Debbie Weil is a corporate blogging and social media expert, online marketing consultant, speaker and author of The Corporate Blogging Book (Portfolio). She consults with large companies, CEOs and senior executives on how to create blogs that connect with customers and attract media attention.

A small minority of Americans - 7 percent - according to a March 2005 study by CNN, USA Today and Gallup (as reported in eMarketer) So the wave is still cresting. Most of the attention thus far is on political blogs. Blogging as a business communications tool is still in its infancy. Good to get a reality check now and again. (Note: open access to the eMarketer article until March 31, 2005.)Tx to Sandy Gibson for the pointer.

Related Resource
An article from Wharton Business School’s Knowledge Center on Weblogs are here to stay, but where are they headed? Thanks to Linda Abraham for the pointer.

If you’re still scratching your head over podcasting, the newest phenomenon to sweep the Web, read Stephan Spencer’s “Move Over Blogs: Here Come Podcasts.” This is the clearest explanation I’ve seen yet on what podcasting is and how it relates to RSS and blogs.

Spencer lists some good podcasting ideas that could be used on a variety of Web sites, no matter what your product or service, or whether your organization is for-profit or non-profit.

- Provide a thought-provoking tip of the day; just a short sound bite that your “listener subscribers” can download to an iPod, for example, and listen to on the run. (I love this idea. Better than a daily ezine or email, don’t you think?)

- Interview thought leaders in your field and publish these podcasts to your site. Again, your listener subscribers can download these audio interviews and tune in at their convenience.

He also provides a useful link to Engadget’s podcasting tutorial.

As this is “debbie’s blog” I couldn’t resist noting that I’m Debbie #3 on Google, after U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich) and Little Debbie snacks. Kinda cool, huh?! The point is that blogging gets you noticed by the search engines. Blogging is the most effective, least costly SEO (search engine optimization) tactic going these days. See Got Google juice? on BlogWrite.

30,000 blog readers responded to Blogads’s 2nd annual survey so the results are worth paying attention to. Scroll down to see the complete results broken out by age, gender, income, industry, etc. 70% of these blog readers fall into a coveted demographic known as “influentials.” Yet… 79% do NOT have their own blog. Another notable tidbit: only 12% of the blog readers who responded actually use RSS newsreaders. Thanks to Rok Hrastnik of MarketingStudies.net for this nugget.

On a related note, see my entry in BlogWrite: Will RSS simplify your life? Short answer, no. At least for now.

Halley Suitt is one of my favorite blog writers. Read her lovely, lyrical Beginning, Middle, End capturing the essence of her early morning routine at home with her son.

This is one of those circular he said, she said posts that I sometimes find annoying. Too much linking between bloggers — as opposed to comments posted by readers who may not be bloggers — is what creates the navel-gazing culture of the blogosphere. It gets tiresome. But I couldn’t resist… Read Dee Rambeau’s post on Myopia in which he refers back to Seth Godin’s riff on Stats that cannot be true. The point is that blogging is still new, very new. In fact, (if you do the math) 73 percent of U.S. Internet users are NOT reading blogs, according to a Pew Internet survey. A recent CNN/USAToday/Gallup poll echoes these stats: Only 26% of Americans say they are somewhat or very familiar with blogs. Thanks to Nate Dame for the pointer to the Gallup poll.

First, because Seth is so damn smart. He talks like he blogs… in long coherent riffs that are sprinkled with lots of specific examples based on brand name companies. The guy really does his homework. Or he’s got a mind like a steal trap and remembers everything he’s read. Anyway, I had the good fortune to attend his all-day workshop last week in New York City as a guest of Conference Calls Unlimited. The event was run by Gazelles, an executive development program, and took place in a funky loft on Canal Street. About 30 folks attended, virtually all of them white male CEOs of off-line companies. Only three women. An interesting crowd because they don’t spend their days immersed in the Internet and they’re dealing with non-cool B2B customers. Still, a lot of the same concepts apply.

Seth talked about “being remarkable” and “digital augmentation” and “smooth ideas” and how “there is no truth but there IS authenticity and consistency.” But it’s his quirks I like best: 1.) You don’t get any handouts; no binder or even stapled sheets 2.) You’re not allowed to take notes 3.) He answers his cell (set to ring like a real phone) while he’s presenting, interrupting himself and scarcely missing a beat… “Yes, hi, yes. You can deliver lunch now. OK, here’s my credit card number…” 4.) He serves what many folks would consider weird food… Sushi and Indian. Platters and platters of it. 5.) He hands out weird prizes like a fez hat (from Archie McPhee) if you ask a question 6.) Finally, he ran out in the afternoon to scoop up a bunch of snacks for us from Canal Street. He knows what’s important… good cookies. Fun and provocative and new, even though I attended a similar workshop in his loft last June.

Excellent article by Bill Flitter on Pheedo’s blog. I particularly like his point that blogs can be compared to white papers as a way to showcase your company’s expertise. But blogs go a step further. He writes: “However, blogs allow for an ongoing conversation. They can be updated more frequently allowing you to contribute more information and further your position as a resource in your particular market.” Be sure to click on the resource links that Bill includes. This one’s great: a table by Alex Barnett comparing email with RSS.

In case you had any doubt. The WSJ’s Riva Richmond contends that blogs may be most useful for small companies. She writes:

“Blogs offer little-known small businesses name recognition, and the chance to boost traffic well beyond what they’d get if they were simply offering goods and services for sale.”

Thanks to Blog Business Summit for the pointer.

Get them here in my review of MarketingSherpa’s terrific new Landing Page Handbook.

1. Acknowledge the bail factor

2. Make your landing page headline match the copy in your ad

3. Keep your “hero” shot (product image) on the left side of the page

4. Write hotlinked copy that prompts action

5. Offer something useful and unexpected on your Thank You page

Read my full review.