Tips for Corporate Bloggers 2
How can you afford to miss this wave — and even more important, you can’t afford to do it wrong
This is the easiest and most important step. First, poke around online and find the most influential bloggers following your company. Read them every day. Then do automated tracking of discussions. Companies ranging from startup PubSub to tech giant IBM (IBM ) can help, since they offer services that comb through this mountain of data, turning it into market research for customers.Big Blue is testing advanced technology called Web Fountain, which analyzes billions of postings to see if they predict spikes in consumer behavior. Last year, Web Fountain plumbed the blog world for buzz on books and then compared it to sales data from Amazon.com (AMZN ). In about half the cases, researchers could predict the sales growth that would follow the buzz.
This is the easiest and most important step. First, poke around online and find the most influential bloggers following your company. Read them every day. Then do automated tracking of discussions. Companies ranging from startup PubSub to tech giant IBM (IBM ) can help, since they offer services that comb through this mountain of data, turning it into market research for customers.Big Blue is testing advanced technology called Web Fountain, which analyzes billions of postings to see if they predict spikes in consumer behavior. Last year, Web Fountain plumbed the blog world for buzz on books and then compared it to sales data from Amazon.com (AMZN ). In about half the cases, researchers could predict the sales growth that would follow the buzz.
Why is it important to do different kinds of tracking? Postings even from small-time bloggers can get picked up by a search engine, amplified by a top blogger, and eventually break into the mainstream. Last summer, blogs picked up an anonymous post in an online discussion forum from someone who boasted he could break Kryptonite bike locks with a Bic pen. Within a week the story had bubbled up to The New York Times, and Kryptonite recalled the locks.
About the Author
Aaron Rivera - is the webmaster of sleekbusiness - Your Guide To Internet Business. His website contains various resources on affiliate programs and internet marketing advice to help you succeed in your internet business.
