Blogging in the News – w/e 25 February 2007

Some articles which have appeared in the UK online press over the past week which looks at blogging (primarily business blogging) and its uses. If you find any good articles that could be highlighted here, then please post the links below or send them to me directly at news[at]theblogcoach[dot]co[dot]uk and I’ll do the rest.

Should PR try to “sway” online opinion?

talks about another product aimed at monitoring brand mentions in blogs and other social media. Key thing to take on board though the price tag on this product is only for the bigger players, one feels.

Best of Brit Blog Awards 2007

announced by Metro which is jointly sponsoring them this year. But, horror or horrors, no Business Blog category!! What is the world coming to … will they never learn … oh dear …!

Irish Blog Awards attracts international voters

in contrast to the Brit Awards and across a wide range of categories which encompasses a whole range of areas … including Business Blogs!! [Have I got the message across yet?]

Top 10 Marketing Blogs

A nice run through of some excellent marketing based blogs, some of which may take your fancy.

Lufthansa supports blog program

shows how advertising on blogs is taking off (sorry!) in the mainstream press as larger companies consider their benefits.

LIVE BLOG: Ireland vs. England

Not exactly a business blog but a nice use for one and a clear demonstration of the immediate publishing ability that it offers businesses. Pity about the result of the match though!

Blogging in the News – w/e 18 February 2007

Well, as the TV people would probably say, this is now back to its normal Sunday evening slot. So, without further ado, here are some UK based news articles on blogging which have graced the media this week.

Forrester Research report identifies blog strengths for marketers

which focuses on the ROI of Blogging which is a subject that taxes us all. I have a couple of posts coming up on the subject for my corporate readers which I hope will be of interest.

UK consultancy calls for training and HR companies to start blogging

is an appeal that I am not likely to disagree with from Righttrack. “A communication and community-building tool”, you say? Spot on again.

I blog, therefore I am £70,000 richer

Not what you might exactly call a business blog but clearly a way to attract publishers with your writing and do that book deal you’ve often dreamed of. Solopreneurs take note – a blog is a great way of spreading the word on that book or indeed getting a deal to write one!

Analysis: the future of user-generated content

is a predominantly MySpace based article on what will undoubtedly be the growing area of user generated content online and a subject which includes the area of blogging and the business side that it embraces.

Web offers dream of riches

has the Financial Times reporting on the rise of Personal Finance blogs in the UK. A lot seem to err on the side of “personal” rather than “business” blogs (and some just seem to err, to be honest) but its clearly a growing area and business related so takes its place here.

Famous Cartoonist and “UK’s Most Influential Blogger” Dupes Tesco Into Helping him Find a Dream Date for Valentine’s Day

is nice twist of a Press Release for Stormhoek but I love the way Hugh McLeod (he of Gaping Void fame) does it, hence the mention.

Blogging in the News – w/e 11 February

Get to grips with business blogging

is an article which first appeared in PC World and looks at how business blogging can help companies as well as opinion from a number of commentators (including yours truly).

Getting the blog spammers to hang up their affiliations

looks at the problem of comment spam and particularly that caused by affiliate marketers looking for inbound links to their sites. [Comment: luckily using an anti-spam solution from Akismet, I've cut mine down to almost zero and there are other simple ways to stop it. We'll be looking at this subject in more depth soon.]

Business Link Urges Yorkshire Businesses To ‘Get Blogging’

shows that Business Link is helping to encourage businesses to look at the benefits that blogging can bring. Hopefully this will extend across more of the country and we’ll be able to get interested businesses quickly up to speed.

New Sony viral marketing ploy angers consumers

is actually from the end of December last year but reflects just how badly wrong even large companies can get blogging and social media marketing.

Blog your way to success

appeared in The Independent (and I get another short mention!) and focuses on how business blogging is proving successful in the US but is still in its infancy here in the UK, indicating the opportunities available for those companies which embrace it this year.

Blogging in the News – w/e 15 Oct

Britain’s Blogging ‘A’ List

which gives a list of the Top UK bloggers. This is ranked according to the number of links that they receive as measured by Technorati, one of the leading Blog Search Engines.

Mass Blogging Day to Promote History Campaign

which is encouraging people to participate in leaving their thoughts about a day in their life this coming Tuesday.

Blogging ‘un-Christian’ – shock

presents another view on the use of blogging.

Parties bin Posters in favour of blogs

which indicates some political parties deciding that Blogs would be more effective than posters to get their message across. Baaaa!

Blogging in the News – w/e 1 October

Small Businesses Failing to use Blogs

which centres on a Fasthosts survey of small businesses showing that (so far) while 50% of small businesses would be prepared to use blogs to market thier business, so far only 3% were doing so.

Cadbury-Schweppes boosts graduate recruitment with blogs

outlines the company’s use of blogs as part of their graduate recruitment campaign.

Tory leader launches ‘Webcameron’ personal ‘blog’ site

reports on the latest politician to look at blogging and online media to get their message across.