if promoted and used correctly. If the general public accepts a company’s blog as interesting and not-threatening like unwanted advertisements, then that company can use it sparingly as a means of advertising products, while still giving consumers the information they would like on the company and whatever else they have interest in. Blogs should always be interesting and informative to keep people coming back to read them.

6) I would love to see the marketing department start a blog. It would be great to read about big things going on in the corporate world, as well as in local small businesses. Some other great things the blog could feature are listings of internships or jobs for marketing majors in the southern California area, or weekly tips on getting marketing jobs, or ways to market better. That would be very useful to students and alumni alike.