Relevance of Blogging-My talk at LIBA - eNidhi India Travel Blog

Relevance of Blogging-My talk at LIBA

Gave a talk yesterday after a long gap (earlier talks were at Manipal Institute of Communication, Manipal and MSRIT, Bangalore (details). During the Mashable Meetup at LIBA (Loyola Institute of Business Administration) got an opportunity to talk about the Relevance of Blogging.

Are blogs still relevant in the days of twitter, facebook, foursquare and the likes? This was the main agenda of the talk and I also touched upon my experience as Official Blogger for Tata Nano Superdrive and Corporate Blogging in general.

When I asked the audience if they thought whether or not blogging is still relevant, more than 50% of the audience stated that they think blogging is still relevant. Only one gentleman said its not relevant anymore as people have no time to write lengthy blog posts and are moving to twitter and facebook. Rest of the audience were in Don’t know/Can’t say mode.

In my talk I shared an opinion that blogging is still relevant, based on following observations:
  • Blogging is getting accepted at par with media. Most of the companies and PR agencies have started to invite bloggers for their press meets, product launches or events.
  • For twitter, facebook and foursquare, you’re its inventory and not customer. Every minute you spend (or waste) on facebook, facebook makes money. Blogging platform in turn gives you complete control over the content, design and monetization.
  • Facebook updates are not searchable by search engines and twitter updates seldom appear in search results. Blogs continue to derive good volume of traffic from search engines
  • Twitter and FB has very short attention span. Unless an update goes viral (through retweets etc) its easily lost in the flood of new updates on your timeline.
  • Few years ago blogging was a fashion and everyone jumped into the bandwagon. At present, I feel not so serious players have moved away from blogging (to twitter n FB) while serious writers continue to run their blogs as effectively as earlier. All  popular bloggers are also active on twitter and fb and are using these platforms effectively to promote their blogs. Building an effective blog takes time and efforts but pays off well in long run.
  • Companies continue to invest in their corporate blogs
Below are a few questions asked by audience and my answers:
Q: Should companies publish negative comments received at their blog? As long as the comment is genuine and legitimate, it should be published along with a resolution to the concern raised. This gives rest of the visitors a confidence that this company will actively work on their mistakes/customer complaints. Trying to suppress a customer concern will do no good, as users have several other mediums to air their concerns.
Q: Why should students start blogging? Its a great way to build one’s identity online. Having a blog related to your field of interest/expertise heavily increases your chances of landing a job, if HR folks decide to google you out. Even otherwise, its a good way to hone your language skills, network with like minded bloggers.
Q: When can I take blogging full time? About 1 out of 100 bloggers manage to earn enough money from blogging to make a living out of it. For others, a blog can complement whatever they do/specialize in.
Q: How to market one’s blog? This is another detailed topic altogether, but in brief, good content, basic SEO, networking with like minded bloggers, reading and commenting at other blogs and consistency should pay off.

There were a few more questions I’m not able to recall now. To your left is the first available picture of me talking, shared by Arun Sag.

Ppt I used for the talk is embedded below.

Thanks to Sorav Jain of Echovme for inviting me for the talk.

After my talk Mr. Faheem Ahmed, founder, CEO, BYT Social shared a case study of how Basics Life is using facebook for its online marketing. It was a very good session. Demographics and strategies he shared were very interesting.

November 2010 update: Do read my post about "tips for live blogging an event" and advantages of live blogging  *

Read about my MSRIT talk * Official Blogger for Tata Nano Superdrive * SEO Basics * Social Media for SMEs * a Social media case study- what not to expect from blogging *

35 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. I agree with you on this one that blogging pays off in the long run and I would not trade my blogging space for anything.

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  3. I agree with you. Another point that could be added is that bigshots, i.e. actors and models, have also started to blog though they maintain a twitter acct too. And they use it effectively to sell themselves and promote their movies.

    One can share more content (and relevant content at that) in one shot and one place, too. Tweets tend to digress a lot and manage to get lost easily.

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  4. Namratha,

    yes, twitter is too short at times and blogging still has its charm and relevance.

    Thanks

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  5. Good post.

    What I felt you missed out on is the space it provides for informal information in the public space. For example, adoption is something I blog about and it is great to find blogs that also talk about it - adds to the body of information out there, gets informal networks together as a resource to fall back on.

    Blogs are also great for information on the informal/unorganized sector - like where does one go for getting bamboo chiks made in X town and what do you need to watch out for....a serious time saver that builds on others' mistakes and successes.

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  6. Bloggers and their opinions are being taken seriously by the media. I remember watching a panel discussion on the Copenhagen Climate summit and the invitees were mostly reputed bloggers. Newspaper reports often quote from blogs.

    But it's only the blogs with content that survive.

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  7. Twitter or Facebook can not replace blog which has a vast canvas to explore and expand.

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  8. Blogging will not go obsolete but it will get more serious in nature with casual, time pass bloggers weaned away by FB and Twitters... Blogging as a medium is here to stay and i agree with your points. Every medium has its own pie and audience to chew it :)

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  9. Thanks Sangi, Purba, SR Ayyangar sir and Lakshmi Rajan

    Sangi, yes, I missed on the credibility aspect and personal touch.

    Agree on the second point as well.

    Purba Ray,
    Yes, mainstream media and PR agencies often quote popular bloggers. Content is king.

    Ayyangar sir,
    Agree

    Lakshmi,
    Yes, I mentioned it in the talk, Not so serious players have moved away to fb and twitter

    Thanks again.

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  10. Missed it..but yes blogging is still relevant..and I have been blogging since I was 15.. :)

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  11. Would be nice if i can tweet ur article. Can u embed a share option for your posts?

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  12. Anitha,

    You said it and I did it.. Just added tweet this and like it buttons...

    Vishesh,
    You've got most of the contents of my talk in the blog/ppt, so you didn't miss much.

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  13. It does feel weird when we are talking about blogging as if it were something old already... :) Its been like 10-11 years since the term blog came into existence and we're already talking about it like it was decades old... I just wish that as we grow into newer technology and blogging if ever does become passe we can still save and migrate and blend into whatever is the latest...
    Through my food hobby I have met many who have started out with food blogging and are now writing books! So yea it does pay off for some...

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  14. Anu

    10-11 years means a decade no?

    yes, keep backup of your content.

    When is your foodie book coming up?

    Anitha :)

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  15. Thanks Raveesh.

    You're commenting here after a very long time. Assume you've been very busy with work of late

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  16. Only 50% thought blogs are relevant? Surprising indeed.

    I'd have imagined that folks would stick with their blogs long enough to actually understand the potential of the medium as also its effectiveness.

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  17. Anil Sir

    Well, the other 50% were in don't know category, most probably because they were not bloggers...

    Agree on the long term returns

    Thanks for the comment...

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  18. I did not know blogging was this professional..
    thanks for sharing this..

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  19. Yes, it has become fairly professional these days, for those who're serious at it.

    Believe this is your first comment here. Thanks and welcome

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  20. Hi friends,I just read your project in this blog community, and I love you are standing up with knowledge!
    Gongratulations,Bye

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  21. Great job on the blog, it looks great. I am going to bookmark it and will make sure to check back weekly

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  22. Hi. I wanted to drop you a quick note to express my thanks. I’ve been following your blog for a month or so and have picked up a ton of good information as well as enjoyed the way you’ve structured your site.

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  23. Excellent & thoughtful post.

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  24. Hello blogger, good morning. Wonderful post. You have gained a new reader. Pleasee continue this awesome work and I look forward to more of your superb articles.

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  25. Man proposes, God disposes.

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  26. I am totally agree with you on this article that blogging pay you in long term but mostly user want payments in short term.which is impossible.

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  27. I think i am superlate in commenting. But yes, i really liked the way you put it. In a blog you do things the way you want to do. Unlike FB or Twitter. And now that we have option of the "Networked" blog, blogging is always fun and also, nice way to put forth your thoughts!

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  28. I am not into marketing or finance or any of the things you specialize but yeah, very nice blog :). Good luck for all things!

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  29. Divenita:
    I also do not specialize in finance or marketing :)

    Thanks for the comment. better late than never

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