Here's an alternative view...

Put your 'customer' hat on again. How would you feel if you clicked through to a web site where you discovered that it was devoted to solving your specific problem? How about a web site where it is totally clear that they understand you, know kind of things you are looking for and they actually give a damn about you as a person?

How would you describe your web sites?

Are they product driven or are they customer driven?

Is your copy focused on customers needs or on extracting customers cash?

Do you go out of your way to get to know your customer?

Have you a system in place that allows you to build a relationship with your visitors?

Take some time to visit your own web site - walk in your customers shoes as they travel through ordering process and then look out for things that you could change to demonstrate that you really DO care about your customers.

Then IMPLEMENT those changes!

5. We've become a less formal culture. These days, our world is all untucked; clothing is big and slouchy, coffee is slurped in paper cups on run. Even TV has let down its defenses, showing us as we 'really' are. So it makes sense that blogs, which feature faster, less formal entries more in style of a diary, are becoming bigger than ezines. Blogs are casual. Ezines take planning, layout, require regular entries and take a lot more time.

6. Blogging is faster. How long does it take to make an entry? Five to ten minutes, I'd say. My ezine, meanwhile, takes 1-2 hours. Yes, you need to do more blog entries, but they're hardly brain surgery. Instead, they are quick insights you offer up from your life on go. And so they are read in same spirit.

7. Blogs are beloved by media. This is where a majority of all media research on who's who and what they're up to is now done. It used to be that your credibility as a media subject was evaluated strictly by your site; that's where media looked first to get a beat on you. Know they want to know what you're posting on your blog -- even if it doesn't have a 'media room' like your site (hopefully you'd have that linked somehow in your margins.) And they want to know what kinds of posts and comments your getting.

If you're still working on building up your ezine list, I recommend you beef it up by including a blog in your offerings. It will energize your website, attract Google and Yahoo ranking and generally create more buzz.

If you have a blog but have not maximized it by setting up a name capture tool, or do not post frequently, give that a whirl, too. You'll be amazed at who stops by!

And if you have thoughts on tender blog-ezine dynamic, email them to me -- or even better, drop by my blog and post them on most recent comment. Then we'll all be able to see them and add comments of our own.

Here's to continuing discussion. May your blog bring your platform, and set people talking!