BL,

Your list is a good one but as a business person and one who averages about 100 readers a day, I am more interested in attracting the right audience than I am in being popular. I think the criteria for rating business blogs is very different than one used to determine the influence of a political or financial blog.

The former is sharing, communicating and influencing business; the latter is far more personal and likely to attract a more diverse audience. The former can be quite successful bearing less name recognition than the latter.

I also think that business blogs don't require opinion driven by religiosity as much as the latter to be successful. In fact, business blogs and bloggers should not be driven by ideology of opionion but should be driven by whatever is best for the business or the business principal being discussed. Business blogs should share good ideas with other business people; political blogs, for example, are about preaching to the choir and dissing the opposition.

Good point, Lewis. I guess blogs are like any other communication vehicle, requiring segmentation and knowledge of the audience. As BL says, "written for the readers."

Lewis - My blog is my business "store front" and as such it is

It has a broad international audience, including many thousands of CMOs, CEO, CFOs who also subscribe to an email newsletter of the posts.

The two goals you state are not mutually exclusive.

I have attracted blue-chip clients with my blog including Cendant, IBM, McGraw-Hill and many others.

It is "written for the readers" and it often includes more than business because people all need some diversions and people have opinions.

BL,

Hmm. What were the two goals I stated and where did I say anything about your blog to make you think you need to defend your objectives? I was talking about my blog and what I perceive as the differences between genres of blogs that I think require different metrics. Sorry if I confused anyone.

Lewis - I wasn't defending my blog, I was trying to make the point that both objectives can be reached with one blog.

sorry if it came across differently

I agree with Lewis' remarks about attracting the right audience. If you can get a few really credible, constructive insights that expand on your post and add to it, it is so much more useful than a large number of luke warm comments that merely agree with you, hence adding nothing new to the conversation.

On the other hand Nancy, when you have a broad audience, you exponentially increase the chances that members of it ARE influential and interested in what you have to say.

I have often been pleasantly surprised to be contacted by CMOs, etc at very large companies who tell me they have been reading my blog for a long time and waited for the right moment to make contact.

The quantity of comments is indeed far less important than the quality. But large numbers of readers can only help your business by expanding your global microbrand.

good list BL. anyone notice how blogs written by companies are not among the most influential? Blogging just requires too much sharing (and no fear) so it's not their fault, it's just a model they're not used to--and that works out just fine. In this conversation their place is more likely as listener and, sure, a participant in the converstation--but not the lead per se.

Another point that I think is important: while some blogs reach more 'mass', the 'sphere is about communities. So while you may have small sci-fi blogs that don't make the top 5k...they can ban together to influence a network (per the "nuts" article on bringing back the Jericho TV show that Mack and others covered last week). I point this out BL, because in advising peers and co's I advocate going very "deep" vs. "wide" in the blogosphere.

Thanks.

CK - good points about the company blogs.

Interestingly, some blogs with a relatively small number of readers have a high level of involvement and comments from those readers because the blogosphere is a niche or be niched world.

But still, there is much to be gained from having a broad, engaged, and loyal audience.

Great post - thanks! This is timely information as my organization considers starting a blog (which I still believe is a long way off for us!).

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