Blogs and Business Blogging - The Evolution
Part four of a five-part introductory series

The term “blog” is derived from the term “Weblog” or Web log. In the early days of blogging circa mid-to-late 1990s, Web logs were used to track updates and references to other resources on the Internet.

A blog has a web-based editing tool that allows you to instantly add content live to the world wide web at any time you like, and as often as you like. To put it simply — think of blogs as a web sites that allow instant publishing.

A blog is a journal-like web site that allows you to log your thoughts, ideas, commentaries — or just about anything you can imagine. You can publish freestyle or in any manner you like on a personal blog. You simply type in your content, push a button, and you are published.

Blogs as journals have also been used as stream-of-consciousness publishing tools. They allow people to share and comment on anything of personal interest.

The act of “blogging”

Blogging is the activity of publishing content about a specific topic or theme of interest to a niche audience instantly. That content is often part commentary, part opinion, and sometimes includes links to relevant information on other blogs, websites, or offline resources. With blogging, you normally maintain a more personal tone of voice in your writing and communication.

Business blogging comes of age

But blogs have evolved into more than a tool for personal commentary and opinion. Business blogs have become powerful communication and collaboration tools. They’re being used in dozens of different ways for business promotion, marketing, and even internal (company) performance enhancements. (To learn more, you can download the free 45-page ebook 21 Ways to Boost Your Bottom Line Using Business Blogs)

We like to think of a business blogs as web sites on multi-media steroids. When properly utilized, business blogs can instantly publish not only the written word, but also audio (called podcasting,) and video (called v-blogging.)

You can install and set up a blog on your own server with downloadable blog software which allows you to manage the technical details yourself (like WordPress). You can also open a hosted account with a blog service provider and have them handle the technical details while you focus on publishing (BlogHarbor).

In either case, you have both free and fee-based options available to you. And just like web hosting, there are pluses and minuses to take into consideration.

John-Paul Micek is a contributing partner in the only multi-media course that truly coaches business owners how to integrate business blogging for more traffic, more clients, and more profits — Marketing With Business Blogs.

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


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