Major history book on blogs published as blogging spreads

After having first appeared 15 years ago as the niche hobby of a small group of computer-savvy computer enthusiasts, corporate blogs have now become a staple marketing strategy for companies and private organizations throughout the world. Author Scott Rosenberg’s recently released 400 page book entitled “Say Everything—How Blogging Began,” is the most extensive publication ever written on the colourful history of blogging. The very fact that publishers would be willing to print such a book is evidence of the international popularity and prominence of blogs. Rosenberg’s book explores some of the most important entrepreneurial success stories associated with the world of blogging, including that of Pyra Labs owner Evan Williams. In 2001, Williams quite literally operated Blogger out of his flat, with an initial investment of only $40,000. Only two years later, Williams sold his modest blogging business to Google, which paid millions for the first software and platform which popularized blogging among ordinary internet users and transformed the world of online media.

Some of the world’s most prominent journals and journalists are realizing the potential in blogs as well, including the Financial Times’ Nick Denton. Denton was a trendsetter in many ways, as he quickly came to understand the two most important characteristics that can make a blog especially popular, namely frequent postings and a focused, clearly defined topic. Corporate blogs should post at the very least one entry per week, in order to keep their readership, but they must also be careful not to lose focus and ensure that blog posts are all relevant to the services and products that the firm offers, or to the general industry that it functions in.