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How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers

The development of the Internet and the Internet community has changed the way the companies do business and preserve the relationships with their customers.

Who Should Read “Naked Conversations”? And Why?

They first present blogging’s history and how companies in the past started using it in their everyday practice. By starting there, they show the readers favorable real-life scenarios in which blogging benefited the companies.”Naked Conversations” is uncomplicated and easily understandable and ensures that even complete novices to the topic can get the hang of it.

It is a practical manual that covers blogging from start to finish: from how you can start a blog to how you should partake in conversations. We recommend it to existing bloggers or to businesspeople who contemplate blogging, as well as to executives who want to understand how blogging can benefit their companies.

About Shel Israel & Robert Scoble

Shel Israel is a writer, speaker, and a consultant, who specializes in technological innovation and how it changes business and life overall. Israel has spent a part of his career as an advisor and the rest of it as an author/speaker.

Throughout the years he has contributed to Forbes, BusinessWeek, Business Insider and has talked all around the world, mostly with Robert Scoble. Scoble focuses on the future, and especially on mixed reality, AKA “next generation augmented reality.” This advancement will, in his opinion, incorporate UIs for EVERYTHING in your life; he bases this theory mostly on his experience as a futurist at Rackspace.

“Naked Conversations Summary”

Customers doubt big enterprises, characteristics that have affected many companies, among which you can find big names as well. Such an example is Microsoft.

Numerous people consider Microsoft to be imposing a monopoly in the software business, as opposed to an organization where an immense number of employees earn for living. However, it all changed when Microsoft began practicing blogging and therefore more actively communicating with its customers.

People felt glad they could talk to an insider of the company.

With blogging, companies are “exposed,” as they allow the public to talk directly to them about their concerns and requirements. It also helps them by giving them access to online discussions of their products or services, where they can also participate. Furthermore, businesses use it to release information.

On blogs, posts show up in reverse chronological order, or in other words, when bloggers post a new entry, it shows up first on the page. That means that users don’t have to scroll down through old postings to find the most recent entry.

When users move through links from blog to blog, they move through what is called “the blogosphere.”

Blogs and other communication channels are different in six ways, called the “Blogging’s Six Pillars.” All blogs are: publishable, findable, social, viral, syndicatable and linkable. Search engines, notably Google, value frequently refreshed Web sites.

Embedding quick updates is anything but complicated, and it raises your blog’s exposure. However, not every blog is public. Internal blogs also exist, where employees share inside company information.

When it comes to blogging, there are some rules for how you should start a blog, but none of them are strict since the blogging practice is still new and develops rapidly. Many blogs made it without following any rules, but the following ideas may help you start the right way, especially if you are new at this.

First, check out what is already out there and decide what you want to write about. Next, choose a memorable name for your blog. Make sure it connects to the subject you picked. Furthermore, be careful to cover just one topic in one entry.

Don’t include everything at once, since most people will want to read your entries since they are drawn to a specific issue. Also, be honest, entertaining, and show your knowledge in your writing. Keep in touch with your audience by encouraging them to comment and start a conversation.

The next steps you should take will show themselves to you on their own – be self-aware, assess your blog, and notice all areas that you can improve.

A negative aspect of blogging is that managers cannot completely control the messages on their blogs. However, it is possible to filter comments and replies and delete irrelevant entries.

The other concern that exists among companies is that corporate bloggers could leak classified information. But, most of the experts agree that the chances for such a thing are meager.

Key Lessons from “Naked Conversations”

1.      Good Blogging
2.      The Blog Job
3.      Blogging’s Dark Side

Good Blogging

You shouldn’t expect to gain views, click and traffic immediately. To do that, you need to be active on other blogs as well. There are five general tips for blogging success.

• • “Talk, don’t sell”: don’t forget that you are writing informative entries, and not press releases.

• • “Post often and be interesting.”

• • “Write on issues you care about.”

• • “Blogging saves money, but costs time”: it can indeed decrease your marketing and ad expenses, but it takes up more time.

• “Listen to what people tell you”: listen to negative comments and critiques; often they pinpoint the areas your customers are dissatisfied with.

The Blog Job

If you decide to be a blogger, you have to make sure you keep the job. So, what can you do to ensure it? Well, don’t do reckless things. Reread your contract and your firm’s blogging policy and follow what you find there thoroughly.

Avoid legal problems, and keep in contact with your employer. Having in mind that blogging takes up a lot of time, many companies decide to hire outsiders to run their blogs.

Blogging’s Dark Side

All the worries related to blogs and their security, content, profitability, and most of all openness, exist for valid reasons. Many business owners are afraid that customers will be encouraged to post all kinds of comments, including negative ones.

They need to be aware that opposing opinions can show up anywhere on the internet. Conversely to what you may believe, even if negative comments show up on your blog, you have the advantage since you can address them and show them support.

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“Naked Conversations” Quotes

Our Critical Review

Co-authors Scoble and Israel have written this book with a clear intention to push and encourage companies to try out corporate blogs as a means of communicating with their customers.

Emir Zecovic

Emir is the Head of Marketing at 12min. In his spare time, he loves to meditate and play soccer.