The 'blogging revolution'' how many times have you heard that? I'd call it the 'blogging invasion'. It seems that any one, no matter how novice to the Internet, can master a blog: there's no need to know HTML and it's free. These are the first 'pros'. But are they really 'pros'?

Let's see: if any one can master a blog, it means any one can have a blog and write whatever he or she has in mind: a dream, a recipe, a funny story about a cat, a poem, a diary, a sleazy comment about another person, porn, hateful remarks and more. Hey, it's a free world! But, because there are so many bloggers out there, it's rather difficult to find quality blogs.

If you run an online business and try to use blogs to promote your products and services, you'll certainly find blogging advantageous. Blogging will help develop stronger relationships and loyalty with your clients by providing useful information on regular basis. A newsletter has the same impact, but, unless you create a 'newsletter archive' online, the search engines will not index it.

Blogs are different: search engines scan them on daily basis. This means you are reaching a far larger public than you expect and no one can accuse you of spamming. Another advantage is that by enabling comments to your blog, you'll have a free opportunity to get feedback and see how the readers react to your products, prices, etc. Moreover: a professional blog will help in presenting your organization as a trustworthy and experienced one.

Now to the 'cons': as already mentioned, because many people don't have anything of value to say, and since they write it anyway, it's difficult to find quality blogs. For business blogs it's also difficult to find the right blogger who can write comprehensible text that appeal to the public and call to action. Blogs are easy to start and hard to maintain. You think blogging is a free advertising and marketing strategy, but have you considered your time? Writing is a time-consuming task. If you don't update your blog, your organization might lose good points on reputation.

Should you hire a professional writer to blog for your organization? Many online entrepreneurs do. On the long term this is a good investment: you'll have time to take care of other aspects of your business. A good publishing strategy will help your organization build a professional reputation that will attract more and more clients.

There's real money in words: the more you blog, the more traffic you get. The more traffic, the more chances to make a sale.