I agree with you...to ensure that your blog is successful, you have to write great content...useful content will read, searched, quoted, and linked.

posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 10:00 AM by Nelly Yusupova

Totally agree with having your own domain for your blog. Build up your own authority, not someone else's.  
 
Susan

posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 10:16 AM by Susan Coils

Using your blog articles as part of your e-newsletter campaign is something we've been doing for a few months now with great click through results. It's a great idea. We also archive our e-newsletters on our website with links back to the blog articles we send out.

posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 11:19 AM by Eric Guerin

A lot of people are scared about starting to blog. I was a few years ago. But I can also tell you that it is actually fun now, and I enjoy writing articles and responding to comments.

posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 11:24 AM by Mike Volpe

Great article/video! We work with a lot of smaller businesses and think that having a blog is a great (and simple) tool to add to any marketing strategy!  
 
It can also build people's confidence in your company. Blogs give you to opportunity to create authority. Show potential and current customers that you know what you are talking about! And it gives you the chance to instantly learn what your customers are thinking with their feedback!

posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 2:57 PM by <a href="http://thrivestrategy.com/blog/">Melissa Manning</a>

Not only should you have your own domain but if the domain name actually has your main keyword in it. You will gain a lot more ground as far as SERPs go.

posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 3:08 AM by Jeff Barber

Thanks for all the great feedback. I have to agree with Mike that starting a blog can be scary at first. My recommendation is to do your homework to see what others are saying in your space. Start with commenting on others blogs to get your feet wet and then just jump right in. After a while, you will find your voice, just remember to consistently put out great content. I cannot believe all of the ways we have found to repurpose our blog posts. By delivering content in multiple ways we can be sure to maximize our coverage and reach as many people as possible. 
 
As far as domains go, it can really work either way. You should own it (Mike has a great post on that) but being part of your company domain or having its own is a personal decision. If you want it to be more distant from your company (should still be transparent that it is sponsored by you) then it should have a unique url. Keep in mind that you will now have another brand to manage which can be challenging. Keeping it under your company's url will make it obvious that it is sponsored by you and the SEO is great for your company site.  
 
Any way you choose, the best advice I can give is to just start a blog. I guarantee you will get more out of it than you expect on a personal and professional level.

posted on Friday, August 22, 2008 at 6:20 PM by Leigh Anne Wallace

Since I started Bloging the traffic to my web site has increased. When I stopped for a while traffic went down. I will never stop Bloging again. Thanks to Peter Caputo of Hub Spot I have the Blog Fever.

posted on Saturday, August 23, 2008 at 9:01 AM by Al Turrisi