Business Blogging

I guess I''m a business blogger because I blog about issues connected with my work and I'm keen to reach potential new clients who may find me through this blog. However, there is a fine line to tread when blogging in support of a business model. For me, a blog has to have an informal but authentic voice and this may sometimes conflict with the formality of most business' internet presence.

Since I run a consulting business blogging is a natural extension of my work sphere - and for me at least its a useful way of capturing ideas and exposing them to the world without actually incorporating them into a formal website structure. However, I've noticed over the last few months, that while my website languishes with few updates my blog is much more dynamic. This has caused me to re-think the balance between my site and my blog. Clearly what I need to do is to integrate them - seamslessly. Is that possible?

I see it happening along the following lines:

1. A topic of interest to me (and probably my network) comes up so I create a blog article on it.

2. This creates a seed around which further ideas can grow. It also means that people searching around this topic may find my site.

3. If my interest in the topic develops further I may create more blog articles.

4. Eventually I decide to incorporate some service or product as a direct result of increasing interest in the topic. I then create a new web page describing the new product or service. I could probably use some of the actual text from my blog articles  but the more likely scenario is that I create a new web page which then links to the blog articles for additional information on how and why the product or service has come into being.

Effectively, I am innovating and doing NPD online - transparently.

This integrated approach isn't completely new but I struggle to find businesses that do it well - that maintain a balance of authenticity and still promote their business effectively. The following are some examples that are exploring the concept:

49 Folders - more a blog with a commercial edge (and it's all done in TypePad)
English Cut - still my favourite - simple, but it just speaks volumes for the authentic approach
Gurteen Knowledge - David Gurteen's site integrates everything, so much so that it's really hard to navigate your way around (and tell the difference between comment, articles, products etc.)

If you have any examples of good web site and blog integration please post a comment with a link.

I'm currenly playing with some new designs for my own site - maybe I'll share some of these in a later article.

Comments

[Sergej van Middendorp]

John,

Good blog here. I am busy trying both actively and passively to learn how blogging fits into both the larger IT, KM as well as publishing picture. A good recent development I see is the blogging in the traditional publishing sector. Two business week editors published a cover story on business blogging a few months ago and started their own blog on businessweek: http://www.blogspotting.com Their blog is clearly recognizable as authentic within a professional website context. Two weeks ago they assembled a conversation they were having in their blog about blog search and wrote an online article, published in the more formal businessweek online section. A week later, a polished version with more context for non-bloggers was published in the magazine. They also write about their own process and the differences for them in blogging and formal publishing. Definitely worth a look.

[Ed]

I well know it's not a formal KM blog, and not related to your thought/product development process but if you're talking pure website integration, the Jamie Oliver site is a good interface:
http://www.jamieoliver.net/

[John Curran]

Thanks for the link Ed. I'm a big fan of the Jamie Oliver approach to cooking but on a more professional level the site is a good example of neat integration of a number of elements to create a lively and very useable site (even the phpBB integation has been thought about carefully).