“Hula Hoop was the granddaddy of all fads,” says the V.P. of marketing for Wham-O, the company that in 1958, its first year in business, sold more than one Hula Hoop for every two Americans alive at the time.  Fad’s the right description  for that early rush of success, because sales of Hula Hoops plummeted so rapidly from there, Wham-O took them completely off the market until 1965.

Chapter Two, The Comeback, began in 1965 and is still happening, and this is the chapter of Hula Hoop’s history most interesting to me as a professional blogger.  Wham-O’s co-founders came up with a new twist, inserting ball bearings into Hoola Hoop cylinders to make a “swoosh” sound.  Interest in the toy revived, and the toy was back in production.  This week, as we ring in the New Year, it will be Hula Hoop’s 51st anniversary.

Blogging for business is enjoying its own heyday just now.  Blogging maven Terry Philpott comments that blogs have evolved into low-cost advertising and marketing platforms that no business can afford to ignore.  Millions of blog posts enter the blogosphere day in, day out, begging the question of whether, one day, blogging will be relegated to the ranks of marketing “fad-dom”.

That’s not likely to happen any time soon, is my take.  But, just as with Hula Hoop, inserting new “ball bearings” will be what keeps business blogging in the “now”.  Search engine rankings reward recency, a.k.a. new content.  That, by the way, is the key reason traditional websites just can’t compete with corporate blogging, according to Chris Baggott of Compendium Blogware.  New information, new commentary, new insights, new stories – those are all ball bearings for blogs.

Happy 51st, Hula Hoop!  We bloggers plan to be around quite awhile ourselves!

Weekly music showcases are becoming quite the rage around Indianapolis.  For funk and hip-hop, it’s Wednesdays at the Jazz Kichen. Thursdays, it’s folk music at the Big Roots Show at Locals Only.  At Melody Inn, you can find Hillbilly Happy Hour on Fridays or punk rock on Saturdays.  As a professional ghost blogger, I can’t help thinking of these showcases as living blogs.  That’s because, as David Lindquist puts it in the Indianapolis Star, “they help musicians and their fans find each other.”

As I explained in one of my earliest Say It For You blog posts (see Won’t You Please Come In To My Blog?), business owners are always looking for ways to introduce what they offer to new customers of the right kind.  Those three words are the key, right there – “of the right kind”.  Cliff Snyder, co-founder of the Big Roots Show, says “The showcases are letting people know what the thing is.  If you’re into this thing, then come support the series.” 

Isn’t that exactly what a corporate blog is designed to do?  Through the search engine optimization process, potential customers, the ones who are searching for your type of product or service, get to your blog.  When they read the relevant information you’ve provided, they are led to your website and might just decide to do business with you.  By definition, these are customers of the right kind.

It makes sense. If you’re into folk music, you won’t be attracting Wednesday night hip-hop and funk seekers – it’s the folk music lovers that show up. As Steve Hayes, bass player at Punk Rock Nights puts it – “These audiences are willing to give you a chance. Then it’s sort of up to you to keep their attention.”

Online searchers have found your blog precisely because they’re looking for information on your subject, or a product or service you sell.  There’s your chance!  From there, it’s up to your blog and your website to keep searchers’ attention and convert them into customers.