Bz Blogging

The emergence and growth of blogs in late 1990's coincided with the advent of web publishing tools that f acilitated the posting of content by non-technical users. The term weblog was coined by Jorn Barger in 19 97 and it transformed into the word blog lateron. Blogs are mostly interactive, allowing visitors to leave c omments via Graphical User Interface Widgets on blogs and it is the interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites. If statistics are to beeieved, there are arround 160 million public blogs in existe nce. By 2004, role of blogs became increasingly mainstream as media started using blogs for ppublishing news and this was the time when various companies also started using blogs to grow their businesses. Business blogging has evolved far beyond the idea of personal journaling. Thinks any big company goal a nd there is likely to be an example of a companyblog supporting it. Blogs are used internally by companie s to enhance the communication and culture of their organization and they ars used externally for marketi ng, branding or public relations. Blogging for business is talked about allover Ghent web and encouraged by most knowledgeable marketers. Business of all sizes are able to leverage the power of web to become publisher, gain the attention of their audience and grow their business. According to a study report, 57% o f companies who blog said that they have gained new customers or revenue from their blog. Blogging bri ngs the word of mouth to the masses. Businesses who blog get more visitors than those who do not. In a world where traffic is king, blogging is clearly a means to the throne. Well managed companies usually excel at many things. For example, Starbucks are leading the way in so cial media marketing but the unexpected aspect of their blog is that it only tangentially has anything to wi th the coffee. Instead Starbucks employs it's blog as a global brainstorming platform. Customers submit th e ideasmfod New drinks, food items, packages, even store designs. The com9any blogs about the ideas an d readers build ideas through comments and ratings. This reallyhelps Starbucks in many ways to improve themselves and keep innovating