6th Annotated Bib

Palis, Courteney. “How Essential is the Internet to the US?” Huffington Post. Thehuffingtonpost.com, inc. Mar. 20, 2012. Apr. 6, 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/20/internet-economy-infographic_n_1363592.html&gt;

This article explains the importance of the internet. It includes infographics, which are probably the most vital information. While it’s not very lengthy, this article is good because it provides links to information expanding on certain facts such as the amount of people that use the internet, the amount of things bought online, etc. The infographics also compare the internet to other industries with regard to the economy and spending money. This is an important article because it establishes the importance of the internet and the online world. It shows that people are moving to the internet for everything. And while the popularity of the internet was already obvious, there are now facts to use. This will set the groundwork in my paper for why any business would benefit from having an online presence and why they should have a blog.

Annotated Bib 5

Sugars, Brad. “10 Tips for a Strong Start” Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur Media, Inc. Feb. 10, 2010. Web. Mar. 30, 2014. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/204982

10 Tips for a Strong Start is useful because it describes what businesses need to succeed. It is important to know basic things about business before focusing on why businesses should use blogs. This article details small things that all businesses should do. It also gives examples; one of the tips is to focus on sales and marketing and it goes into a little detail on what you should do and why you should do it. By using this article, I can further emphasize the importance of blogging. By learning things that businesses were already doing before blogging and the internet, it will be easier to imagine a business with a blog.

4th Annotated Bib

Emerson, F. Melissa. “Blogging to Build Your Business” New York Times. New York Times Company. Jun 22, 2012. Web. Mar 20, 2014. <http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/blogging-to-build-your-business/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0>

This article provides insight from a professional blogger. It’s a general how-to article with real life examples and personal opinions from someone who has already been successful at blogging. He explains how he personally became popular and successful and then goes on to offer tips and suggestions. This article is useful because it pays particular attention to the social aspect of blogging- the importance of viewers and the importance of establishing a community with other bloggers.

2nd Annotated Bib

Eridon, Corey. “The Benefits of Blogging: Why Businesses Do It, and You Should Too.” Hubspot. Hubspot Inc. Nov 3, 2013. Web. Mar 1, 2014. <http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/the-benefits-of-business-blogging-ht>

While this isn’t necessarily an article, I found it very useful because it focused on why businesses might need or benefit from blogging. This article also not only speaks on why blogging helps businesses it but it also offers some advice on how to blog to help. This article points out that businesses can gain more traffic, potential customers, and credibility. First, hee outlines traffic; a business blog can attract people simply by the tagging system. By blogging about things that vaguely have to do with a product or service, they could gain traffic to their blog. Once there is traffic to the blog, these people may share it with others or they may become interested in the blog and eventually become a customer. To attract these people, Eridon suggests putting “call-to-action” buttons and ads on the blog that offer free items. They may give their information to a website to redeem the free item; this allows for a mailing list where a person may be convinced to buy from the business. By blogging and having a seemingly more personable website that where customers can ask questions or make comments about information provided, the website gains more credibility. Customers see information about the item/service as well as feedback and support from the blog makers and they see that the business is interactive and legitimate.