Read this excerpt "Can blogs boost sales" (illustrated below) and answer the following two questions at the end of the excerpt:
Do you think blogs are here to stay, or just a passing fad?
How do you think they will impact sales organizations?
Sales executives must stay up to date on how the lat-est technology trends will affect their organization. A recent hot phenomenon is the emergence of blogs, which are Web sites that function as an online jour-nal or a discussion board for certain topics. Blogs are typically interactive, inviting feedback and com-ments from visitors. According to a recent Pew Inter-net study, blog readership is growing at a fast rate among the 120 million Americans that use the Inter-net. Specifically, from the beginning to the end of 2004, the percent of American Internet users that read blogs jumped from 17 percent to 27 percent! The power of blogs is that they let everyone have a voice. Often, "bloggers" are customers com-menting about products. iPods, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, real estate, energy and oil—practically every product sold to consumers or businesses has its own blog! This type of blog has the potential to spread both good and bad publicity. Regardless, this is a great resource for salespeople to monitor, in order to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the products they sell. Blogs also can be used by sales organizations for self promotion getting the message out to customers. At its most basic, this could be in the form of memos posted on the company Web site. However, executives must understand that al-though the Internet can be used as a channel for one-way communication, it's best used as a net-work that allows interaction with customers. Finally, blogs can be used as a way for sales-people to communicate with other salespeople and/or their fellow employees. This can be a great leadership or motivational tool. When maintained as a discussion board on the company Web site, this can provide a tangible way for storing the knowl-edge and expertise of the organization's personnel. If unfamiliar with the "blogosphere," one can access specific blogs through Web sites like Techno-rati (www.technorati.com/blogs) or Google (httpi/ blogsearch.google.com). What do you think? Do you think blogs are here to stay, or just a pass-ing fad? How do you think they will impact sales organizations? Sources: Pew Internet & American Life Project, The State of Blogging, January 2005, https://www.pewinternetorg/ PPFH144/report_display.asp; Daniel Lyons, 'Attack of the Slogs,' Forbes 176 (November 14, 2005), pp. 128-38.