Blogs in contemporary Bangladesh

With the inception of Internet and the rocketing growth rate of Internet users in the country, Bangladesh is starting to see a new trend in sharing ones opinion to the mass called blogging. Although blogging is yet to be popularized like the traditional media, the growth rate shows that it has created a pool of Bangladeshis who love to express themselves online.

Moreover, in a dynamic informational era like ours, blogging can always be a fast complement to the traditional media for disseminating information, marketing products and services and even for different social activities.
In addition, its interactive nature gives way for people to connect to each other; share and understand different perceptions, and learn about the different con-current issues. For marketers, it can also be a touch point; a mode to inform consumers in details about product benefits especially for durable consumer goods. Blogs can, at the same time, be a great means for marketers to learn about and from consumers’ experience about their products and services. Moreover, for marketers who want to target into the niche market, blogging can be a very fine and effective communication means.

Although blogging has become a part of the mainstream western world; it is yet to create the same platform in Bangladesh. However, it has become a well-accepted notion within certain group of people and is slowly spreading its wing into the mainstream.

Interview by the vampire of the blogpire

Mr. Vampire Hassan, a prominent Bangladeshi business journalist, takes interview of Mr. Blogpire (pronounced blog pyre), an active business blogger on the 14th day of September, 2008, at the latter’s den from undisclosed location in Dhaka.

Slamalikum Blogpire Bhai, its good to have you with me in this interview.
--Walaikumslaam, Vampy, yes its nice to be on air…I mean on internet.
So tell me blogpire Bhai, why are you called so?
--As you are a vampire and suck blood of Bangladeshi companies on print media, I sometimes kick a** (beep beep) and kiss a** (beep beep) of the same people on internet, specifically on Bangladesh Corporate Blog.
Right….but why do you use such slangs? Your posts might be read by young innocent children and cultured people.
--Actually I write what I speak and what I think, it does not go under the editorial censorship, as in newspapers and business magazines, so you have the raw opinion right from the horse’s mouth. However, I try not to cross the line. We discourage taking names, talking about religion, politics etc.
So…how do you feel when you meet the companies you blog about?
--I feel good as I am undercover, I still haven’t appeared on the cover page of Time Magazine, people don’t know who I am, its fine that way…as I believe there are too many one-man shows and me-too gurus of this and that and the number is growing…I give more emphasis on the point of view rather than on the person….a few people know however who I am, my friends in Facebook, my wife, my dog, neighbors, landlord, etc.
How about your employer? I mean do you work at all?
--Ofcourse I work, for somebody else, but no, my employer does not know that I spit fire and stir up controversies and say what I see about Bangladeshi companies in the blog.
I see…so how do you differentiate Bangladesh Corporate Blog with established business journalism platforms such as business newspapers, magazines such as Brand Forum, Executive Times etc…
--Well, first of all, since we are still a not-for-profit entity, we are not liable to any sort of advertisement commitments from sponsors, we have a disclaimer put up in the blog to safeguard our own skin, the traditional media is liable and responsible for what they write. Moreover, those newspapers and magazines are run by so-called heavy-weights and think-tanks who know that they know and so they can’t help but let us know always. But here, it’s the other way round, since we don’t know much, we ask and the whole world lets us know, so its kind of collaborative learning we are doing about the Bangladeshi businesses, brands and companies here.
Well…you seem to be a rebel when it comes to one-man-preaching on business issues of Bangladesh…do you have a problem with that?
--Not a problem…but a discomfort, Bangladesh Corporate Blog is a teamwork…and I find it funny when the new-found gurus find it hard to move around due to the weight of their so called know-how about branding, sales, advertisements and other domains of businesses in Bangladesh, as if they have just advised Eric and Larry to change the name of Google to Hagoo-gle. ROTFL.
So who do you want to encourage to become business bloggers?
--Students ofcourse…as they so many times talk about these issues informally any ways. Business executives can also blog about their businesses, companies but that culture is yet to set in in Bangladesh. But we are working on it. We have already started consulting a few companies here about the benefits of business blogging and how it can boost a company’s internet marketing strategy. That would be our commercial services.
Great…well I guess that was quite a good first meet interview…however since its nearly midnight, I need to fly back to my desktop to spot my next victim to suck blood…
--O really..so who will it be this time? BRAC Bank or Grameen Phone?
You will see in day after tomorrow’s newspaper then…
--Fine…happy vampiring.
Thanks..happy Bangladesh Corporate Blogging.

In pursuit of WWF recognition

Could it be argued that henna became popular only after Madonna started donning it and flashing it during her concerts worldwide? Could it also be argued that Yoga became popular only after western celebrities started advocating for it and practicing it themselves to seek salvation from their stressed lifestyles? Could it also be argued that Hindi as a language and India as a mystified country got more attention especially after Beckham tattooed his wife’s name in Hindi in his arms and more celebrities visiting India were made to wear sarees and say ‘namaste’? You might argue that many other factors simultaneously play a role in making all those things happen, nevertheless, the reasons I explicitly mentioned, are still out there and keep playing a role isn’t it? My hypothesis is that ‘God is a westerner white fat man with white hair and white beard’ and if ‘white men say so and think so’, we the impoverished third world inhabitants will get a due recognition or endorsement of our initiatives and efforts.

Take the example of this blog. Since it is still a not-for-profit entity, various bloggers are trying to bring out time from their respective busy schedules to advertise for the blog, so that more and more people start reading it, writing articles in it on Bangladeshi companies etc. But as it was bound to happen, individual efforts are never enough to pull a large internet traffic to the blog. Rather we are grateful to Google and the very presence of so many company names (which work as meta tags, search keywords) which have put the blog in a pretty high ranking in Google searches. We realize that we cannot afford to undertake a push-strategy for the blog, similar to that of CellBazaar these days, sticking a handy little sticker behind almost every third vehicle plying through the choked streets of Dhaka city. Neither we have the seed capital, nor we have infrastructure, nor do we have any institutional patron who would help us do that. So we have to opt for a pull-strategy. As most of the people we are approaching here, are giving us dry smile with sly looks…as if asking ‘who the hell are you folks? Are you guys guru of some sort? Since you aren’t famous yet, we won’t even bother what you are talking about….’

We are still thinking how to do something, tell something, innovate something which would pull the internet audience to the blog, rather than we pushing the blog down the people’s throats. We wish we had a fat white western buddy in our Facebook friend’s list, who could one fine morning give us some sort of an award…say ‘Best Business Journalism’ award in ‘3rd world category’ ….or ‘Minnesota State Award for Business Blogging’…keeping in view our humble efforts to get the young writing about business, Bangladesh and about big time ahead. By the way, all the award names I mentioned are fictitious and bear no link with anything in reality, they are just an output of my imaginative self. But just imagine if we could have managed to receive a WWF (Western White Fat) recognition, how easy it would have been for us to achieve a huge rise in interested readers, bloggers and other stakeholders who would make use of this platform for individual or business interests. Well…wishful thinking you still think? We don’t…I will shortly get in touch with my American friend…who is a part time student, part time womanizer, part time animal-rights activists and a part time blogger too….if any Tom Dick and Harry can simply utter that ‘Bangladesh Corporate Blog is great’, we have our local media ready here to make merry of this ‘proud moment’…this ‘achievement’ and this ‘success story of the Bangladeshi youth’. Until then, I keep on waiting with my legs and fingers crossed.

The Kingdom of Bangladesh Corporate Blog

This is an exclusive post only for you. Know how fast The Kingdom of Bangladesh Corporate Blog is spreading over the world. Thank you for being so cooperative throughout these days. Be with us. Be Business. Be Bangladesh. Be in Big Time.

10 Tips for Becoming a Great Corporate Blogger

Successful blogging is not just about being the best writer on the web or even the most prolific. Being a successful blogger is about creating a connection with an audience by providing relevant content, nurturing that relationship with comments and links and keeping the dialogue flowing. Here are ten tips to get you started.

1. Understand the fundamentals of Blogger Relations

While anyone can set up a blog in a day and start publishing articles, it takes far more work to be a great blogger and see the real benefits of blogging. First, you need to have a blogging strategy that is in line with your PR strategy and business goals. Next, you have to provide relevant content. Most importantly, you must conduct what is called Blogger Relations. Blogger Relations is what blogging is all about—starting and maintaining a conversation. Unlike Public Relations or media relations where you are trying to pitch your story, with Blogger Relations you initiate and participate in ongoing discussions with other bloggers and your target audience. As the conversation progresses, you get to know the other players in your industry; you gain credibility by listening as well as commenting; and you gain new readers as other bloggers provide links back to your blog to give you credit for your ideas. The more you conduct Blogger Relations, the more successful your blogging will be.

2. Create value

Creating something of value for your audience should be the first aim of your blog; otherwise your readers will have no reason to return. This is where a public relations strategy can help you develop content that keeps your customers coming back for more.

3. Grow and sustain your audience by providing real analysis

Monitor the news and blogs for articles that would be of interest to your audience. When writing about the news as a blogger, it is not just a matter of describing the news—though that is important. It is more imperative that you provide new, informative and entertaining analysis in order to sustain and grow your audience. That is why opinion and your personal perspective interlaced with your past experiences will help to add to your credibility and foster loyal readership.

4. Report on community opinion

If you think the news is important but don’t have an opinion or perspective, one way to provide opinion is to provide a synopsis of ideas from the community at large. In addition to acting as a valuable resource for your audience, you create the opportunity to send a trackback link to one or more blogs, connecting with more bloggers AND more readers.

5. Respond with comments to build relationships and traffic

Responding to another blogger’s comment can be just as important as the article post itself. Blogging is about dialogue and the opportunity to interact with your audience. Many posts will not receive any comments, but when they do, you have to be ready to respond. Blogging is a little like having an amphitheatre of people viewing a conversation between two people. While you must focus on the conversation with your commenter, you must also be aware of the rest of the audience. In other words, you should respond to the challenge the commenter presents while at the same time providing greater context, so the entire readership can follow and benefit from your conversation.

6. Track your conversations

In order to keep conversations flowing, you have to stay aware of each discussion in progress. Unfortunately, we are still in the early days of blogging, and many blogs do not include notification technology to let you know where there has been a new post. And even if a blogger receives notification that you have commented on his/her blog, does not mean that you will receive notification when that blogger replies to your comment. If comment email subscription is available, it is wise to subscribe. You may also choose to use tools such as del.icio.us or Cocomment for tracking comments online and subsequent follow up. But, ultimately, you may have to monitor for comments manually to make sure you keep the conversations alive.

7. Don’t be afraid of criticism

Dialogue is also about criticism; so don’t be afraid when others criticize your ideas or actions you have taken on a blog. See it as opportunity to keep the conversation flowing. In the blogosphere, you are more respected when you demonstrate the ability to respond. In addition, a “foil” critiquing your work can often draw more attention to the discussion and increase readership. Furthermore, criticism can be constructive. Feedback related to product flaws and improvements can actually help your product development process.

8. Conduct interviews to generate content and ideas

Interviews are a great way to generate interest and content for the blog. Picking other bloggers to interview is particularly helpful in generating links and traffic. Many bloggers will enjoy the added attention and more than likely link back to your interview post.

9. Promote your blog

When an author writes a book, the writing process is often very much solitary. Once the book is published, however, a writer must reach out to others and promote that book through public readings and strategic marketing. Building a successful blog requires a similar approach. Once your articles are written, you have to promote them by chatting with colleagues in the industry and starting a dialogue. Connect with loyal and thoughtful readers as well as industry authorities. When bloggers take note of your article, it tends to have a viral effect, increasing eyeballs exponentially.

10. Monitor the web for brand names and references

Using RSS feed search engines such as technorati.com and blogpulse.com, monitor for mention of your company and corporate blog posts as well as important developments in your industry.

Source: Internet

Top 50 keywords leading to this blog

Here is the list of top 50 keywords out of 854 from around the world leading to the Bangladesh Corporate Blog. Interesting to see what the world is searching for regarding the Bangladeshi corporates and businesses.

Keyword		Visits
1.	consumers' expectations from retail industry in bangladesh	30
2.	bangladesh corporate blog	13
3.	bangladeshcorporate	13
4.	bangladesh corporate blogs	10
5.	competitive advantages of citycell in bangladesh	8
6.	vehicle tracking+grameen phone	8
7.	radio today bangladesh	7
8.	bangladesh corporate	6
9.	bangladesh blogs	5
10.	bangladesh corporate blogspot	5
11.	nestle bangladesh	5
12.	unilever bangladesh	5
13.	marius armeanca	4
14.	why did citycell change their logo in bangladesh?	4
15.	banglalink annual report	3
16.	banglalink customer service strategy	3
17.	call center jobs in bangladesh	3
18.	corporate bangladesh	3
19.	radio today in bangladesh	3
20.	stock businesses in bangladesh	3
21.	warid logo	3
22.	wimax bangladesh	3
23.	aktel	2
24.	article about akij group	2
25.	asiatic mcl	2
26.	bangladesh cement saturated	2
27.	bangladesh radio today	2
28.	banglalink sex	2
29.	best fried chicken bangladesh	2
30.	blogs bangladesh economy	2
31.	bpo bangladesh	2
32.	cement market in bangladesh	2
33.	channel differentiation of warid tel in bangladesh	2
34.	citycell	2
35.	corporate blog bangladesh	2
36.	corporate blog of bangladesh	2
37.	corporate blogs bangladesh	2
38.	corporate hr practice in bd	2
39.	csr activities in bangladesh	2
40.	csr of banglalink	2
41.	csr of hsbc bank in bangladesh	2
42.	dutch bangla bank csr activities	2
43.	g4s bangladesh	2
44.	heidelbergcement bangladesh	2
45.	heidelbergcement limestone import bangladesh	2
46.	hsbc, sme banking, june 2007, bangladesh	2
47.	http://bangladeshcorporate.blogspot.com/	2
48.	hua wei bribe bangladesh	2
49.	job trust bank bangladesh	2
50.	lanka bangla securities ltd. bangladesh	2

The Blog's Vision 2008

We want to divide the coming year in 12 parts and highlight a topic in the blog for each month. following are the areas in terms of appearance in the calendar (1 for Jan, 2 for Feb...)

01. Business education
02. Advertisement/Promotion
03. Business Ethics & Corporate Culture
04. Market Research
05. Customer Service
06. Sales
07. Branding
08. Government Policy
09. CSR
10. Global Business and Bangladesh
11. Financial Management
12. Human Resource Management

We want to arrange polls related to the highlighted topic of the month, arrange audio/video podcasting of students, executives, managers and encourage people to write more on that topic during that month. Other posts will continue.

So how can you help?

1. Inform us if we are missing any important category
2. Become a video blogger, take video interviews of business executives, students you know with the help of your phone/camera, maximum length 1 minute and email it to bangladeshcorporate@gmail.com or upload it to the blog's group in YouTube. The clip should be relevant with the month's theme.
3. Email poll ideas relevant with the topic of the month
4. Post articles on the month's topic
5. Propose new ideas on how we can do things better

Your involvement will make the initiative worthwhile.

Blog Jargon: Learning the Terms

According to www.afb.org:

What is a Blog?

Web logs, or simply blogs, are online journals that are frequently updated. Posts appear in reverse chronological order on a common web page. New content can also be read through RSS readers provided through sites such as Blogspot, Blogger, Bloglines, Feedster, NewsGator, or My Yahoo! Blogs.

What is the Blogosphere?

This popular term refers to the total universe of blogs and blog-related web sites.

What is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication technology. RSS feeds allow Internet users to receive updated content from blogs or news sites in real time.

What is a Feed Aggregator or RSS Feed Reader?

RSS feed readers, or aggregators, are programs that check for, download, and organize new content from blogs and news sites, which is delivered through RSS. Users do not have to consume their blog content via an RSS reader, because they exist on regular web pages, written in HTML. However, many users find getting feeds of blog updates via an aggregator to be more efficient than checking blogs without knowing whether or not they have been updated. It has been described as TiVo for the web.

What is Podcasting?

Podcasting, which derives its name from Apple's iPod and "broadcasting," allows users to subscribe to audio programming that is automatically delivered to their computers. Some podcasts are professionally produced, like talk shows and music broadcasts, while others are less formal daily diaries and running commentary between friends.

About Bangladesh Corporate Blog

I wanted to inform you of a great opportunity to advertise your business on Bangladesh Corporate Blog at www.bangladeshcorporate.com. 

It is the first Bangladeshi business blog in English language, established in 2007 and providing informal commentary, tips on branding and management, consumer experiences and insight in the context of Bangladeshi businesses like yours.

With a daily average pageview of 500 visitors, the blog attracts a steady flow of internet users from around the world, especially from US, Saudi Arabia, India –who are keen to know more through internet about Bangladeshi businesses from business bloggers’ perspectives. So this is a great opportunity for you to promote your products/services to a worldwide audience who want to know about your business from alternative sources such as this business blog.

Since this blog features mentions of more than 200 Bangladeshi companies, it is naturally very high in relation to search engine optimisation – thus making it a popular result item in Google in relation to searches related to Bangladeshi businesses, brands etc.

The rates are as following -

Top left navigation menu spot banner - Tk. 8,000 per month

Spot banners in right navigation menu - Tk. 5,000 per spot banner per month

468 X 60 pixels top banner ad - Tk. 10,000 per month

Email bangladeshcorporate@gmail.com

_______________________________________________________

Just email to bangladeshcorporate@gmail.com saying that you want to become a "Bangladesh Corporate Blogger". No registration, no hassle.

What is a Corporate Blog?Corporate blogging has appeared as an alternative to established modes of media. It has the immense power to bring companies, job seekers, job holders and students all in the same platform to discuss various business issues. Each blog participant can benefit from this in unique ways.

When did you start?

Bangladesh Corporate Blog at http://www.bangladeshcorporate.com started from 14^th April, 2007 (1414 Bangla new year) to announce the arrival of something new in Bangladesh’s business management and corporate domain.

What are you about?

This blog welcomes articles about the multinational, national, public, private, small and big companies of Bangladesh. Bloggers are allowed to appreciate their good deeds, criticize their false promises, expose their internal malpractices or evaluate their accomplishments. Students, general public, job-seekers have an opportunity here to look at the companies differently. It will also give management of the companies the chance to tap into the conversation public is having regarding their actions. Thus working as an alternate source of marketing research as well. The blog’s target audience consists of three groups—students, job seekers/job holders and business organizations.

What are your commercial services?

We provide following services

--social media strategies for Bangladeshi businesses worldwide

--public speaking on Bangladeshi businesses and social media

--paid product/service/website reviews of Bangladeshi companies

I am student, what's in it for me?

Bangladeshi students studying in various local and foreign universities are encouraged to discuss actions of Bangladeshi companies in the light of business administration and management theories. This will make their learning more meaningful, they are the future business leaders of Bangladesh. This blog will allow them to be a part of the mainstream discussion right from their student days.

I am a job-seeker, what's in it for me?

Job seekers visiting and writing in this blog are encouraged to cross check rumours, speculations about companies they are seeking jobs in. Job holders/executives already working in various companies in Bangladesh now have a platform to discuss and debate about management issues in various companies. All this is bound to make ‘management practices’ a much talked about issue among Bangladeshi executives.

I am manager/business executive in a Bangladeshi company, what's in it for me?

Bangladeshi companies use this blog to tap into the conversation people are having regarding them. They get clues about areas where they can improve in terms of marketing, advertising, customer service etc. directly recommended by users. They defend, clarify (even in anonymity), promote any issue raised anywhere in the blog regarding their company.

What are the rules of the game?

-No politics, no religion, no personal attacks, no pornography

-All the articles should have a relevant link with any Bangladeshi company

-Writers are allowed to use aliases to ensure anonymity so not to endanger professional/personal interest

-This blog does not have any legal entity, opinions expressed here are that of individuals only. If this blog's content benefits any student, individual, company--very good. However no offense is targeted to any company. The blog welcomes constructive criticism, debate and discussions.

-Unlike other blogs, this blog does not intend to popularize any individual. It is open to all and is owned by people who even don't know each other. So there is no 'about me' section.

-If you are not yet 'invited' by any 'admin', feel free to include your email address in the comment to this post. One of the many admins will invite you soon. Or you can email to bangladeshcorporate@gmail.com mentioning your interest, you will be invited.

Do you offer jobs?
No we don't. But we welcome volunteers.
Who are you actually?
We are Bangladeshi nationals, a group of bloggers who haven't seen each other, blog from different countries, hold different professions and have a same vision, that is to see the Bangladeshi businesses become successful in local and global arena.
Do you get paid for blogging?
No, not yet.

Its easier to complain about the system, more difficult is to become a part of that system and then trying to change it for better. Start reading and writing at Bangladesh Corporate Blog. Lets see and write things differently, lets be part of the system we want to improve.