Light Within

A strong online presence is important for businesses and even individuals in today's high-speed and competitive world. Blogs, Twitter, Facebook have already become a new buzz in marketing and a welcome mate for corporate sector. Businesses are taking advantages to reach out to uses in fast growing users’ base.

To understand blogging as a corporate communications and promotion tool, we must understand the nature of blogs. Here is a short definition, "Blogs - an abbreviation of 'weblogs' - are published on the web, typically as micro sites standing by themselves but today also as parts of traditional web sites. They reflect the interests, thoughts and opinions of the person, sometimes persons, publishing the blog. Blogs are characterized by frequent updates, an informal tone and many links to other blogs and web sites."

Business blog is a blog published by or with the support of an organization to reach that organization's goals. In external communications the potential benefits include strengthened relationships with important target groups and the positioning of the publishing organization as industry experts and creating a strong buzz online.

Blogs can drive visitors to existing web site and help find new customers and engage the ones organizations already have. Blogs are prevailing and cost-effective marketing tools.

Once an organization has a blog, it offers immediate and high impact interaction with its target audience. As more people have online access, they'll want more than the standard online newsletter or typical PR response (we are so averse to existing PR stereotypes) and conventional advertisements. Gone are the days when companies simply fed information to their customers. Now everyone asks for a dialogue - a meaningful exchange of information. People also want to know that organizations are listening to them and paying heeds to what is being suggested, and blogs allow just that -- responding quickly and openly.

Twitter is instant messaging made available to the public (call Twitter a micro-blogging platform, if you have to). According to the State of the Twittersphere report, each day 5 to 10 thousand new people join Twitter. Current estimates of total users top out around 5 million. That’s a lot of opportunity.

Twitter allows you to post updates (called Tweets) as often as you want (and limited to 140 characters). When you follow other people on Twitter, you see their tweets. When they follow you, they see your tweets. It’s a constant stream of communication.

Twitter has been a great way for me to connect with people on a more personal level to help build brand and even generate a direct sales. Twitter helps drive repeat customers and word of mouth.

This is where it gets interesting phenomenon. A lot of people are doing some very innovate things with Twitter. We can do it two.

Facebook has become one of the powerful tools - for individuals as well as businesses and brands – to help spread among existing and potential customers. A Page on the facebook that can be feed by the ever changing blog can go a long way to boost up online visibility of any business, brand or an idea.

Who should blog for you and manage your social media drive?

Ideally, front line people who know the business in and out should blog about it. Marketing professionals can also use this powerful tool. Organization can hire professional writers to blog for them under company's name or blog under their own. Depending upon the feedback and information provided by audience, an inside blogger can develop the ability to write in his or her own voice and create content for business blog.

Outsider bloggers can view business with an objective eye and offer fresh marketing ideas and strategies.

Given access, external blogger can study company's marketing materials, reports, other collateral information, and meet key people in organization to learn about what organization does and how best to market the product through blogging.

The aim of this proposal is to offer my unique services to blog and use other social media channels to support achievements of your business (or your personal) objectives by doing the following.

1. Inform and educate the customers 
2. Encourage dialogue with current and potential customers 
3. Convey a sense of company personality and culture 
4. Get the feedback from readers and customers

Following is suggested for your company:

A new dedicated blog can be set up for any sponsor, product, service, idea or even individual. Relevant content will be generated and posted on blog subtly pointing to what the parent company wants. This may include whatever a sponsor needs or wants to put online. Background information and product images and logos will be provided by the company.

Blog posts will also be written (call them editorialized advertisements), on different already existing blogs strengthening required keywords in search engines.

Blog and blog posts will be supported by active Facebook page and Twitter accounts created by me for your company.