Blogs vs. Websites vs. Ezines

And the answer is ... drumroll ...

Blogs, plus Websites and Ezines.

At least that's the conclusion we think you should draw from some of the evidence that we found in our own blog comments this morning and a debate going on at the Ezine/Blog hybrid, Ezine-Tips.

For the Blogs vs. Website contest, we'd submit both our own experience with the synergy between a blog's frequently updated content and the connection you can make to your existing Website with simple hyperlinks and/or feeding your blog headlines to your Website homepage via RSS. This morning's comment on our A-ha! blog from Boot Camp graduate Gerry Murak shows what any small business person can do by climbing the short learning curve to add a blog to their online presence. You may want to click over to read the whole comment in context, but here's the critical point:

Yvonne and Tom,
... you left out a very imortant piece - I did not believe in blogs. ... we had the book blog up in the afternoon of your Boot Camp but I saw it as one more thing to try and get done and just didn't have time for.
Two months after it was up, I was ready to bury it. Both of you provided the words of encouragement that gave me a second wind and turned me into a believer.
...
From one of your converts,
Gerry

Gerry has accomplished a lot by making his Blog and Website work together. Take a look at how we've been doing the same:

Lip-Sticking and Smart Marketing to Women Online

Knowledge Aforethought and Advocacy 2100

A-ha!: Authors helping authors and WME Books

Now, for the Blogs vs. Ezine battle, we refer you to the Ezine-Tips online newsletter, which has morphed into a semi-Ezine/semi-Blog (with dated posts and permalinks):

Arguing in favor of blogs, Why Blogs are Beating Out Ezines ... And Matter So Much to Your Platform, a post from Suzanne Falter-Barns who publishes the blog Painless Self Promotion. Taking the contrary view, Why Ezines Still Beat Blogs, from Ezine-Tips writer Christopher Knight.

Bottom line: both of them recommend using BOTH tools.

Falter-Barns: "If you're still working on building up your ezine list, I recommend you beef it up by including a blog in your offerings."

Knight: "It’s not a question about one or the other, but BOTH should be used. ... I recommend that you add a blog to your business this year."

So once again, the answer (for now) remains: (d) ALL OF THE ABOVE.

Comments

[myspace design]

Great post. I do agree that Blogs AND websites go hand-in hand.

[Travel]

wow, for the Blogs vs. Ezine battle, we refer you to the Ezine-Tips online newsletter, which has morphed into a semi-Ezine/semi-Blog