According to a Forrester Research Report, only 11% of IT decision-makers surveyed said blogging delivers substantial business value.

That means nearly 9 out of 10 of those surveyed find little or no value in blogging.

Does this new finding finally put to rest the myth, perpetuated mainly by evangelists and consultants on the blogosphere, that blogging is the most important marketing tool since sliced bread?

Or are blogging gurus still going to try to sell corporate and marcom management on the silly notion that every business needs a blog?

Two things blogging evangelists tell me make blogs a superior communicatino medium:

1. Unfiltered content — straight from the writer to the reader … no pesky editor, proofreader, or fact checker.

2. Instant communication — have a thought, make it available online to millions in seconds.

But do we really need information in the blink of an eye … especially at the expense of accuracy?

With blogging, that happens all the time.

Example: when Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was slow to rise after a recent hearing, a blogger instantly noted Ginsburg’s seeming frailty on her blog — giving rise to rumors that the judge was will and would soon retire.

Had the blogger, an ABC legal reporter, bothered to ask Ginsburg about the incident before reporting it, should would have discovered the truth: the judge’s shoe had slipped off under the table, and she couldn’t find it!

An article in The Week (4/27/07, p. 14) observes that speed of the Internet is forcing people “to make important decisions without any time to think and reflect.”

Result: a flood of false assumptions and rash words “now flashes around the world in a nanosecond.”

How about you, dear reader?

Do you want your news, facts, and analysis fast — or do you want it good?

Yes, says Ken Magill, who in the November 2005 issue of Direct writes: ?Outside politics, 99.9% of blog entries are, well, horseblit linked to more horsesblit.?

The reason he cites is that most blogs are written by people who, in his opinion, don?t write very well.

?The vast majority of people are not professional communicators for a reason,? says Ken. ?They don?t do it very well.?

He concludes that blogs are ?the media phenomenon responsible for the publication of more self-indulgent nonsense than any other in the history of the world.?

I find this difficult to argue with. In fact, I agree with it.

Your thoughts?

Here?s the situation:

You are the marketing manager of a company selling enterprise software for computer security to IT professionals.

Your marketing plan already includes a Web site, e-mail marketing campaign, and trade show exhibits.

In this hypothetical situation, there are two additional marketing tools you can use to promote your product, but you can only choose ONE.

The choice is either publish a series of white papers — or start a blog.

Which would you opt for? Why?

As I mentioned in an earlier post on this blog, I recently signed a contract with a major publisher to write a book titled ?My Year in the Blogosphere: Confessions of a Blogging Skeptic? — and I?m hoping you can help me with it.

My question has to do with why you visit, read, and leave posts on blogs (like this one).

There are so many other sources of information available on the topics you are interested in: Web sites, articles, books.

Most of these sources are (in my opinion) better written, better researched, more authoritative, and more thought out than blogs. Do you agree?

So why not just read books, periodicals, and Web sites? Why do you read blogs ? and bother writing posts on them?

I just signed a contract with a major publisher to write a book titled ?My Year in the Blogosphere: Confessions of a Blogging Skeptic? — and I?m hoping you can help me with it.

In particular, I?m looking for examples of businesses — OTHER than ad-supported blogs, blogging consultants, marketing consultants, and PR firms — who are using blogs successfully as a marketing tool.

If you can show that the blog is actually selling product and making money for the business, so much the better.

But I?m most interested in evidence that blogging is a worthwhile marketing activity and should be proactively pursued by businesses looking to promote their products and services.

A small company with just a few employees wants to promote a new anti-cancer technology ? specifically, a cancer vaccine — it is developing.

The company president, an R&D scientist, is busy 24/7 in the laboratory and has neither the time nor the inclination to write a blog.

The marketing director suggested, ?Why don?t we hire a writer to write a blog on cancer vaccines ? which of course will talk a lot about our company and its research program??

They asked for my opinion.

To me, it sounded like a good idea ? except wouldn?t they ethically have to divulge prominently on the blog that it is sponsored by them and that they are paying the blogger to write it?

And wouldn?t that in turn entirely destroy the blog?s credibility and marketing effectiveness?

What do you think?

I frequently get asked by readers, “Can you recommend a blogging consultant to help me set up and run a blog for my business?”

If you are a blogging consultant and advisor, please let me know by leaving a comment in response to this post, so I can add you to my referral list.

Also, should my clients hire a blogging specialist to help set up their blog … or can their current Web designer do it just as well and easily?

Your thoughts?