Re-branding & blogging
Hi all. Due to increasing pressure from my local and international friends I have decided to continue my blog in english. It seemed to me that this kind of change also needs some general re-branding of the site, hence the new look.
Why people blog? Passion for writing, vanity, boredom, informing people they know about things they do..? Maybe. Why people read blogs? Need for information, thought provoking material, entertainment, avoid working, boredom, want to know what's going on... Some research found that there's a new blog created every 5.8 seconds. Must be a lot of crap out there!
Most of my friends started to blog because they went abroad. Same here. Strangely whenever I've had a post about something else than my experiences in the UAE, I've received the most feedback and comments. Is it that people want to hear more personal insights and thoughts? Or probably there's is nothing much to comment when one describes what happened to them, as opposed to expressing some ideas, thoughts, where one can argue, express their point of view.. Well anyways since I've been in Dubai now 8-9 months there will be probably less "how's the life over here" and more "this is what I think about that".
Back to why do people read blogs? I'd appreciate if you could leave your opinion in the comments.
For businesses I think it makes very much sense. It's the premier tool to have engaging conversations with your future and current Clients. There are so many (great!) examples around. Think Tom Peters (Blog-As-If-Your-Professional-Success-Depended-On-It), Robin Sharma, Guy Kawasaki, Hugh McLeod and many others. Okay, they're still faces of their organizations. But yes, pure corporations too are embracing blogs - from corporate giants like General Motors to small but stand-out businesses like the bespoke Savile Row tailor Thomas Mahon. If they write well, they can position themselves as experts in their field, building up credibility. It's as if they become the lens with which the reader views this field or even the world. If the blog is a good one, it also gives the reader a reason to come back, developing brand loyalty and increasing web traffic.
Most importantly - people can regard you as a human being they can relate to. You become a person, you're not just a name anymore. You develop a relationship. Because I'm an avid reader of the bloggers I mentioned above, I feel like I know them! I know what they stand for and I can associate myself with them. I'm convinced blogging really works in this sense.
And there are so many arguments and cases to convince (me, at least!) that it has a strong influence on the bottom line as well. If anyone would like to have a chat about it with me, most welcome.
Haven't seen much business blogging going on in Dubai. Has anyone? If so, let me know. Otherwise I think I got to do something about it myself.
When it comes to blogs I love to read, then I prefer thought-provoking and educating blogs any day to "hey look what I did today" blogs.
3 comments:
Ai-jah, kahju! Emakeelsena ja punasena meeldis rohkem
Kas sa ei saaks nii kirjutada, nagu Maris- korraga kahes keeles?
Blogs are revolutionary in a way because they are the only published media that is never edited. This means you don't have to be anybody, or have any credentials, or know the market, or be any good to put your words in the eyes of the public. This obviously, as you point out, means there's a lot of "crap." But also in a way, it is like a free market economy -with ideas. There is no bureaucracy, no rules: your success depends entirely upon how valuable what you publish is to society. Blogs potentially offer direct human exchange, democratic and free. (Wow, I can't beleive I just wrote that, I sound like such an American)
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