Thursday, September 22, 2005 11:46 AM
As the legal vertical is traditionally a late-mover to any new technology, I find it increasingly useful to watch the moves of the rest of the business world to help assess the future of the blawgosphere.
To this end, I am noticing more and more individuals in the blogosphere talking about--and linking to BusinessWeek's weblogs. Leveraging BusinessWeek's reputation, the weblogs typically cover small news items which are breaking daily, and are becoming a "go to" resource on the web.
For example, BusinessWeek's Deal Flow weblog covers such items as new venture capital placements, M&A activity, foreign investing and, generally, anything to do with where investment money is flowing. The blog is not afraid to link to rival websites and doesn't worry about penning lengthy entries every day. The end result has been a growing, diverse audience of readers.
Are these readers converted into Businessweek subscribers? Are advertisers actively seeking to place ads on these weblogs? I don't the answer to these questions. However, I do know that BusinessWeek is marketing and connecting its brand with many readers every day, many of whom may not be current subscribers. And, the fact that these readers are subscribing to or visiting these business blogs suggests that the audience consists of people interested in business (certainly a target demographic for BusinessWeek).
At the very least, BusinessWeek's experience is worth contined watching. If it is able to convert significant readers of its weblogs into subscribers, or generate enough traffic to draw worthwhile advertising dollars, others might take notice. In the end, as the legal industry continues to consider the role and value of blawgs in their business and practice, taking a look at the successes in the larger business world may pay continuing dividends.