Lemmings are cute but dumb. If you tell them to jump off a cliff, they will. Just like the people who start blogs because everyone else is doing it. Guess what happens after a little while? The blogs die.

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Blogs may be a happening thing in the world of business, but in order for them to last, they need to include relevant content, be regularly updated and satisfy a niche — which means not every business should jump in and start a blog.

Many blogs have been started and shut down after just a few months, because the companies behind them ran out of steam or had no reason to start one in the first place, other than it was the next new thing.

Other companies have discovered that blogs and newsletters naturally work together. Blogs can be updated quickly as content is developed. Editors of a monthly newsletter generally have the content weeks before it comes out, so they can take advantage of a blog's quickness and post the information there for those who prefer blogs or want instant information. This combined method ensures you reach the readers who prefer blogs, email newsletters or news feeds. The results are the same: They all offer your clients and prospects access to your valuable content.

How do you know when a blog is right for your business? Read on to learn why companies start blogs, how they find their niche and how blogging tools can be used for more than blogs.

Walking the talk

You may have already found the blog we started for PSJ — after reviewing our goals, strategies and purpose for having one. The blog references some of the content you find in the email newsletters and gives you the opportunity to provide your opinion on an article and discuss it with others. We're using it as a way to form a community of PSJ professionals who want to interact.

The blog aims to continue with the newsletter's mission: providing you with content you can use in your service business. BtoB Magazine references a KnowledgeStorm/McCann survey of over 4,500 professionals — most of whom are in IT — in which over 80 percent of them said they read blogs. The same survey reports "53% of the respondents said that blogs influence their purchase decisions." That number goes up to 69 percent for those who read blogs on a regular basis.

A successful B2B blog that influences readers to buy must have credibility. Business people know when a blog is a public relations (PR) machine rather than sharing insight into the industry and business. B2B readers, potential professional service clients and customers, want information that benefits them. When a blog spends time hawking products and offering information of no value, few people return.

Readers "get to know" the personalities in the company that sponsors the blog. Having an "About" page helps readers learn more about these personalities. If you have a blog, it doesn't have to be a separate page, but point to the company's About page, like InternetVIZ and Meryl.net do. When the blog's done right, readers eventually come to trust your company. Once that trust appears, they are more willing to invest in the product or service, as they know your business will provide good quality. The blog represents the "try before you buy" guarantee — prospects "try out" the company by reading about its leaders' thoughts and expertise.

Blog or not?

Since no one wants to be a lemming, how do you decide whether or not to set up a blog? The answer isn't black or white. But asking these questions helps:

• Can you regularly update it — at least three times a week during the work week?

• Do you have something to say other than just linking to other blogs?

• Do you read other blogs or feeds?

• Can you provide information of value to others, not just to yourself or your business?

• How many unique visitors does your Web site get on an average day, week or month?

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The big decider is whether or not you can write in the blog three times a week. The people behind the high-traffic blogs post multiple times a day. Though resourceful, merely linking to other sites doesn't give visitors much reason to make the effort to come to yours. Sharing valuable links helps, but it won't establish you as an expert. You might, however, earn trust if you save your visitors time by providing the best resources.

Venturing into the blogosphere

Reading other blogs or feeds is a great way to learn how to get involved in conversations. Find other blogs covering topics similar to yours and check them out. You can locate blogs by using industry keywords along with "blog." For example, if your professional services firm is in the medical business, search for "medical blogs," "pharmacy blogs" or "medicine blogs." After you find blogs you like, discover more by looking on the blog's blogroll, a list of other blogs. Often, the blogroll lists blogs in similar industries.

Disagree with other bloggers' opinions? Write a comment and explain your reasons. Avoid simply responding with "I agree" or "I disagree." A comment without value wastes everyone's time. Know that cross-blog discussions are common.

Web site traffic is a good indicator of what kind of reaction you'll get when opening a blog. Starting from scratch with little traffic means you have a long road ahead and lots of work to do. Be wary of those "blog experts" touting a $97 magic formula to make your blog an overnight success. Yet with some perseverance and ingenuity, your blog can engage many prospects and clients.

Choose a niche

Considering the numerous blogs out there, choose a niche topic when starting a blog for a better shot at attracting and keeping an audience. For example, PSJ's blog focuses on sharing information of interest to professional services organizations serving other businesses. We've recently come across blogs covering nonprofit organizations, yellow pages and content management system for marketers. Blogs for B2B blogging? Yep, there's B2B Lead Generation Blog and B2Blog.

Most standard blog applications come with syndication capabilities so people using feed readers or aggregators can read the content through the software. For an explanation of syndication and feed readers, refer to What Is This RSS, XML, RDF, and Atom Business? If your business has a newsletter, use it to spread the word about the blog when sending a new issue and vice versa. Cover all three bases by mentioning a new issue of the newsletter from within the blog so that readers of the blog or its feed will get the goods.

No blog necessary to get involved

Maybe you discover you don't need a blog. You can still participate in conversations by getting involved within the blogosphere (community of blogs). Search for blogs talking about you, your industry and your competitors. Technorati and PubSub are good places to start in looking for conversations. Get to know these blogs and review comments. When the opportunity comes up, post a comment.

When you post comments, include a link to your Web site. If people read your comment and find it interesting, they might click on your link and go to your site. Be prepared for negative comments about your business. Although reading about something your company has done wrong is not easy, it's better than getting no feedback. This provides you with the opportunity to fix mistakes.

In handling negative comments, do the following to ensure proper handling:

• Understand what the person is saying (don't be distracted by the angry words).

• Respond quickly.

• Thank the person for feedback.

• Admit the mistake.

• State you're looking into it.

• Follow up on the issue until it's closed, even if someone else has to take care of it.

• Add updates on the situation until it's closed.

The first three bullets work for responding to most comments.

Blogs in disguise use the same tools

Blogging tools aren't just for, well, blogging. Such tools are an excellent way to help you update your Web site more often than you otherwise would. For example, PSVillage, Blue Flavor and Meryl.net use them for managing their blogs and their entire Web sites. A blogging application makes it easier to add new content, as opposed to the old way of updating the individual Web pages and then posting the pages. In these cases, the blog application has become a content management system (CMS).

Professional services organizations may not need the fancy and pricey CMSs out there. They may find it easier to use blogging software to manage their sites or hire someone to adapt the tool for their sites.

Choose your own way

Whether you are blog savvy or not, blogs have found a place in business, and people are finding creative ways to use them. Companies use internal blogs to communicate about a project, brainstorm ideas, build documentation and log work activities. Blogs are used for knowledge management and communication. With information pouring in, blog tools provide a way to share, organize and process the information.

Being a lemming can be good or bad. No business wants to walk off a cliff with the lemmings, but every business wants to succeed. Best practices won't help you decide whether to blog or not — the decision must be based on your organization's mission, needs and goals, along with your target market's desires and needs. Take those into consideration, instead of following other businesses in the industry because you think you should. Only when you choose your own path will you know if a blog is right for your professional services business.

Meryl K. Evans is the content maven behind this newsletter. She has written for The Dallas Morning News, PC Today, InformIT and others. You can contact her at Meryl@InternetVIZ.com or stop by— where else? — her own blog.