Blogging Brands

From the outlook of the company, a blogging BRAND is an opportunity to create a franchise, make some money, be forward looking, and to get their name out in the web.

Common types of blogging BRANDS
Corporate blogs (like the Google blog, which the book said didn't exist when it was written, which is why I chose it) talks about the company, their type of branding, their upcoming products, their place in the online- and world- communities. The Google blog right now has a video about the Google instant search, a Q&A with Bill Clinton, product highlights, and product improvements, to name a few. It is a way for the company to document its progress consistent with its BRANDING and connect with its consumers and mission statements.

Ads (like mentioned earlier with Dooce.com) Blogger Dooce is able to make a comfortable middle class income from her ad revenue, just because her blog is visited so often. Many popular blogs don't include monetizing ads (writers say they get joy out of writing and don't need to make money from it), but others spend so much time working on their blogs they feel they need to be compensated for it. There is a significant amount of money available to writers if they so choose.

Paid Posts (like this Kmart-sponsored blog post from a "dad" blog about holiday shopping at Kmart) are somewhat controversial as readers want something "human" or "true" when they read their favorite blogs. As mentioned earlier, readers form a relationship with their blogs and become to trust their opinions as they would a friend's. If your friend suddenly started trying to sell you everything they used (like a billboard or an annoying, flashing ad), you would begin to distrust their judgment on certain things.

Sponsored Blogs/Name Drops (are similar to paid posts but are not always paid in the same way). Rettberg speaks of companies that encourage their employees to write about their professional experiences in blogs and name-drop their company often, and often linking to it.

From the outlook of the reader, the blogging BRAND is something non-human. The readers are comfortable with reading blogs because they are genuine, human interpretations of experiences, opinions, and outlooks. When a friend (or trusted person) becomes a BRAND, they become inhuman and a piece of the "machine" that seemingly powers our world.