By the end of 2006, there will be almost 60 million blogs.
Yet, ask your neighbor or co-worker, and most people can't tell you what a blog is or what it does!

Most bloggers you talk to however, actually juggle a couple blogs or they help others write their blogs.
It's a rapidly growing area and NOW IS THE TIME TO GET IN!

A blog can do any number of different things, for different people.
For a business, it can boost sales and find new clients and customers.

YOU Become the Expert
Position yourself and your company as the thought leader of your business.

Customer Relationships
In a forum where your main objective is to NOT  sell, you'll have a more personal relationship between you and your customers. Blogs are a fast way to join the customers' discussions, provide tips and insights or receive feedback.

Create Media Relations
It's every PR-consultants dream to create a channel where media regularly check what you have to say, instead of media just being passive - sometimes indifferent - recipients of press releases.

Internal Collaboration
Use blogs as a workspace where project members keep each other updated without wasting time writing reports or searching the Outlook inbox.

Knowledge Management
Blogs works in two ways. First of all, they're an easy way for the readers to find information and resources they want or need. That's obvious and could be used internally in many organizations. Second, blogs are a kind of "university light" for the blogger. Blogging is on-the-job learning.

Recruitment
If you establish your company as a thought leader, people in your business will pay attention. They'll read and discuss what you have to say. Chances are good they will see you as an attractive employer.

Test ideas or products
A blog is informal. It's part of a conversation where people (often) can comment, and the blog can provide you with a measure of value. Publish an idea and see if it generates interest. Does anyone link to you? What do they say?

Rank high in search engines
Well, this has nothing to do with relations. But Google and other search engines rewards sites that are updated often, that link to other sites and most importantly, that has many inbound links. Start a blog at your regular site and your ranking will boost. Your blog can be 100 times more likely than your website, to move up in the search engines.

Whether you're a small business owner, writer, or looking for a fun hobby, a blog can be for you!