Blogs Are Better For Business

We interviewed Tony Perkins of Always On - you'll need to log on for the full story but its worth a read. We absolutely believe blogs are better for business. Better conversations with the market. Better transparency. Better feedback. What more could you ask for?

Q: When did blogging strike your interest, and why?

TP: I've been in the publishing business for more than 15 years and, during that time, I noticed a grassroots media phenomenon called blogging. It was incredibly fascinating, because it allowed individuals to easily publish on the Internet using open-source software, and to create a dialogue with their readers.

Blogging is similar to the open-source software movement, in that the original author puts out a piece of information or a perspective, and the viewers can add to that, creating a potentially interesting dialogue for the benefit of everyone who reads it.

Q: OK, but do businesses benefit from blogs?

TP: Yes. In spite of the Internet bubble — which unfortunately partly discredited the business value of the Internet — it was clear that business people were increasingly moving online to gain information because information is the currency of the technology industry.

The quicker you can gain access to information, the more competitive you can be in business. Clearly, the trend was business people going online to gain technology, business, and strategic information.

"Information is the currency of the technology industry."

All great companies pay attention to what their customers are saying. Getting a perspective on how their company and products are perceived in the market, and whether they have any market positioning or public relations issues is extremely valuable.

Blogging is a powerful way to communicate openly in a market. We call it "open source media" because you can have that direct dialogue and understand why a customer may or may not want to buy from you.

Yet executives like Jonathan Schwartz, who has been brave enough to start his own blog, are very much the exception rather than the rule. Smart executives will realize that blogging allows them to communicate directly with users, potential customers, and strategic partners and to create a direct dialogue with those people without the media getting in the way.

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