15. How Did It All Begin? Let’s take a walk down ‘blogging’ memory lane… 1997 - 1999 Legend has it that the words ‘weblog’ and ‘blog’ were coined by two men; Jorn Barger (www.robotwisdom.com) and Peter Merholz(cofounder of Adaptive Path) 1999 Some of the first online tools to help people build blogs were launched. Among them were now defunct Groksoup, Pitas.com and Pyra (which later changed it’s name to Blogger) 2001 September 11th – Many attribute the surge in blog popularity to this grave day in our history. Many people took to the internet to express their emotions and to provide their commentary on the political climate of our nation, hence the birth of more bloggers! 2004 - 2005 Blogs became of part of social media mainstream where stats show that in 2005, 70 mill blogs existed and a new blog was being created EVERY 5.8 seconds…
20. 53% of professional bloggers are interested in attracting new clients
21. 58% say that they are better-known in their industry because of their blog*Technorati is an internet search engine used for searching blogs
22. To Blog or Not To Blog? A successful blog can boost customer and vendor relationships! As a business blogger, you will exceed your reach! We are all in business to see results! A successful blog can boost SALES! YES
23. Top Reasons Why Businesses Blog To Build Brand Awareness To Network with Other Businesses To Communicate Marketing Messages To Build Relationships with Existing or Potential Customers To Share Knowledge and Passion about Your Industry To Manage Your Reputation in Industry To Seem Real/Human in The Consumers’ Eyes $$$ To Boost Sales $$$
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26. He grew his family business $4 mill to $45 mill within the first two years of blogging!
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31. The Bridal BFF Loves Giveaways! Attention August ECHO meeting attendees: My BRIDAL BESTIES love when I host giveaways on my blog! Here’s a chance for each of you to join in on all the fun! It’s The Bridal BFF blog scavenger hunt! The first meeting attendee to follow the clue that will lead you to a very special blog post will win a $25 gift card to PF Changs! Participants must leave a comment on the blog post…first person to leave a comment WINS! Good Luck!
32. Here’s The Clue… Find The Bridal BFF blog post that features two of our very own ECHO members… (Hint: She looked amazing on her big day…and he didn’t look too shabby either… )
