The Cat is Out of the Bag

We just couldn't keep it to ourselves any longer: BusinessLogs.

By we I mean myself and my incredibly talented and brilliant business partners, Paul Scrivens and Matthew Oliphant.

About a month ago we were all chatting online and we just started coming up with ideas on how to communicate better with people. We all have extremely extensive experience (whoa) with weblogs, their architecture, the weblog community, and their usage, and we felt as though the idea of a weblog can extend way beyond the simple "hey, this is what I did last night with my friends, check out some pictures".

Weblogs are an untapped two-way communication device that organizations and companies can use to manage information. We can already see how project management is simplified through weblog technology, why not other things? I'm talking about brainstorming sessions. Knowledge management and technical documentation. Press/product release statements, and so much more.

Imagine BMW's North America site with a weblog right on the homepage. A top-end executive or designer writing everyday about their design process, their goals, how much they want to please their customers, current trends, and so on. A BMWeblog (sorry, had to do it) would put a friendly, inviting face on such a large company — putting them directly in touch with the people who matter the most, their customers.

This is the potential that weblogs have, and this is what we hope to communicate to our future clients. Stay tuned.

Comments

[Will Pate]

Congratulations guys. You've got some real talent on your team. I look forward to seeing how you help companies bridge communication gaps with weblogs.

Jarrod and I are starting to do some similar work with people in the early adopters. I'm interested to see how the sell works with more conservative businesses.

Do you think books like The Naked Corporation will encourage larger organizations to explore blogging?

[Scrivs]

Only if they decide to read it Will :-) I think there is still a long way to go with this "revolution" and that we are definitely still in the early adopter period.

After what happened to a SixApart and the backlash they received I can see some companies still being hesitant and willing to wait to find out how effective this new method of marketing is.

[Scott]

I'm definitely digging the use of companies and providing a link between a company and their customers. There is nothing more alienating then when a company's "contact" page with information is nothing more than 3 input boxes on a page. Weblogs are able to provide a much higher level of interaction and familiarity between an organization and their clients.

Good luck on this, I can't wait to see how it goes!

[hass]

Hey Mike, best of luck to all three of you (I don't think you'll actually need luck, ya'll have skills.)

OT: I see your getting a lot of comment-spam. If you require a preview before posting you can prevent most (all?) of that crap. One suggestion, for what it's worth. (And while I'm off topic, did you realize previews are using the old style sheet? It seems so much greener now that you're big on black!)

[Mike]

Hey thanks dude, yeah comment spam is killing me lately. The preview before submit idea is what a bunch of people have been telling me, so if I can figure out how to do that in TypePad I probably will :)

Yeah I know it's using the old style sheet, I'm too lazy to change it. Maybe this summer I'll have time lol.

[hass]

lol No pressure!

[Grant]

Good luck! Not many people have the resolve to pursue a new business.

By the way, it looks like Kalsey is giving away bits of advise to businesses:
http://kalsey.com/2004/05/how_to_blog/

[Grant]

More on blogs in the workplace:
http://radio.weblogs.com/0105910/2004/05/17.html