Skip to main content

Do blogs work for you? Please write in

Note: This post was not written by Ross Geller (FRIENDS)

Hi, today is Ashtami. The biggest and most auspicious day of Durga Puja. It is also the 25th anniversary of the Puja in our building. I was there when the Puja started 25 years back. And am lucky enough to be here this time too. 25 years. Phew, that's a long time. Wonder how things will be on number 50?

Got a piece of good news to share with you on this auspicious day. As you probably know I am a market researcher by trade. That's what pays for the bacon I bring home, make pasta with and write about. My job is to help clients understand what consumer feel about topics of relevance so that they (the clients) can work out their strategies.

Well, this is an instance where work and play collides. I had written a paper on how blogs and social media (Facebook, Twitter) can be used to get customer feedback for small businesses. The paper was based on, what else, food blogging. Things I observed on Finely Chopped.

Got to know today that this paper has got selected by the Market Research Society of India. Which means that I will have to present it at their conference in Mumbai in mid November.

Esomar (the world body of market research) has also organised a conference with TMRS (the Thai Market research body) at Bangkok. They have asked me to conduct a workshop on this earlier in November.

So now that I have probably lost you this is what I would like you to do. Please write to me through comments on this post (ideally) or through DMs, e's on the following:

If you read blogs ....
  • Why do you read blogs?
  • What do you look for in blogs?
  • Any differences on what you look for in blogs versus what you look for in newspapers, magazines (offline and online)
  • Do you look for information on blogs? What sort of information?
  • Have you ever decided to buy something or try something based on what you read on blogs/ Facebook. Specific examples please

If you own a business/ are an entrepreneur ....

  • Have you used blogs/ social networks to further your business? How?
  • Do you use blogs/ social networks to market your products?
  • Do you use blogs/ social networks to get feedback from customers? Do you ask people directly for their opinions or do you just read what's put up on blogs/ Facebook pages?
  • Specific examples where info from blogs or Facebook has worked for you
I am really counting on you to write in. The paper got selected based on what I learnt at Finely Chopped and on Facebook after all.... so please delurk and write in...otherwise I won't have much to say...

Comments

Scarlett said…
As a fellow market researcher & blogger, I'm happy to help :p

Why do I read blogs?

Blogging, for me, is a way of de-stressing. Just as I enjoy writing blogs, I enjoy reading them too, particularly blogs of people I know personally. It helps me de-stress.

What do you look for in blogs?

Since I read blogs for entertainment purposes, the language should be simple, the style of writing should be fluid & engaging, and I should feel a connection with the content. It need not be on a particular topic, but there has to be a je-ne-sais-quoi quality about the content, that makes me connect with it.

Any differences on what you look for in blogs versus what you look for in newspapers, magazines (offline and online)

What I look for in blogs is very different from what I'd look for in newspapers/magazines. In blogs I like to read about the blogger's experiences, opinions, observations, and if I know the blogger personally but don't have time to connect with him/her on the phone or via e-mail all the time, it's also good to read about what's going on in their lives, what they've been up to etc. Whereas I read newspapers & magazines purely for information.

Do you look for information on blogs? What sort of information?

I don't. For the simple reason that I'm not sure how reliable that information is. Except for restaurant/book/movie reviews, maybe. Information available on blogs can also be very subjective.

Have you ever decided to buy something or try something based on what you read on blogs/ Facebook. Specific examples please

Not yet :)
18 October 2010 at 03:27
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The importance of being 'Nyaka'

'Nyaka' is a Bengali term which beats translation. It could mean coy, coquettish, scheming, la di da. There is no one word which captures it. The term is used in a pejorative context and has a sarcastic tone to it. Used a bit more for women than for men. Has a feminine context when used for men. I posed the challenge of translating 'nyaka' into English to fellow Bengalis in Facebook. Here's a sample of the answers that I got. I have removed the names and kept the statuese as is, hope it's not too difficult to read Bong man 1 Coy.....but that does capture the essence 14 December at 14:37 · Me No ...not entirely. A colleague just suggested precocious. Maybe its too intrinsic a Bong trait to be translated :) 14 December at 14:50 · Bong woman 1 kol-lan, difficult to get a english / hindi word for nyaka. 14 December at 15:11 · me that's the point 14 December at 15:15 · Bong woman 2 oh, i think the essence of the word 'nyaka' will be lost in translation. ...
12 comments
Read more

The impotence of middle class morality

We studied George Bernard Shaw's 'Pygmalion' in school. I remember a character, Mr Dolittle (not sure of the spelling), who made a compelling argument against what he called middle class morality . The crux was that the rich can do whatever they want, the poor are desperate and therefore have no standards to match up to. It is the middle class who get screwed (I am paraphrasing heavily here) because they have to live up to certain norms of morality without the means to do so. Closer home was this serial called ' Wagle ki duniya ' which used to come on telly in the eighties . This was about a middle aged, middle class man, Mr Wagle , and his struggle for existence. There was an episode where he had to give a bribe to a government official. Nothing new about that. But the twist was that straight laced Mr Wagle had no idea about how to give a bribe! I remember our then school principal, Mrs Kapper , gave that as an example of how all of us should be good, honest,...
16 comments
Read more

Just another day in India

I went to Hearsch Bakery near Holy Family Hospital after ages to pick up a burger for breakfast this morning. I saw an elderly gentleman, possibly in his mid sixties, standing opposite Holy Family in the alley. He was simply dressed like middle class folks of his genre, white bush shirt tucked out, grey trouser. He had a red and white jhola , the sling bag favoured by folks of his generation. He had round glasses, was slim and probably looked the way my grandfather would have looked twenty years back. A typical, middle class gent in the early years of his retirement. And he had his hand stretched out asking for alms. I remembered seeing him when I had come to Hearsch's months back. I was very puzzled even then. I wondered what his story would be. Was he abandoned by his children? Was he laid off? He did look in good health. Didn't look particularly poor. Yet, there was a strange mix of serene desperation on his face. What would have driven him to beg? Should I offer him some ...
11 comments
Read more