The more I think about it...

After viewing more of the dialog on Business Week Online and thinking of Jonathan's comments and other conversations I have had recently, I really am at a loss as to why more companies in our beloved bicycle industry do not utilize blogs more prevalently.

I understand the argument that the "higher ups" are worried about somebody saying the wrong thing or giving away a secret... but only so much. I understand that I may have something of an unique arrangement here, where I am pretty much left alone to do what I believe is best for my brand, but it is such a "no brainer" to me. Especially for shops. As has been stated so frequently, it is painfully easy to list new products, stock arrivals, ride schedules, new trail openings... virtually anything. A shop can exponentially increase its worth to its customers by sharing more if its knowledge more easily. If a customer has to come in and ask, or call when you are busy helping another customer, you are far more likely to lose that conversation.

Manufacturers, and I applaud Surly, can use the blog structure to offload tons of information. Surly has a cult-like following of fans that cling to their every word. So why not exploit that and give them something new as frequently as possible? If I were to move to something else, God forbid because I love my job (I swear boss), I would be blogging as much as possible to gain as much presence as I possibly could. I surely intend to continue my blogging efforts and will hopefully continue to refine the blog site so that it can be a bigger and better resource. I have all kinds of plans for it that I will incorporate as I find the time and capacity, but if nothing else I'll keep the postings going and continue to reach my audience as much as I can.

Tim