One pleasant thing I’ve noticed since I discovered blogging is how it allows you to affect the development and quality of various services. I’m still amazed sometimes how quickly companies have discovered my posts mentioning their companies and have replied either on my blog or via email, and it makes me feel good that someone out there is actually listening to what I say.
I’m also impressed by the speed in which companies that have a blog respond to suggestions made on their blogs. The most recent example is Pingoat who are responding very quickly to user suggestions.
I think all companies should run blogs as they are a great way to disseminate information to potential users, to get ideas for service improvements and to also respond to customer complaints. Even large companies like Microsoft seem to be starting to benefit from encouraging developers to run blogs discussing their work. A good example is the start.com blog.
