First blog post ever...

I have never written a blog before. In fact, it scares me somewhat. I am a blog virgin. I just have to "get writing", they tell me. Once you have written one then you will get the hang of it. But I am way behind the rest of the world AND (as it appears) some of the professional "bloggers" that have come out of the woodworks from our agency. So here it goes, time to catch up and become a blogger...

Because I find it so hard, I have been thinking a lot about the purpose of blogs and where they fit into the business world.

From my very basic knowledge it almost feels like an online diary. Somewhere you publish your thoughts and opinions about anything really! But isn't that weird, to be sharing those things with complete strangers out in the world wide web?

A diary has always been something of utmost confidentiality, usually something no-one reads until you die. Somewhere to just get it off your chest or write about your innermost thoughts. But now it seems people just can't wait to share their thoughts and opinions. Maybe a better analogy would be a newspaper column? But now with blogs, anyone who ever had the ambition to be a journalist, can just go for it!

I guess that brings me somewhere back to the use of blogs in business. Surely a newpaper column is good exposure for a company? With a very senior person sharing their views and expertise in a particular industry, you can surely get some good business leads and promote a good feeling about your business (or leave you open to bad PR and loads of criticism). But opening it up to an entire company to share their views? Now that is something new - and where will that lead?

Perhaps this sharing of knowledge is the way forward. Not being afraid to tell the world what you think about business, about where you think things are heading and how you think they might get there. Get their feedback. Join in big debates. I think it's a positive thing for business, it just depends on how brave you are... and what you want to get out of it. Surely if they can have such a big effect as some of these top blogs, then there must be something postiive to come?