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There is an old adage that goes "Publish or Perish" and it refers to the need for any expert to publish 'something' 'somewhere' or never be aknowledged as an expert, whether they are qualified to be called one or not. In those times this was most true for academics and related to the need for other academics to be able to cite the sources of their research.
Blogging in businesses can have a similar effect.Times have changed and a business without a blog is missing an opportunity to be seen as the expert in the field. If you do a really good job of it, you have the chance not only to spread the news and the word about your business but people will link to you and thereby give you clients just as if a town crier was spruiking your worth.
A blog is a like your own digital soapbox. What will you write in your Blog? You can rage against inequity and rant against injustice, you can promote your business and teach people how to use your products, you can rave about your pet bulldog or write glowing reviews for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie movies, you can even write a novel one post at a time.
When you are passionate about your anything at all a blog is a great medium.
The only thing you need to be careful of is to always remember just how public a medium blogging is, so entertain and inform your readers and don't rant your self into a libel or slander court case.
Search engines love blogs. Maybe it's all that fresh regular content with hyperlinks that keeps them coming back for more. I've seen blog posts rocket to the first page - even the number one spot - within a day or two of being posted. So if you want to take advantage of a hot topic or a current news story, keep your blog up-to-date to keep the search engines checking back regularly.
Blogs can be syndicated through RSS. Visitors can "subscribe" to your blog and get your posts delivered to their desktop, newsreader, or personal homepage at Google, Yahoo or MSN. Other Web sites might syndicate your content to add content to their own Web site. Email filters don't stop blogs, so a newsletter on a blog is always going to be received because blogs are primarily viewed through a Web page or a newsreader. You can archive the old editions and they are always only a click away from being re read
We especially like the use of blogs to extend a web site and have all those doors of opportunity that the multiple posts give us. It means we can multiply the occurence of keywords that we are targetting to attract new business. Incoming links will help your site rank higher in the search engines, and your blog is a great place to create links to your site.
For example, imagine you are a professional interior designer. You could blog about how you helped people clean up and enhance their work areas. In your blogroll you can create links to services for gyprockers and special paint finishes. You can have a special Tips Section on how to keep your paintwork fresh and clean.
As you create links to and from your blog and Web site, you can more than double the chances of a prospect finding you, especially when you are giving tips on things someone might search for - such as, "How do I remove wax crayon from my walls?". Aren't toddlers a delight?
Because your blogs are on the Web, they are available 24/7 and remain so until you remove them; blogs are forever. (sort of) There's an interesting discussion here http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=525011
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