Here is a lite contrast of Social Networks, Blogs & Social Media

I. Social Networks

A Social Network’s architecture is comprised of a series of sites linked together around that Social Network’s identity. Active Rain, MySpace and FaceBook, for instance, are built around individual presentations of personal information inside that framework. Users can easily communicate with others in these environments using any number of applications, but those individual sites are NOT independent of the Social Network. Put in another way, it is a user’s place online… but it’s not really their own place. If free, the user helps to build a database of content for the Network, which may leverage the content outside the control of said user and in various other ways [i.e. Advertising Sales.]

II. Blogs

A Business Blog can offer its’ owner a way to communicate openly, to communicate directly and also to collect information, via comment oriented conversation, with an unlimited no. of people; however, it offers an independent presence or online brand that is entirely in the control of its’ owner. One may use it personally or for advertorial marketing purposes, but the Blog’s look, feel & ultimate destiny is completely in the control of its owner.

III. Social Media

A great example of Social Media might be YouTube. YouTube is built on individual presentations or independent pieces of content, which become available for all takers. Those pieces of content can be indexed for search, organized into category channels and commented on mostly within that framework, but they are not necessarily organized into sites and they are not independent of the Social Medium itself. Like Social Networks, YouTube offers a user a place to present content online, but it’s not really their own place. YouTube can also leverage content outside the control of its’ creator for things like advertising.

In each case, there is a potential audience… and value! In fact, a multi- layered approach to sharing content via Blogs, Social Networks & Social Media might be a great way for an individual or for a business to build its’ audience

Top 16 Reasons to be concerned about investing valuable time & effort in a Free Blog Platform

1. do I own my long term destiny with a free blog?
2. will my free blog host ever change policies, standards or sell?
3. will my free blog host ever decide to monetize my blog with advertising (potentially competitive)?
4. do I own my own content, does the host own it or do we both own it?
5. am I really just part of someone else’s user- generated content?
6. can I use a domain that serves the brand of my choosing?
7. am I just helping to build someone else’s brand? 
8. is my domain a sub domain of the host’s network?
9. do I have the flexibility to present content in a variety of different ways?
10. do I have any blog look & feel design flexibility?
11. do I get all the features I want or need?
12. is there any blog writing, features, search engine, branding or direct marketing education?
13. if not, can I succeed as independent business blogger?
14. Google is always evolving… is my blog solution?
15. is there an effor to secure my blog?
16. is there any customer service?
17. who is truly accountable to my business requirements?

Folks, the chances are you won’t like the answers. In fact, unless you’re very skilled it’s likely you’ll need independent programming help with hosting, design & features and that still leaves you without ongoing service or education. As a business with the never -ending need to reduce cost, we often forget that a lot of what we’re paying for is service & accountability.

In this day and age, people search because they can and to some degree they’re looking to interview businesses long before they actually make direct contact. Considering a Blog can offer your business tremendous Search Engine, Public Relations and Direct Marketing visibility with one solution, can you really afford to trust core assets such as these [including independent online brand identity] solely to a free service?

There are many free blog solutions; however, in one way or another we often get exactly what we pay for. Not to suggest that some of the free blog solutions are lacking as content management systems. On the contrary, there are good free systems out there and some offer unique & valuable propositions, but as a business person with many challenges, needs & responsibilities [including your own online brand identity] you may want to ask yourself the following questions before you go the free route.

We have resolved our email issues.  We apologize for any delays in correspondence.

As a provider of products & services, we’re not perfect. No one is; however, we do our best, we always strive to improve and we take a clients’ business seriously. It’s a frustrating experience to be in business, to discover that your email isn’t reaching anyone and that your provider doesn’t consider support a responsibility. We learned a lesson here and that is to pursue quality providers committed to service… or to accept the consequences. 

The development of an authoritative presence in the search engine indexes, including for important topic, keyword & key phrase penetration, is never easy; however, you can improve your odds with a consistent & well- written flow of blogging activity. If you think about a search engine’s interest in finding, organizing and then providing all search traffic with the best set of answers possible, a consistent stream of authoritative knowledge- based content can help those same search engines achieve their objective. If you help them with relevant, subject- specific answers for their search traffic, they can reward you with search visibility, search discoverability and leads!

Our experience shows that many folks are too busy to write consistently. As such, we offer experienced ghost blog- writing services so that you’re always fighting the competitive search engine marketing visibility & discoverability battle. After all, if 80- 90% of consumers search long before they ever contact a provider it’s important to do your best to be there when they do!

Also, there are many free blog solutions; however, in one way or another a business will incur cost with its marketing & public relations effort. If you have real business requirements, you will find it both useful and cost-effective to have Kinetic Knowledge assemble & host your Blog. Our intention is to provide performance oriented blog solutions, proactive support and ongoing education for an affordable price.