“But It’s Just a Blog”

By on February 27, 2007 in Blogging with 12 Comments

You’ve probably seen them in your area – the super-duper markets with a convenience store/gas station in front of the actual store.  Hy-Vee or Safeway. Wal-Mart or BJs. They’re all over the place.

Recently, I was talking with someone, trying to compare differences between a blog site and a web site. I pointed to our Hy-Vee complex down the street (super-duper market with a convenience store out front), asking which would be the blog and which would be the web.

You know my answer (blogs are web sites on vitamin juice)

Many blog sites are *just* blogs — for now. For that matter, many web sites are *just* web sites — for now. Convergence is already happening.

Someday – and I hope soon – we’ll all realize that you can include blog (or other social media) functionality into your corporate site (if you choose to blog).

  • Have the last single post or the last 15 posts appear on a web page
  • Interact with your customers
  • Have a RSS feed available on your web presence
  • Publish shareable content so your fans can spread your message

The reason some business folks aren’t getting this yet? They don’t want to. And it’s okay. Social Media isn’t going away.

Follow on Twitter or Facebook or on Google+

Find Your Social Media ROI

I hear it from a lot of business owners: “Where is the ROI with all this Social Media?“ If this is a question you ask yourself, maybe we should work together a bit more. We can work together solo, or via a professional learning community. Find and increase your ROI. There is a “there” there.

About Mike Sansone:

All Posts by
  • http://workingsolo.com.au Leah Maclean

    I agree Mike! I have started using the phrase “web presence” now with clients, prospects and strangers. The label and background technology or blog vs web site is less important than getting on the web and starting a conversation. When there were just web sites did we differential a html site from an asp site?

  • http://www.stephantual.com/ Stephan Tual

    Hi there Mike! Sean Wilson referred me to your blog saying I would find it interesting, and boy was he right!
    We’ve been doing exactly what you describe for a while now, and went free on January 1st of this year. http://www.terapad.com/ – what is it you ask? It’s an online presence solution for individuals and small businesses alike. It includes 8 different modules: shop, blog, cms, forums, image gallery, career tools, etc that can be arranged in any configuration, using any design.
    It transcends that ‘blog’/'site’ (or ‘blog’/'shop’ or ‘site’/'forum’ etc) divide. If it brings the industry closer to convergence, then my job is done.

  • Tom Chandler

    Let’s hope the static Web site will soon pass from view.
    The term “blogging” offers hurdles for small businesses, but I recently avoided the term in a conversation, pitching a blog to a client as an affordable, easy-to-use media channel with built-in e-mail and RSS capability.
    They went for it, and while their initial goal for the installation isn’t necessarily engagement or community building, it’s a next logical step.

  • http://www.allbusiness.com/blog/CustomerServiceExperience/10783 Glenn (Customer Service Experience) Ross

    Mike’s post and the comments before mine just remind me of the old saying, “It’s not what you sell, it’s how you sell it.” I agree with Tom that the word “blogging” can be an off-putter. Off course, Tom, we also need to make sure that the term “RSS feed” isn’t in the same category as “blog.”
    I think y’all are on the right track.
    Regards,
    Glenn

  • http://www.terrierista.typepad.com Jane Greer

    “Blog” is such an ugly word for such a beautiful thing….

  • Mitch Matthews

    Good stuff. Thanks for some great examples Mike. Keep ‘em coming.
    Plus… I really liked Tom’s verbiage on describing a blog. For us… we use the “blog” terminology… but we also describe it as jumper cables for conversation.
    That gets people to at least check it out.
    Again… keep up the great work Mike!

  • http://healthywebdesign.com Dawud Miracle

    Oh how I agree Mike. If you look at my site/blog, I’ve fully integrated the two. Ultimately, the site and blog are seemless. I’ve been doing this more lately as I help my clients understand how to marry their blogs to their websites for business success.

  • http://www.finalembrace.wordpress.com Timothy Totten

    Many of my readers and clients are funeral directors who have just recently seen the need to be online. Most don’t know the difference between a website and a blog. I don’t even mention the word blog as much as I used to because it scared people. Now I just invite them to read my daily funeral marketing and management DIGEST.
    Of course, I’m writing for a market that’s stuck in the first half of the 20th century, running businesses that their grandparents started. While I have been able to reach many new and progressive funeral professionals, the great majority wouldn’t be able to differentiate between an RSS feed and chicken feed.
    BTW, we’ve been using Terapad (mentioned above) for more than a month for our http://www.cotcovers.com website (quilted mortuary cot covers – kinda creepy to non-funeral people) and we love it. Most of our clients have commented positively. And we’ll kick our blog (er… DIGEST) over to that platform as soon as they find a way to transfer our 200+ posts.
    Keep up the good work. I love your blog.

  • http://www.converstations.com Mike Sansone

    >Leah – Good call on using “web presence” as the label. The defenses don’t go up as quick:-) And great point about the tool being less important than the action (engagement). Thanks for your engagement here.
    >Stephan – Looks like I’m going to be giving Terapad a test drive this weekend for a customer. I appreciate your input (and thanks to Sean!)
    >Tom – The more I hear comments like yours and Leah’s (and some below), and the more I talk with business folks – I’m realizing that the term “blog” is in itself – a barrier to entry. Thanks for adding to the conversation.

  • http://www.converstations.com Mike Sansone

    > Glenn, Great point about RSS…it’s amazing how many bloggers don’t use RSS feed aggregators – and I sometimes think that’s the WOW of this whole thing – the power of amplified listening is in the RSS feed, and listening is the most important part of a conversation, yes?
    >Dawud, the more I see of your work, the more I look forward to working with you on a project soon.
    >Timothy! Great input here. Love the term *digest* and how you’re working with with your industry.

  • http://www.brandcurve.com Ron E.

    I think we’ll be seeing much more blogging-conscious managers (in all levels within companies) in the upcoming years. With older management slowly retiring, and with a new influx of younger, more open to blogs and technological platforms for a more democratized way or communication of business, I think we’ll start to see some of the most common blogging barriers and walls being demolished.
    As well, consumers will be more demanding than ever for more transparent brands where they can see, feel and live the essence of the brand (and company). This will make managers either take a step towards corporate blogging or to have to deal with it through other much more less cost-efficient ways.
    Hopefully a new business paradigm will be in place soon enough. I can bet we will all be surprised by it.
    Great Blog,
    Ron E.
    http://www.brandcurve.com

  • http://www.converstations.com Mike Sansone

    Ron – I agree that the demand for transparent and authentic voices is just around the bend (and maybe already here in some areas). The biggest surprise may be the one in store for the companies. Right now, a lot of pushback as some view blogs as negative (which says more to the state of the company than blogging, I think). Keep up the great work!

Stop SOPA