Blogging for Business, in Wall Street Jnl

Have to get this in before curfew tolls the knell of parting day.  In Wall St. Journal July 20:

"It is a tool that you make work for whatever you want it to....It's like a Swiss knife," says Adriana Cronin-Lukas, co-founder of the Big Blog Company, a London-based firm that builds blogs for companies and trains workers to use them.

Why have your employees blogging away?

Those political-junkie bloggers out there have turned to their keyboards for one reason: They're passionate about a particular subject, and they want to talk about it with someone. Seeking an outlet in the blogosphere means they aren't constrained by geography or schedules, and their discourse is available to anyone who wants to join in. That same kind of wide-ranging discussion can take place between a business and current or potential clients. "There's a lot of pent-up goodwill on the part of customers," Ms. Cronin-Lukas says. "They're talking about the company anyway. So it's a matter of joining the conversation."

. . . In the long run, conversing directly with customers could help your credibility with them.

The writer, Kyle Wingfield, quotes the head of global product development for General Motors,

"The blog is a great opportunity to tell the public directly about the cars and trucks we have on the market and the ones we're bringing to market soon . . .  We've also used the blog to address specific media articles that we considered unfair, unbalanced or uninformed."

The credibility part sticks.  Consider Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, which gives email addresses right under all J-S staff bylines!  Not in hit-or-miss fashion, as with Chi Trib, and then at end of story.  The J-S approach tells readers, Write us.