Debbie Weil is a corporate blogging and social media expert, online marketing consultant, speaker and author of The Corporate Blogging Book (Portfolio). She consults with large companies, CEOs and senior executives on how to create blogs that connect with customers and attract media attention.

A recent issue of TIME magazine invites you to meet Joe Blog: “Why are more and more people getting their news from amateur websites called blogs? Because they’re fast, funny and totally biased.”

Author Lev Grossman describes blogs as “amateur websites that provide news, information and, above all, opinions to rapidly growing and devoted audiences drawn by nothing more than a shared interest or two and the sheer magnetism of the editor’s personality.”

But there’s oh so much more to blogging than creating an alternative to mainstream news media. The challenge of a business blog is to find the line between informal & unedited… vs. authentic, credible and useful. It may take some time till you find your voice. But once you hit your stride, you’ve created a powerful platform for communicating online with your prospects and customers.

Want a meaty introduction to business blogging… including what to write about and how to say it? Sign up for The Uncool Blogging Seminar, our 90-minute audio/Web conference on July 1, 2004. Included in your ticket are a ton of extras you can use as learning tools. Thanks to Lois Ambash of Metaforix@ for the pointer to the TIME article.