Blogs Are Por[s]ches

By Guest Author Jeff Stai of  Twisted Oak Winery

This is in response to the post at Pinotblogger titled "Blogs Are Porches",

I had to drive down to the Bay Area the other day. When I got back I
flipped open the computer and saw (I swear): "Blogs Are Porsches".
Porsches? What is the Pinotblogger saying? Are blogs racy and sexy, or are bloggers just overcompensating for some shortcoming...?

Then I read the post (whew!) and started to catch on a little. What
Josh has to say is right:

a blog is a great way to create a sort of "online porch". A gathering place, a bulletin board, where you go to find out what's happening.

The trick is to not neglect your blog and turn it into a stale web site. Put another way, don't turn your Porsche into just a transportation device.

Fundamentally, blogs are nothing more than content management systems
for  Websites. A blog makes it possible for anyone to add content to a site without having to worry about page design issues. Just upload pictures, type in words, and click "Publish". The whole world can now see your creation - if they care to. If you disable comments and trackbacks, your blog is just a website with the most recent stuff on top.

Real Blogs take it further by adding commenting (to enable a two way conversation) and trackbacks (so you can see who is talking about you.) And with all this commenting and linking the whole thing snowballs.

The main issue for a winery isn't, "to blog or not to blog;" but whether or not to develop the changes necessary to keep your Website alive and interesting. Either you make the investment, or your Website is effectively a stagnant brochure.

editor's note -- see Jeff blog at the Twisted Oak blog, "El Bloggo Torcido."

Technorati Tags: blogging, california wine, wine

Comments

[Paul Mabray]

Blogs are definitely great tools for people to use and even CMS engines can provide a great interaction solution to avoid an online brochure. However, I think wineries key focus should be customer relationships to achieve the blog effect rather than blogging. There are too many priorities in that department that are NOT being fulfilled before embarking on a blog.

Great article.

Inertia - Powering the Wine Revolution

--Paul Mabray - CEO

[jeff]

hi Paul - I couldn't agree more. A blog is a tool. A hammer. And there is always the right hammer for the job. - j