What is blog? The name "blog" is a truncated form of "web log". Blog is used to refer to sites that can best be described as mini sites or mini directories, populated with the site owner's personal opinions. Blogs are now popular for business use as well. Research confirms that there are currently 14 million blogs with 80,000 more being added every day. And 30 percent of all 50 million Internet users are blog readers. In short, a lot of people are reading and writing blogs. While writing a personal blog can be fun, business blogging can be a powerful tool, allowing you to communicate with a significant number of consumers and achieve many of your business objectives. And best of all, these results can be delivered in a very cost-effective manner. Along with providing a boost to your Google PageRank, and to your search engine results pages (SERPs), blogs are a tremendous promotional tool for your website and your business as a whole. By adding a blog to your existing website, or as a cross linked stand alone site, a blog will pay heavy dividends to your business.

1. Because so many people have access to electronic forms of communication, it's easy for information to spread quickly. If you have a great new product, an innovative idea or an exciting marketing strategy, you can be sure your blog readers will pass it along via e-mail to others who will pass it along as well. Soon, your marketing message has reached hundreds, if not thousands, or millions of people.
2. One of the ways you can profit from blogs is to provide valuable content to them, and keep them regularly informed. Once you have created that relationship with them, you can place affiliate links within your blogs. These have to be products or services that you recommend to your readers to use. Good commission comes with using this idea. You can even ask your readers to donate money to maintain your blog. Stress that your blog is a free service and you hope that they will support you etc.
3. Buyers of your product can read about it, post comments and engage in discussion. You can respond. Others can comment. This personal communication can create an open, honest, trust-building dialog that will make consumers more aware, more willing to try your products and more loyal to your brand.
4. Businesses can find out immediately what people think of their company, products and ideas. But be warned: This takes a thick skin, as all feedback is not positive. But if you're really willing to listen, this information can be invaluable. Better yet, feedback can be generated quickly--over days, if not hours. A blog can act like a never-ending focus group that gives company great insights into their consumers' thoughts, likes and actions.
5. Overall, most bloggers are friendly, helpful (by linking to each other's sites), and eager to cooperate to make the blogosphere--the collective group of blogs--a better place. By simply being an active part of the culture, you get the benefit of the doubt and your product becomes one that bloggers will consider purchasing.
6. The most important thing about having a blog is that the search engines love them. Yes, search engines love new content. It means a website is not static; therefore, search engines will visit that website often and get them indexed. If you have a blog, search engines will have your website in their listings quickly.
7. Be sure to include your blog URL on all of your business cards, letterhead, and everywhere else your main website URL is included. Many people will visit your blog for information, who might not otherwise visit your business site. They will often use the blog as an entry to your company website, and eventually become customers or clients.