Why blogging matters
In case you’re wondering whether blogging can make a difference to your business, let me show you how dramatically it’s affected our business networking group here at Biznik. We launched the current version of this site on Nov. 2, 2005. After an initial spike in traffic, not unexpected when you do announce something new, things settled down to a flat average of about 30 visits a day (see the horizontal arrow on the graph, below). DL Byron and Co. had previously turned me on to blogging at the Blog Business Summit here in Seattle, and I thought, hmm, let’s try this.
Initially the blog didn’t make much of an impact (although it did get the attention of a Microsoft VP). I trace the turning point to a post I did on Eric Wilson on Dec. 13th (see second arrow on the graph). That was the point where it occurred to me that the most interesting thing to blog about is, no surprise, the people who make up Biznik. We’ve got some truly interesting people here, doing incredibly interesting things. Check out how the curve has risen steadily ever since (with predictable holiday dips):
I’ve been interviewing members ever since, and I’m going to stay focused on that (occasional rants aside). The blogging thing is so impressive (the blog accounts for 1/3 of our current page views), that I’m working on tools that will allow any member to contribute content to the blog, because I know you all have a lot of interesting things to say, and I’d like Biznik to be a vehicle for you to say it. And I suspect you’ll pick up some business from saying it well. Because blogging is big mojo, baby.
January 29th, 2006 at 10:08 am
Excellent points, Dan! I’ve been reflecting, and writing a bit, about this recently (e.g., “Blog what you love, the money will follow”, http://gumption.typepad.com/blog/2006/01/blog_what_you_l.html).
The only money my company, Interrelativity, has made so far followed from a client discovering me / us through a blog post that came up through some googling around. His review of several of my blog posts (more than anything on my “official” web site, http://interrelativity.com) suggested that I was knowledgeable — and passionate — about the topic of using technology to build community in physical spaces, for which he was organizing a new initiative at Sandia National Labs. This resulted in both consulting work and the first deployment of our proactive displays.
I’m also convinced that blogging karma is an intangible but extremely valuable dimension in business and other dimensions of life. Having a blog gives me more gumption to reach out to people who I might never have otherwise have been willing to contact. I find myself being inspired by someone, writing a blog about it, and using comments and/or trackbacks to, in effect, thank them for sharing their insights and experiences. Most recent examples of new relationships that have grown out of this practice include connections with Doug Rushkoff (http://www.rushkoff.com/2006/01/business-is-good-really.php), Dan Oestreich (http://unfoldingleadership.blogspot.com/) … and, of course, Dan McComb (http://biznik.com/blog/).
So, Dan, thanks for being an inspiration and a model for spreading around the good karma!
February 23rd, 2006 at 3:24 pm
Hey Dan,
Thanks for all the helpful information about this whole blogging thing. It was easy to get started and I’m already seeing the benefits. Though it’s still way too early (2 days) to see a traffic spike on my web site, it has been very useful already by helping my guests gather information about their trip to Seattle and thus saving me time in answering questions (what’s the weather like, should I get a rental car, etc.) Common questions are now on my blog and I link to it from many sub pages of my site. It also has the added bonus of not taking up valuable real estate. I just wouldn’t make sense to keep adding sub pages for every question I get my guests, but it’s very easy to write on my blog. Now, I just add to my blog everytime I get a question and add to my library of information. Anyway, thanks for turning me on to this.
Muchas gracias!
Ed