Tuesday, May 22, 2007
How to use blogging in five unusual ways
Bloggers tend to use blogging technology in one way - to write down their thoughts, ideas and information in an accessible format. However, blogging technology provides your business with so much more that it seems a shame to waste its capabilities. So here are five alternative suggestions for the ways in which blogging can help you or your business.
1. Create a blog that is private and password protected, for your eyes only. Use that blog to record notes, your personal thoughts, contact information and so on. That way you have access to your private information from anywhere in the world providing you can get an Internet connection. You don't need to take your notebook everywhere you go, nor do you need your laptop. You can read and add to your notes in an Internet Cafe, at someone else's office, or even via your mobile phone.
2. Another use for a private, password protected blog would be for project management. Each member of the team could have access to the blog and would be able to contribute information on their progress, discuss matters related to the ongoing project, monitor task deadlines and so on. This means that everyone involved in a project can be kept up to date and informed without the need for special software - all they need is web access.
3. Start a blog for each of your individual customers. The information you provide would be specific to their needs. What you write may be adapted from your more general material, but if the blog is targeted specifically at individual clients they will engage with it more than your general blog. Plus it seems to them that you are providing a much higher level of service than other suppliers. This is an excellent way of providing great customer service.
4. Use a blog to create your FAQ page. That way you can add to it wherever you are in the world and whenever you want. If you use traditional web design programs or a web design company, any changes you want to make to your FAQ page would have to wait or would cost you money. By creating your FAQ page with blogging technology you can update it whenever you want.
5. Set up a links page using blogging. If like most people you visit thousands of web pages each week saving them as Favorites or Bookmarks can lead to a mess in your web browser menu. Plus you can't really remember what those pages were about. Set up a blog with categories for all the types of sites you visit. Then every time you visit a useful site, simply "blog it" to your private links page. You can add some detail about what the site is about and you will then have a personal directory of useful web sites. If you use Blogger to do this and install the Google Toolbar for your browser, doing this is a simple one click process.
So, five ways in which blogs can be used other than promoting your business. What other ways do you use blogs? Add your ideas to the comments below.
Labels: blogging
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Readers' Comments:
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May 22, 2007 8:46 AM 
Lesleywriter said…
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May 22, 2007 12:42 PM 
Tracey said…
Love them! Especially the first one, which is such a no-brainer WHY didn't I think of it! ;-)
Another way in which blogs can be used is as a chronologue of events leading to a recovery. I was going to do this when I broke my back, but I'm still trying to find the time to do it!
Sharing how you overcome something can reach people so far removed from you, and help those most in need.
One other use is to do a blog to launch a new product or service. You can create teaser ads and video/podcast footage, and catalogue each stage leading up to the launch.
Cheers!
Tracey
http://marketingmoment.wordpress.com
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May 22, 2007 12:54 PM Graham Jones said…
Great ideas Tracey. Thanks.
Graham
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May 22, 2007 2:53 PM Alfred Armstrong said…
Graham, I've considered using Wordpress to organise my portfolio, some day when I have time. But having worked on a number of Drupal sites I'm beginning to think I might build the whole site from that, and benefit from its greater flexibility.
Cheers, Alfred
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May 22, 2007 6:52 PM Robert Redl said…
Sir Graham!
What a wonderful idea about the blog for each customer (could also be password protected). It could really be an alternative to a ticket system, and means much more, as it is easy to use and the individual customer (or even each person) can also add his two cents and have his private blog within your system. That means you are the 'Blogger' system for your contacts. They get used to the technology and are potentials for getting support or other services from you. As a brainstormer I will browse through the lists of Web 2.0 applications and see if another idea comes up for your list.
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May 22, 2007 9:09 PM Karen Skidmore said…
Great ideas Graham. I also use my blog account to set up a new weblog for each product that I offer to my clients. Instead of paying for a one page product website, I create a new blog, make it private and upload the MP3 and PDF files with a welcome message.
Karen "CanDoCanBe" Skidmore
http://www.candocanbe.typepad.com
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May 23, 2007 9:21 AM Dave Clarke said…
Great tips, Graham. We are in the process of adding our business networking blog to our main site. We always have seminars in the morning before our NRG business networking lunches. We will be giving each seminar speaker their own blog page to write about the seminar and for the attendees to engage in dialogue before and afterwards.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
NRG business networking blog
You can password protect a blog for your Mastermind group so they can all contribute and make the group much more dynamic.