How many blogs do you read a day?  One?  Five?  Twenty?  Chances are, at least one of your "regular websites" is really a blog, whether you know it or not.  More and more, people are turning to blogs for the back-and-forth exchange and interactivity that they offer.  And, according to Nielsen//NetRatings findings, as reported by Micro Persuasion, the media is picking up on this growing trend.

In December 2006, blogs accounted for 13 percent of overall traffic to newspaper's websites (which represents almost 4 million visits).  A year ago, blogs were only bringing 4% of the readers to newspaper sites.

But newspapers aren't the only businesses that can benefit from a blog.  Corporate blogs are also on the rise.  In fact, just the other day I participated in a Microsoft survey asking specifically about corporate blog writing.  The technology giant wanted to know what people thought about corporate blogs and whether or not its customers would read such blogs if they were made more readily available.

As the Micro Persuasion article points out, the exchange of dialog on a blog can dramatically change the way companies share information and solicit customer feedback.

So does your company have one yet?  A blog, that is.  And if not… what are you waiting for?  You don't even have to be a good writer to use a blog.  If your writing is that bad, do what I did:  find someone who can write to turn your ideas and thoughts into legible text.