Author outlines business benefits of blogs

Without his blog, Chicagoan Andy Wibbels never would have written a book.

Wibbels, 31, who writes a blog that teaches blogging for small businesses (www.andywibbels.com) was contacted by an editor who had been reading his blog.

The editor was from publishing giant Penguin.

"Out of the blue, without an agent, without a book proposal, the editor contacted me and asked if I would like to write a book," Wibbels recalled.

That book came out in April. It's called "Blog Wild! A Guide for Small Business Blogging" (www.goblogwild.com), and it's a quick, relatively low-tech guide to blogging for small companies.

As Amazon.com's best-selling book on blogs, it's performing well, too.

Again, that is mostly because of the buzz and following Wibbels built with his blog.

"I know that what happened to me is really rare, but it's almost all connected to the blog." And, he said, you can use a blog for your company in much the same way, with equally impressive results.

"Save time, save money"

Companies need blogs, Wibbels said, "to save time, save money, strengthen their brand and relationships, and for better search-engine [position]."

Save time: "You can start a blog in the time it takes to watch a sitcom," Wibbels said. "This blows people away."

He recommends using TypePad (www.typepad.com), a popular, easy-to-use blogging tool. Prices range from about $5 to about $15 per month, depending on the package you select.

Wibbels said the time from sign-up to blogging your first post is minutes.

Another popular blog service is Google's Blogger (www.blogger.com).

Save money: While a blog can complement your existing Web site, it easily can replace it as well.

"A blog can become your main Web site. And you don't have to use a designer on retainer." Bye-bye, IT guy.

The blog format can be used to organize your company's services, testimonials and other corporate information. And because blogs use predesigned templates, professional design is not necessary.

Strengthen brand and relationships: "You're able to show your passion for your business," Wibbels said. "It's why Microsoft is having its people blog.

"IT has helped consumers see beyond this monolithic brand, and see the people who make this technology. And they're excited about it."

Improved search-engine positioning: Because blogs are updated far more often than most Web sites, which are static, they enjoy higher rankings for relevant keywords on search engines like Google.

Pooling information

If a company distributes an e-mail newsletter, should a blog replace it?

"It's not 'either/or,' " Wibbels said. "It's 'and.' They work hand in hand.

"The blog is archivable, and the newsletter drives people to the blog. And it's really not that much more of a time commitment because it's the same content. And some people just use their blog to archive their newsletter online."

When it comes to reading blogs, Wibbels turns to consolidation sites that pool together information from many blogs.

"It's looking at blogs in aggregate, where I can read through them by topics that I'm interested in."

The aggregators he uses are Technorati.com, Blogpulse.com and Icerocket.com.

In addition to his business blog, Wibbels also keeps a personal blog at AndyMatic.com.