September 1, 2005 bloggers of all types and stripes joined together to participate in Blog for Relief Day. This was one 24-hour period where the purpose was to catalyze an outpouring of donations for relief of victims of hurricane Katrina.

The idea was initially floated by Hugh Hewitt on his blog Sept. 30. Glenn Reynolds from instapundit.com was quick to pick up the idea and suggest September 1 as the day. N.Z. Bear over at truthlaidbear.com quickly jumped into action and built a special area of his site for bloggers the post what they were donating, to whom, and how much.

As word quickly spread throughout the blogosphere, Deborah and I decided to get creative and try to catalyze some action from our business coaching clients and business owners who read our blogs. So we issued $1000 matching challenge on biz-ownersblog.com on the afternoon of the 31st.

We had hoped to get at least $1000 in donations that we could match — but what happened in less than 24 hours blew us away. Including our matching funds we received proof of over $12,500 in donations by 11:59 p.m. September 1.

The total tracked over at truthlaidbear.com was approaching $350,000 at that same time. And with momentum just starting to build, Blog For Relief Day has now turned into Blog for Relief Weekend (Sept 3 – Sept. 5.) The goal is to get international bloggers and corporations to participate to multiply those donations exponentially.

This is how the blogosphere works.

Fast, fluid, viral, and completely in control of the citizens in the marketplace. Bloggers not only keep the mainstream media in check, uncover facts others ignore, and inform readers in real-time. They also act as a cohesive whole to quickly transform digital communication into tangible support for people in need.

In the midst of chaos and calamity being shown on cable news, there’s an untold story going on. A story that consumers of mainstream media still aren’t aware of. It’s a story of Americans helping Americans in a time of need. It’s the story of people taking action, not just talking about affixing blame.

With no direction, no government assistance, and no political leadership blogs like Slidell Hurricane Damage Blog and Metro-Blogging New Orleans sprang into action using digital word-of-mouth to hit the ground at the same time the first rescue started taking place.

Small, local organizations who can act quickly and decisively are getting support so they can reach their full potential and help people immediately. Churches like Canal Street Presbyterian Church right smack in the middle of the city of New Orleans. And organizations like Soldiers Angels which started a special effort to help the families of Louisiana National Guard who are deployed in Iraq.

The new world were word-of-mouth is put on multimedia steroids is here. Climb on board to help, step aside, or prepared to get bowled over.

Learn how to unleash the maximum marketing power of business blogs, podcasts, and RSS (in any industry, profession, or niche) with Marketing With Business Blogs.

John-Paul Micek is a published author and weekly columnist for the business section of the Honolulu Star Bulletin. He’s known as the “Click-and-Mortar Business Coach” by business owners around the world thanks to members of the Business Owners Coaching Club™.


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