Blogging Benefits

The best thing about the blog is the instant feedback from readers, and the fact that the blog can trigger conversations. It puts more power in readers’ hands, because their comments - just like the posts themselves—are read by eBay executives, analysts, and other online sellers. This is an age of user generated content (UGC), and I like that people’s opinions can be heard.

The blog is also a way for me to communicate in a less formal, more timely way with readers than I can with the newsletter articles. It gives me the freedom to speculate and editorialize more. Plus, there’s a lot of information that comes my way that isn’t very article-worthy, but is a perfect fit for the blog. I get to write things in the blog I couldn’t write anyplace else. So in that sense, I hope it also serves readers.

I also find that the blog’s RSS feeds can be a better way to deliver content than newsletters.