Last week, we started exploring the importance of having a genuine conversation with your clients and prospects. Consumers today are becoming much less patient with just being talked at. They want some give and take.

A cost-effective, authentic way to embrace this two-way communication is a business blog. There are some significant benefits to creating a blog for your organization.

From your consumers’ point of view, it makes you accessible and real.

You will learn something new from the marketplace every day. You’ll gain insights about your products/services, employees and customers.

You’ll jump-start a relationship with potential buyers who otherwise would have never considered you.

It’s inexpensive technology.

You’ll demonstrate that you understand and respect today’s newest media.

You want to get on top of the search engines? Each post is logged as a separate Web page and search engine spiders love them.

Perhaps the best reason of all is that it allows you to create a network of contacts, prospects and peers.

Blogging is not just for geeks and tech-heads. Many Fortune 500 companies have official corporate blogs. To see a good one, check out Eastman Kodak Co.’s blog at www.1000words.Kodak.com. Some blogs feature a single author, typically the CEO. Others, like Kodak’s, spotlight several employees and their stories.

A couple of months ago, I started one (www.DrewsMarketingMinute.com), and I’m amazed at the new business opportunities it provides, the really smart and engaging interaction I have with readers, and how sharp it keeps me. Check it out and let me know what you think. Heck, we could even have a marketing conversation!

Blogging is no fad. It’s answering the demands of today’s consumers and it’s catching on from Kodak to Southwest Airlines and many companies in between. When are you going to catch up?

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan Marketing Group and the author of “99.3 Random Acts of Marketing.” He can be reached at Drew@MclellanMarketing.com.

© Drew McLellan