I remember, back last summer, Indianapolis Mayor Ballard saying something I thought was really important.  Of course, he was talking about the new Lucas Oil Stadium, not about blogs, but the reason Ballard’s statement comes to mind right now is that, as you’ll see,  the principle’s the same for stadiums and online business marketing.

"I never look at Lucas Oil by itself.  I always look at it in conjunction with the expanded convention center," Ballard said.  "If people have been paying attention at all, they understand this has done more for conventions than for the Colts," he added.

People have been paying attention to blogs.  In fact, in the few seconds it’s taken you to click on this page and read this far down into my blog, thousands of new blogs will have "gone live" online. But, just as people became enamored of Lucas Oil Stadium’s sheer size and newness, (forgetting that the real long-term benefits to their city would come from areas not directly related to football), I think business owners can get enamored with blogs for the sheer size and relative newness of the blogosphere.

Effective business blogging drives traffic.  But traffic has to have a destination in order to bring any dollars to the bottom line.  So (to continue with my not-so-far-fetched comparison), the convention center needed to be expanded and new hotels build in order for the city of Indianapolis to reap the benefits of their big new football stadium. For blogs to give "bang for the buck" to a business, the website needs to be revamped.  I don’t mean just coordinating key words to link to search terms used in the blog, but designing the website for convert "lookers" into buyers.

"The direct and indirect effects of a corporate blog can be amazing," says Paul Woodhouse, one of the first British business leaders to use blogging strategy.

My caution, though: Remember the convention center in Indianapolis, and remember that your website and your overall online marketing strategy (your blog is just one tactic within that overall strategy). When it comes to corporate blogging strategy, by all means think big.  Perhaps even more important, think smart.

F.C. Tucker Company’s Realty News offers tips on smart spending, listing ways of getting the most out of every dollar without sacrificing quality. Several of these shopping and cooking tips can be applied to business blogging, which, properly used, can be a small business’ most cost- effective marketing tool.

As just one example of old vs. new marketing, a recent “white paper” from Compendium Blogware Company concludes, “The Yellow Pages are out, and search is in.” Not only are business blogs “in”, they are startlingly less costly than business print ads of any hue. Blogs win with content, not cost, and with frequency, not size.

“If you’re willing to put in a little bit of time in the kitchen”, says Realty News, “you can save big at the checkout,” adding that veggies cost less when you peel and cut them yourself.  With some small businesses, that’s where the parallel with blogging ends, since many small business owners (see “More Brain, Less Drain With Professional Ghost Blogger”) lack the time to blog for business and run their operation as well.

Measuring costs in terms of dollars puts blogging ahead of almost all other aspects of a business’ marketing plan, but blogging demands two other “D’s” – devotion and discipline. With frequency and recency playing such important roles in search engine rankings, what a professional ghost blogger adds to the marketing mix is the consistent posting of blogs on behalf of the business.  “A detergent like Tide may not be the least expensive product on the shelf, but because the next leading detergent can contain up to 80% water, you may end up having to use two or three capfuls to get your clothes clean – and that isn’t a bargain”, according to Realty News.

One of the very first business owners to blog was Paul Woodhouse, leader of Tinpot Alley, a British metal-working shop. Woodhouse is quoted in Blogging For Business: “We’re seeing an increase in inquiries which are more targeted in terms of what we do as a business,” says Woodhouse.  “We don’t advertise and everything has been done in-house. It’s proven to be better than sliced bread.  It’s sliced bread and jam.”

Whether it’s bread with jam or sliced veggies – you can start in the kitchen and end up in the blogosphere!