OK, "Blog Cops" is probably a little over the top. I took that from blogger and resident genius Dave Taylor, who–like me–contributes to Business Blog Consulting. "Behind the Scenes with the Blogging Police" was the working title of what became "Is David Cronenberg’s New Site a "Real" Blog or Not?"

As part of Business Blog Consulting, we contributors trade ideas in a Yahoo Group round table, and we had a big discussion a what makes a blog a blog. Dave summed up the conversation well in his post.

My favorite part was Dave’s take on what is perhaps what gets at the "soul" of a blog:

The opportunity of blogging is to establish a dialog with your
community [emphasis mine], whether you’re a film director, an actor, or even a market
communications strategist. And you cannot possibly have a dialog if you
don’t allow some sort of comments. Does it mean that a site without
comments is, perforce, not a blog? No, but it does mean that the opportunity is being missed.

Businesses don’t need blogs to survive. However, they do need customers, and a way of keeping customers is to create a sense of community. A well-conceived and well-executed blog may just be the ticket.

Rich Brooks
Business Blogging from Maine