RAPAPORT... Back in the web’s infancy, blogs — short for “web logs” — were little more than personal journals and information filters created by a select and tech-savvy few. Clearly, this is no longer the case. In fact, according to its website, Technorati, a search engine exclusively focused on blogs, is currently tracking 63 million blogs.
This number, however, can be misleading. A landmark survey done by Perseus Development Corp. in 2003 found that two-thirds of the blogs it looked at, 66 percent, had not been updated in over two months, and were therefore considered “abandoned.” A July 2006 report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that the number of people reading and posting to blogs is still a statistical minority. According to the report, “Eight percent of internet users, or about 12 million American adults, keep a blog. Thirty-nine percent of internet users, or about 57 million American adults, read blogs.” To be fair, this number, according to Pew, represents “a significant increase since the fall of 2005.” But blogs and bloggers have not yet fully penetrated the mainstream.
WHO READS BLOGS?
It’s hard to know for certain who blog readers are overall because, according to Pew, many bloggers simply don’t keep track of their readership — according to the company’s survey, 47 percent said they do not know their traffic statistics. But it is clear that the demographics of blog readership can change dramatically when a blog is targeted at a specific audience, as in the case of several jewelry- and diamond-focused blogs. According to Pinny Gniwisch, founder and executive vice president of marketing for Ice.com, the average reader of the etailer’s blog, http://blog.Ice.com, is “a woman, 27 to 45. [She] reads it as an alternative to InStyle or In Touch Weekly.” Susanna Jenney Hermann, owner of fine jewelry company Square J Designs and founder of The Bling Blog — theblingblog.typepad.com — describes her readers as “mostly 20 to 50, mainly female and in North America, though I have a couple who write to me from South America and Europe. I think they read The Bling Blog because they like fashion and jewelry and are interested in learning about quality and history and why or why not to buy a certain a piece of jewelry.”
HOW BLOGS WORK
The idea of being able to reach and interact with a targeted group of consumers who are already online and interested in jewelry is, for many jewelry etailers, a tempting reason to start a blog. And nowadays, starting one doesn’t even require any special software or expertise. Sites such as Blogger.com, which was purchased in 2002 by Google.com, have free, easy-to-use online interfaces that allow anyone to create a blog. Software solutions, such as those from TypePad.com, sell blogging software that allows users to host blogs from their existing websites.
It’s the simplicity of beginning a blog that leads many to attempt it, but far fewer people actually maintain their blogs. Why? It’s a lot of work. For one thing, it requires regular posting, that is, writing a blog entry. Kevin Chang, whose blog, TheDiamondBlog.org, bills itself as “The Number 1 Blog For All Things Diamond,” tries to post at least once or twice a day. “Having fresh content keeps people coming back to your site over and over again,” he says. Other bloggers, such as Gniwisch, post “three times a week on average.” Still other bloggers post once a week. Michael Moore, blogger/owner of PriceOfDiamonds.org, an Australia-based blog that tracks and reports on diamond pricing, among other topics, tries to post “at least once a week. Each post has the date stamped on it, so it is easy to see when posts are made.”
BLOGGING FOR DOLLARSFrequent posting traditionally includes a great deal of spell- and fact-checking, because the blog-osphere is notoriously diligent about outing false claims. But despite the enormous amount of effort involved, for many, the benefits are worth it. “We felt that blogging [was] a great way to create a conversation with our customers,” says Gniwisch. “Their comments and suggestions have created a dialogue that we would have never had if not for the blog.” Gniwisch also finds that the Ice.com blog is a good way for the store to sell merchandise. “We have placed some of our products as part of the blog,” says Gniwisch. “People trying to get the same style as the stars have been buying directly from the click-through on the blog.”
Of course, not all blogs are directly connected to retail ventures. How do those bloggers offset their expenses? Some, such as Chang and Moore, feature advertising. “Google ads help defray the costs of the blog and research time,” says Moore. Chang agrees, and uses Google’s Adsense program, in addition to selling advertising directly on his blog.
Other bloggers, such as Hermann, eschew ads completely. “The ads clutter the look of the blog, and I have zero control over the ad content. One I passed up for a blog ad network was fairly lucrative, but something told me not to do it. The very next day, all the partners in the ad network had Paris Hilton on page left, front page in their blog in the ad partner ad, with bold print saying something like, ‘Paris’s Tips On How To Be HOT.’ That was enough to tell me I made the right decision.”
WHY BLOG?If the money from selling on-blog ads is only enough to support the blog itself, or nonexistent, as in the case of Hermann’s blog, the obvious question is, why would anybody bother blogging at all? The Pew study found that 52 percent of bloggers, a majority, say they blog mainly to express themselves creatively; only 7 percent say they blog to earn money. This points to perhaps the most important aspect of blogging: It’s only worth doing if the blogger actually enjoys blogging.
“I love what I do,” says Chang, who has spent six years in the jewelry business. “I have a real passion for it. It is great to be able to maintain a blog that I feel passionate about and I hope that it makes others passionate about diamonds as well.” He adds that the interactivity of blogging helps him feel connected. “Websites are very one-sided,” he goes on to say. “Blogging is an interactive form of media. I try not to sound simply like an encyclopedia spitting out numbers and facts. I want to engage my audience. I want them to leave comments and to ask questions. Blogging allows anyone who reads the blog to feel like they can contribute in a small way.”
Hermann agrees that passion is what keeps her blogging, which she says she started to both help educate people and also “to pinpoint trends that are worthwhile and not merely wastes of money. And I like writing and I wanted to have some fun.” Hermann also feels that her blog is providing a real service. “This country was built on small business and patronizing your local, independent jeweler is the best way to go. I try to drive that message home and I think it’s taking hold. To me that’s a great benefit.”
For More Information
http://blog.Ice.com
http://www.blogger.com
http://www.vovici.com
http://www.pewinternet.org
http://www.technorati.com
http://www.theblingblog.typepad.com
http://www.thediamondblog.org
http://www.typepad.com
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - June 2007. To subscribe click here.