Like Americans, Europeans and Asians have become fervent bloggers, says the International Herald Tribune.

Many American brands, and some brands of other countries, are starting to include blogs in their marketing plans, using PR at a much earlier stage. By the time of the official "launch," a product may already have been slipped into the hands of bloggers several months before. Feedback from their online discussions with other devotees can help inform a marketer's subsequent advertising and media strategy.

One example of a soft launch using online content and bloggers is SkinMD Natural, a shielding lotion.  The results caught the attention of PR Week.

But other companies are not as blog savvy. When Olay launched their Life in Close Up campaign for Olay Definity, the media bash did not include any beauty bloggers.

A search in Blog Pulse shows a few bloggers offering their free sample of Definity. With a better online brand strategy they could have had much more buzz in the bogs.

"A year ago, brands were saying, 'Oh no, not the blogosphere,'" said Peter Hirshberg, chief executive of Technorati."Now they re saying, this is a great opportunity."

Laura Ramos of Forrester is digging into the world of business blogs.

70% said they planned to boost their spending on social computing tactics during the next 12 months

Should every B2B marketer blog?  Perhaps, says Ramos.

Questions marketers should answer are: What is the purpose of the blog?  Who is the audience?  Will the blog encourage participation? And, who should own the blog’s content? 

Blogging is a commitment and it takes resources.

B2B blogs may not be as personal as individual blogs, but depending on the purpose, they can be an excellent adjunct to your communication strategy.

Blogs can give you better search engine visibility - that's vital to business success today.

Blogging can build a profile for the author/s. That might be useful.

A business blog can create a community, or give you insight into customers' feedback - positive and negative.  Scary - but  very valuable.

Before you rush in where bloggers fear to tread,  figure out a strategy, line up the needed resources and get some training on how to blog successsfully.  You'll find that your business blog will pay real dividends.

Smart moves, NBC!

Meredith Vieira, the new co host of the Today show, is blogging her personal thoughts and backstory elements of her interviews on iVillage.

"There are a lot of things I might like to say on a personal level on the blog that I can't on Today because of time or it might not be appropriate," Vieira says. "So it helps me wind down and get some thoughts out that I wish I could have otherwise and let people see other sides of my personality."

And of course it neatly ties the two new acquisitions together and leverages the audiences. Vieira's arrival at Today attracted 6.9 million viewers. Now they've been directed over to iVillage to read the backstories on the Today interviews.

Who wouldn't want to hear all the 'real stuff' we don't get to see on the show?

And the link to ther blog is right on the homepage of iVillage - so their readers get corss pollinated to the Today show.  

Then there is the launch of the daily talk show in December called "iVillage Live" that will be broadcast simultaneously on its local stations and on the iVillage Web site.

Community features such as online chat and blogs will be a big part of the online version of "iVillage Live."

Don't ya love it when a social media plan comes together?

Don't be misled by the perception that MySpace is a place where teenagers hang out. More than half the visitors to the popular social network site are now 35 or over--up from less than 40 percent last year, reports comScore Media Metrix.

The comScore research compared audience demographics among top social sites, aiming to dispel the notion that they are the exclusive domain of teens. In fact, MySpace is increasingly becoming a mainstream Internet portal, finds the report. This makes it an attractive site for advertisers.

Using social networking sites like MySpace as part of your Internet marketing strategy needs a delicate touch.   It is possible to post content that will attract thousands of 'friends' on MySpace.  It just has to be done right.