I'm keeing this meme going on professional blogging for awhile. . .

Do yourself a favor and read Jeremy Wright's post called Why Would Companies Buy Bloggers? It is a treatise on exactly how blogs can benefit business and why a company should consider hiring a professional blogger.

Online advertising continues to rise. That includes emerging marketing in the blogosphere. Several attempts have been made to monetize blogs including Blogs Ads, RSS Ads, Adsense, and others.

A new, somewhat controversial program has been unveiled by marketing communications company Marqui. Called the Blogosphere Program, it is a promotion being offered to select bloggers who, for a fee, agree to promote Marqui's products.

At last count there are 18 bloggers in the program including some pretty high profile names like Molly Holzschlag, DL Byron, Robin Good and others.

For the $800 per month the bloggers are paid the only have to put a badge on the site, make one mention per week of the product, and provide a link. Marqui even welcomes these bloggers to criticize the product if need be.

Though some blog purists see this as blatant bastardizing of the very reason blogs even exist, I see it as another step in the evolution of blogs as business and marketing tools.

Here's what Marqui has to say about it. . .

The idea of paying bloggers is a controversial one, as it challenges some of the sacred cows of the journalistic publishing business. When we first started talking about this idea, an energetic exchange between people with traditional publishing backgrounds and bloggers erupted on the Web.

Marqui is insisting on complete transparency with this program. With some high-profile bloggers buying into the program that should help. (I've thrown my hat in the ring, too. I'll let you know if they bite.) 

Not unlike Dr. Frankenstein creating several iterations of his infamous monster before coming up with his final grotesque lifeform, the blogosphere is going to be subject to some pretty outlandish e-commerce monstrosities itself. I see no real need to worry about it. The market and/or the blogosphere will eventually determine which have value and which don't.

I want to state for the record that I am transitioning Radiant Marketing Group into a business blogging consultancy. There is a market for this industry and I intend to gain my share of it. (Because I have a background in email marketing, I will continue to include that service as well.)

Here are my service offerings:

1. I'll consult with you at a strategic level on how business blogs can help you.
2. I'll assist you in implementing the blog for your business, work with your IT staff to choose the best platform for your needs, help you select the blogger, and even train that person (or persons) in how to write blog-style.
3. If you need to outsource the actual blog-writing, I'll do that or find a writer for you.

Feel free to contact me with questions, comments, or more particularly, JOB OFFERS! My email addy is paul at radiantmarketinggroup dot com.

Jeremy Wright's successful "antics" on Ebay, which resulted not only in his getting some great PR and a reasonably lucrative blogging job, but also the start of a new blogging consultancy, may become rightly regarded as a pioneer in helping to jumpstart a new industry, professional blogging.

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It looks as if Robert Scoble (along with Shel Israel) are challenging themselves to write a book on business blogs. Presumably, it will be entitled The Red Couch.

Of course, the de facto BEST BUSINESS BLOG BOOK OF ALL TIME is Buzz Marketing with Blogs for Dummies being written by Susannah Gardner (she let's me call her Susie). I'm the technical editor for it so, heck yea, I'm prejudiced. By the way, it's available for pre-order right now on Amazon.com.

Radiant Marketing Group has become a sponsor of the upcoming Blog Business Summit in Seattle in January. I believe this will be a signal event for the furtherance of the cause of business blogging.

I need to make a blatant, yet thoroughly unabashed, request of you. Click the button above to go learn about the summit. That is a unique link for which I get credit. The more click-thrus on that link, the more exposure RMG gets at the summit. (Hey, I'm trying to build my business here, and need all the help I can get! :->) So, considering this is the holiday season, be charitable and help me out, ok? Thanks! 

Saw this in an article on EContentMag.com. . .

The wild and wooly blogosphere itself will not make money for many, including blog networks like Gawker Media and Weblogs Inc. Nevertheless, blogs are already proving to be powerful audience retention devices for known media brands. Some B2B sites report that up to 10% of daily traffic now goes to columnist blogs.

Blogging is less a business model than a thoroughly compelling communications model that keeps users coming back two and three times a day more effectively than standard content refreshes. Accept it and get sponsors for it.

"Thoroughly compelling communications model" is the phrase that jumped out and grabbed me. That pretty much sums it up. Blogging is not so much a business model, as it is as a tool for enhancing marketing communications. It's a traffic magnet that no small business should be without.

Move over Andy, there is another definition of blogs that I like better than yours. (Just kidding, but it is a good one.) It comes from Halley Suitt, who authors the very popular Halley's Comment blog.

Her definition comes from a manifesto she wrote for ChangeThis.com called The Art of the Alpha Female Blogger. She calls blogs "love letters."

When you think about it, that's what they are, because love has to do with passion. And can you think of a more passionate group of people on the planet than bloggers? I don't think so.

Bloggers obsess over one topic and write about it with impunity. They attract a cadre of readers who share similar passions. It's addictive in its force and, when done well, is compelling, articulate and often cutting edge.

Face it, bloggers are hopeless romantics one and all. If that is indeed the case, I fit right in!  (Though I fancy myself as a "hopeful" romantic!)

Normally, I don't talk about corporate America. I care about the little guy, the mom-and-pop business that, imnsho, is what makes America great. (Dont' get me started!)

However, I read a recent article from Wired News regarding big media buying up blogs. It said, "The same thing will happen in business, because people know they don't need to head to branded sites for good information. Bloggers can be trusted to be independent and people will turn to self-published experts for information."

Big business will have to blog because bloggers blog. Thanks to participatory journalism, the "pajama-clad" guy writing from his bedroom at 3 a.m. has as much influence as a media conglomerate or giant corporation. In fact, in the mind of the reader, he may have more because he has nothing to gain or lose by stating his opinion.

Big business (like big media) will have to blog to defend itself if for no other reason.

A movie on the life of the late Ray Charles, simply entitled Ray, hits theatres across the country Friday, October 29. I plan to be one of the first in line to see it, for I have a profound appreciation and respect for the man and his music. To say that Ray Charles was anything less than an icon would be to do a severe injustice to the man and his legacy. I'm also very interested to see Jamie Foxx's portrayal of him.

But, this post is not a movie review. It is to ask a question and make a singular point. The question is: Why is there not an official blog to go along with the movie release? More on that in a moment. The point I wish to make is: Movies and blogs are made for each other.

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