10 Practical Ways to Use a Blog
I’ve made a couple of posts earlier in this blog, emphasising that the term “blogging” is perceived in very different ways by different people. The blogging platform is just a tool. How you use a tool depends on how creative you can be! Today I share 10 very practical ways in which people have gotten to use blogs!
1. Personal Weblog
That’s the original use of blogs. Start a blog in 5 minutes, and then start venting all your frustrations, pouring your complaints about your next door neighbour, the weather, start scolding your boss. 
2. Professional Interest Blog
If you have a particular interest in a certain area, like for example, trekking or photography or skiing, consider starting a Professional Interest Blog where you log your daily thoughts about the area of interest. Soon, what you will find is a repository of knowledge which can be so valuable to share with people of the same interests. You might even want to take it further to recommend products to take some load off your pockets.
3. Website for Your Company
Since blogs have been made so easy to set up and administer – some companies actually use blogs as their company websites! Instead of creating static HTML pages, consider just creating one post for a presupposed “page”. Then, create a menu bar in your blog template to link to the permalink.
Of course, in WordPress, you can always use the “page” feature. 
4. Online Resume
Blogs can be one of the best online resumes ever. Just imagine how cool 
it would be if your boss asks you for your resume and then you say “Well, check out my blog at http://yada yada yada. That’s where I log all my professional thoughts and experience”.
By the way, that’s a great way to test if your boss is “online” or “offline”! If he answers “What’s a blog?”, do direct him my way, and I may have another customer. Sorry, no affiliate URLs for you yet, but dinner is on me.
5. Publish A Newsletter
Blogs are a great way to publish newsletters, may it be for your club or company or not-for-profit organisation. Why settle to pay dollars a piece for dull CMYK colors on paper when you can afford to put interactivity and animated graphics delivered instantly online… for almost FREE?
6. A Communication Platform for Companies
That the key for corporate blogs. Its the CEO’s ultimate tool to get in touch with customers direct, and find out what they want, when they want it and how they want it. Remember to enable commenting on your blog.
7. A Brainless Instant Publishing Site to Make Money
Well, at least, this is how I interpret it when I read some of the money making programs online that say you can “make money with blogs on autopilot”. You get your articles from an article repository and then you publish it on your blog. With the use of some very powerful (and scary, if put in the wrong hands) software, you could even do this without a single Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V.
If you are doing this, by the way, I’d recommend you add some of your own thoughts, opinions, comments and critique. That will help you quite a lot in making yourself look a little more brainy. Your thoughts could also spark some conversation, which will help in your blog.
8. Project Development and Status Announcements
Who says blogs need to be updated frequently? Update these blogs (just like the WordPress development blog) when you have very important things to say to your customers, so that they take each message seriously.
9. Collaboration Project Logs
Working on group projects? Consider using a blog as your “project homepage”. Give access to every group member to post, and announce the blog address. You might even want to use an RSS to Email service to make sure every message gets delivered to every group member.
At the end of the project, that blog will again become a wonderful manual for future reference, or, at least a great piece to show your project supervisor how much effort and pain you guys went through to get your stuff done. Prepare your pitch to get a pay raise too
10. A Chatroom Creator
Well, there are not many blogs like this out there who can do it, but with an authentic voice and interest to communicate, I’d just say its possible. When you start to find your regular posts having over 20 comments, you know you are almost there! I, for one, am frantically trying to be able to achieve such a standard on this blog.
So please stay to chat today! What other ways can you use a blog?
Tags: blog-marketing, business-blogging, Corporate Blogging, project-management, wordpress
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Tan Kian Ann is blog marketer based in Singapore. He now works with individuals and small businesses reach out to the world using blogs. 
January 10th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Visit Ted Demopoulos
A great list.
I think everyone should figure out what category, or mix of categories, they fit into.
Mine are professional interest blogs.
January 10th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Visit Kian Ann
Thanks Ted! Yeah I guess mine (this blog) is primarily a professional interest blog. But I am starting to use blogs for almost everything, especially with the different plugins, the possibilities are endless.
Oh! One more very common one. Photoblogs! Blogs can be a great way for you to do present your life in pictures and show off your photo collection!
January 11th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
Visit John Tan
A very detail list indeed Kian Ann, never fail to impressed me. I think a blog can be use for podcasting and video presentation. This is the way I am heading as I am creating some podcast and video for my readers.
John
http://www.JohnTanBlog.com
January 11th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
Visit Kian Ann
Thanks John! Yes! A blog, combined with Podcasts or some videos is essentially you own long tail TV station or radio!
March 30th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
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March 31st, 2007 at 1:22 am
Visit Matt Highison
I’ve finally decided to take a “blog” approach to my art portfolio site, and it’s working out great. Too many people forget the professional exposure a good website/blog can get you.
March 31st, 2007 at 8:54 am
Visit Kian Ann
Hey Matt,
Great move! By putting pictures in a blog, people can subscribe to the updates to the blog. I don’t think many image gallery software can allow that!
March 31st, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Visit Anne Helmond
Hi Tan, great list. I use my blog as an academic blog, a blog as a research tool. I think it is quite different from the models mentioned above although it is closest to the “Professional Interest Blog” A research blog is also a “repository of knowledge” but it strives to be more than that. It strives to eventually reflect upon that knowledge. It also changes the way research is usually done, in a closed environment where only a final product is presented in the open. In a research blog you can track developments in the research.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:06 am
Visit Kian Ann
Great Anne!
When I was in university, I wanted to blog all the things I learnt in the tutorials and lectures – but it ended up too time-consuming
But if documentation is important like in research projects so that you can refer to it at a later date, or do a quick search, or so that the project can be easier passed on to another person, a blog is great!
April 3rd, 2007 at 1:17 am
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April 3rd, 2007 at 8:42 am
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