Should You Join The Blogosphere?

There are two types of blogs. The blogosphere blog and the commercial blog. Blogosphere blogs get the most attention, but make the least amount of money. There are, of course, the superstar blogs that fit into the blogosphere category – Problogger, ArsTechnica, Dosh Dosh … I could go on naming many more. But the great bulk of blogs that fall into the blogosphere category don’t make a dime. That doesn’t mean they’re bad blogs; they just aren’t making any money.

You know a blogosphere blog when you see one. They love to link out. The idea is to be “connected” to the broader web. To converse with other blog owners. To share. Touchy-feely, you know.

There’s nothing wrong with that, but not every blog has to be a blogosphere blog. Commercial blogs are different.

What Is A Commercial Blog?

A commercial blog’s primary purpose is to promote a business. It can be on the business’s website or on another website and link often to the business site it promotes. Either way is fine. But a commercial blog exists primarily as a promotional tool.

There are two types of commercial blogs: The strictly promotional blog and the social blog. The promotional blog is there just as a promotional tool. Nothing fancy. The social blog is a bit more than a simple promotional tool. It is more versatile and flexible. In many respects it resembles the blogosphere blog. The primary difference is that it’s not an engagement blog in the same manner than a blogosphere blog is; again, the social aspect of the blog is designed to be self promotional while providing maximum user benefit.

Which blog is right for you is largely determined by your goals. You can use any of the blogs for specific purposes related to marketing your business. But you always want to use your blog to drive traffic to certain parts of your website so that you can drive that visitor into your sales funnel. The goal of a commercial blog is always to gain a new customer.