Marketers need not be baseball savants to recognize the expression, “If you build it, they will come.” For the past 20 years, executives in board rooms across America have proposed countless ventures by utilizing this maxim, which originally emanated from Ray Kinsella’s cornfield in “Field of Dreams.”

The success of a company’s marketing enterprises is only as great as the number of prospects that see them. This is especially true for the corporate blog, notably one of the most challenging marketing ventures for which to attract an audience.

Blogging is a challenge that companies are not handling well, according to a 2008 Forrester Research report. The study, which reviewed 90 business-to-business (B2B) blogs, determined that most blogs are uninspiring, and almost three-quarters of them don’t receive comments because they don’t engage readers. Further, more than 70 percent of B2B bloggers do not imbue any personal insight or experience in what they write.

Those are only the first three strikes against corporate blogs. Fortunately, with the expertise of an outside B2B marketing agency, blogs can hit a homerun.

While a business shouldn’t entirely outsource its blog to an agency, a company can rely on its outside marketing team to play a vital part in developing and maintaining the blog. From strategy and competitive research to feeding content and monitoring results, an agency can recommend the right elements to keep a company’s blog in line with its brand.

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Our first blog post about Twitter came from Deb Yemenijian, a trusty Schubert PR Exec., almost exactly two years ago (Twitterpated, May 17th, 2007). But, only within the past few months has a true Twitter explosion occurred – jumping to more than 9.3 million users and the third most used social network (behind Facebook and MySpace).

Many Schubert team members have found Twitter useful to build relationships with editors, prospects, clients and peers. I personally have found it a great research tool. Twitter is my new google (in some cases).

I’d love to hear how you are using Twitter – please comment. I’d also like to take this opportunity to formally introduce the Schubert staff who tweet regularly. Join the conversation and follow us!

• Allen, President – @AllenatSchubert
• Ashley, PR Executive/Interactive PM – @Ashley0206
• Brian, Sr. PR Executive – @Bcourtney
• Chris, Interactive Director – @Chris_Raymond
• Debra, PR Executive – @Ms_Write
• Lorena, PR Executive – @BusyBee2B

In April American Business Media predicted U.S. trade publications would see and average 19% to 22% drop in business-to-business ad revenues in 2009, a much steeper decline than the 7.3% drop of 2008. And the reality is worse than the numbers make it sound. Nielsen Business Media will stop publishing Brandweek, but may roll it into one of its other B2B titles. Crain’s TelevisionWeek will be available online only beginning in June. And just yesterday we learned that business publisher Penton Publishing is going over to a four-day workweek to help cut overhead. Of course we all know of the demise of the Rocky Mountain News bankruptcies of Sun-Times Media, the owner of 58 newspapers including the Chicago Sun-Times, the Star Tribune Holdings Corporation, the Journal Register Company and Philadelphia Newspapers LLC.

So with all these publications consolidating or closing all together, why would anyone bother to hire a PR agency? Because readers, like all matter, can neither be created nor destroyed. It’s an indisputable law of thermodynamics. Not up on your thermodynamics? Read on.

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