Blog Presentation and Feedback

After my speech yesterday, I talked to a variety of people. Many were blown away by a "world" they said they had no idea existed. A handful stated they felt a bit overwhelmed at trying to keep up with new technology and marketing methods and even how fast their customers wants and needs kept changing.

Two things I think that really hit home for many of the people I talked to were the blog I created for one of the people in the room on-the-fly and being able to pull comments from bloggers about many of the ski areas within the last week. (Don't forget the blog speech was for the Midwest Ski Areas Association members). Since this is August, you would think it would be tough to find many people talking about skiing. Not so in the blogosphere.

I really sit on both sides of the fence when it comes to doing a blog to try it out and doing a blog successfully. I really believe you should have a "blog strategy". Just like you would have a marketing strategy or plan of how to use the various marketing tools at your disposal. On the other hand, most people will not know if a blog is a good communication/networking tool for them unless they give it a try.

What I recommended to people, was to try something like blogger to start a personal blog. It's free and easy and gives you a taste of what it would be like to blog on a regular basis. For those people who are ready to commit and want a business blog that will be around for awhile, I believe they should have a plan, research their options, and (of course) get with someone like me to guide them through the process.

The other recommendation I made was to go and keep regular tabs on what's being said about you in the blogosphere. Blogpulse is my favorite. Only thing to keep in mind...once you start it's addictive. Plan to set aside a specific amount of time and then stick to it.