The Power of Blog - LogicMaze Lens for Sharp Focus

Well, in my continuing education here at LogicMaze, I am learning about many new things, new technologies, and new ways to apply them. Having spent most of my career thus far in either graphic design (for print media) or in a technical specialist capacity (IS/IT... depends on the company you're talking about) - a number of these techniques and services are new to me.

Strictly speaking, LogicMaze doesn't engage in these activities just for grins, but in the constant (and damn near obsessive) pursuit of driving business for our clients (and therefore, for ourselves). After all, we work in an industry where we can only thrive by best serving others.

Of these services/techniques, none is more fascinating to me than the one you are reading right now - our blog. Though evolving from early Usenet groups and bulletin board systems which predate the internet as we know it today, the blog in its familiar form has been around since 1997. And it has grown from a casual fancy into an extremely powerful tool.

Without going into a protracted disection of the structure of a common blog, its links, and how it effects those pages/sites that it refers to - allow me to make a more holistic analogy. I would compare a blog to a lens. Let me explain.

The internet has only a few forms of currency that it thrives on, the largest of which is attention. You pay in that currency when you do anything online by where you go, what you choose to view and read, and what you buy. This is very much the "if a tree falls in the forest..." scenario. If you have a fantastic website with engaging and useful information - and nobody pays attention - then what you have is the digital equivalent of a paperweight. It's just taking up space, and nothing more. But add people's attention to that equation - where people visit, engage, and interact with your information and content - then you have a potentially powerful tool.

Wasn't this supposed to be about blogs? Yes, so let me reign this tangent in a bit. Excellent website + attention = potentially powerful tool. Not bad. With a blog, however, I am seeing a new level to this equation.

With a relevant blog, properly connected to your sites and your pertinent content, it can act as a lens to focus the vast expanse of attention paid out on the internet and direct it in a meaningful fashion as you see fit. Like the light from the sun, packets of energy/information that spread in literally all directions (and if that weren't the case, why would search engines be so popular, right?) you can bring that chaos and disarray down to a needlelike point wherever you like.

So what is it that is making me a believer - that shows me how powerful a tool this can be for any online business or venture? Simply real world results. When I can watch the effects that a good blog can have on a business in the matter of a few days, with results that can be tracked and verified in a matter of minutes - I can't help but believe. When LogicMaze, with one of our marketing packages, can radically effect search engine standings for our clients - it follows suit that more attention is being paid to that client. And in this E-conomy, being paid greater attention is a currency readily exchanged into the kind we can use to heat our homes and feed our families.

Don't be surprised when I blog more in the future about just that - blogs. Who would have thought that from such humble beginnings of people's online diaries could emerge such a powerful marketing tool. For the moment, let's just say that I'm a believer.