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What in the World is a Blog?

Q. I try to keep up with new developments in technology and the Internet, but at times I just want to throw up my hands and say, "Enough, already." In any case, please tell me what a "blog" is. Is it something that can help me as a business owner?
G.M., Boulder, Colo.

A. Perhaps. Small-business owners typically use their Web sites to discuss who they are and what services or products they provide. Usually this information reads like an online brochure and is rarely changed once it is loaded on the site. Consequently, customers have no reason to revisit the site. As a business owner, this presents you with a challenge: How do you make customers aware of a new product, a sale or the like if they don't come back?

One solution is to send out direct mail, e-mails or an online newsletter to your customer list. Another newer approach is to create a so-called Weblog, a portion of your existing Web site where you can easily add information related to your business. "A Weblog is a piece of technology on your Web site that allows you to update the site without using a webmaster," says Griff Wigley, Wigley & Associates (www.smallbusinessblogging.com), Northfield, Minn. Wigley, who helps small companies develop Weblogs, says that blogging is becoming increasingly popular among small-business owners. "They use it to talk in their own words about their employees, customers and products."

How specifically do business owners and professionals use their Weblogs?

Wigley has an auctioneer client who relies on his Weblog to talk about upcoming auctions, often including pictures of some of the items that will be sold. A number of accounting firms use Weblogs to update clients about tax changes and filing deadlines. Resorts and bed and breakfasts employ Weblogs to bring visitors up to speed on conditions in the area -- a recent snowfall, say, that affects skiing. Independent bookstores rely on Weblogs to relay information about a new book of interest or an upcoming reading by an author.

Adding fresh information to a Weblog is easy once it's set up. This allows you to personalize your business, increase traffic to your Web site and keep your customers engaged and informed at little or no cost, Wigley says. Best of all, it gives customers another way to communicate with you.
For more information, visit www.userland.com and www.blogger.com. Both provide Weblog publishing tools for small business.

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