Life after the Bubble

Back in the day (that is, the late 1990s when the DotCom frenzy went through the roof), companies who had the words ".com" after their names listed for gazillions and their owners became gazillionaires over night.  Everyone who was anyone had a web site and talked about how the Web gave you an instant marketplace numbering in the millions/tens of millions/hundreds of millions/billions (depending on who you were talking to) and that, of course, translated into huge profits almost immediately that you went live.

Of course when that bubble popped and the stock markets came crashing down and the inflated share prices hit rock bottom, people began to realise that the ride they had been on was all just hype and hot air.  Toward the end of the boom, a few people began to recognise that you need to have a real business to be successful, even on the Web.

Venture capitalists, who now acknowledge they contributed to the
feeding frenzy of the Internet bubble, say they’ve learned their lesson
and have returned to the practice of funding companies that not only
have an enticing idea, but also carry a strong business plan.
Profitability prospects carry more weight these days than revenue and
market growth.

The same principle applies to blogging in the corporate world.  Having a blog on your company’s web site doesn’t mean you will instantly become more successful and efficient.  A blog is just a tool.  Don’t get me wrong, a blog introduces something very important to a web site at a minimal cost, interactivity and dynamic content and these two things alone make a huge difference.  What I really mean to say is that a blog is not the be all and end all.  It is not the end in itself.  Rather it is a means to an end, albeit a powerful tool for achieving that end.