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Cass served as lead author for a study, "Corporate blogging: Is it worth the hype?" released earlier this year by Backbone Media. He included Macromedia as a case study.

"Early on at Macromedia, blogs were thought of as a way to get information out quickly to customers and help build a bigger community by being more open and transparent," he writes. "Slowly Macromedia developed the strategy that exists today, openly asking (blog readers) for product development ideas early in the software development process.

As Macromedia told him, product development prior to the use of blogs involved some customer interaction but relied mostly on in-house work. By involving customers (or potential customers) in the development process, the clients are more committed to purchasing the Macromedia product as well as discussing the company's new products in their own blogs—linking from other blogs only raises the company's profile and brings new readers who might not have known or cared about the company. These connections create a virtual networking community.

Unlike Macromedia, IBM focuses its blogs on illuminating the ideas and thought leadership of the company, the study reports. However, Microsoft allows openness and transparency in blogs created by approximately 1,800 of its 57,000 employees. "Each employee effectively becomes a real functioning brand manager for Microsoft whose role is to help the customer no matter what role (the employee) plays in the company," the Backbone study details. "Sometimes that transparency means that Microsoft will be criticized by customers and even employees. The new management thinking is that such criticism is good as Microsoft then has the opportunity to react and respond."

Cytron says any business that offers a product or service can create a blog. "But a blog must focus itself around the individual writing the blog rather than the business itself," he says. "To be believable and credible, you want to brand the person to the blog, instead of branding the business to the blog."

He explains that the business and what it offers customers are always present on the blog page but the company information is always in the background. It's the content, tone and persuasive nature of the blog that actually sells the product or service.

Scott says company bloggers should not be chosen based on someone's position within the company but by people who show an interest and talent in writing.

"A good blogger is really passionate about a subject. It's not work for them," he says.

One suggestion is to look for those people who write great e-mails—those individuals who, when you have 40 e-mails, you go to theirs first because they grab and keep your attention.

Experts say finding people who want to blog also ensures they write more frequently—another important step to success in the marketplace.

Search engines love blogs, Ochman says. Each new blog entry has its own URL (Web address), creating more opportunities for search engines to capture information on your company.

Blogs also are great for search engines because they typically are not graphic heavy, don't use Flash software and are updated regularly. Search engines recognize this freshness and give higher priority to a blog than a Web site that hasn't had its copy updated in a year, Ochman says.

"You can post (on a blog) in the morning and see high search engine rates by the afternoon."

Some corporations wonder how much oversight and rules they should have regarding blogging. "If each statement has to be vetted, who will care," Ochman says.

Smart, progressive companies think of blogging not as something brand new but just an extension of who they are, Scott says. Existing company policies regarding such things as sexual harassment, confidentiality, etc. can extend to blogs as well.

Cass says one way to ensure employees understand how to blog appropriately is to conduct training—how to interact with the public, customers and the media—important skills to learn whether they blog or not.

"Your employees already are talking about the company; you have to trust them," he says. e