Why Not Here?

David Brooks says the most powerful question in the world today is Why Not Here?
He writes in the aftermath of the Iraqi election, that people around the Arab world look at voters in Iraq and ask, why not here? He writes about Thomas Kuhn who wrote The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

Thomas Kuhn famously argued that science advances not gradually but in jolts, through a series of raw and jagged paradigm shifts. Somebody sees a problem differently, and suddenly everybody's vantage point changes.

He reports that the head of the Syrian Press Syndicate said, "There's a new world out there and a new reality.  You can no longer have business as usual."

It's the same with business, marketing and public relations.  There's a new world out there and a new reality.  It's the blogosphere, the millions of personal blogs and websites, that can boost or bollix your business.  You can't deny it or ignore it.  You must deal with it, sooner or later.  Why not now?

Why not here?
It's no longer a question of should your business blog, but how do you implement blogs in your business.  The technological tools are here.  The question today, and it's a harder one,  is what is your blog strategy.

Do you want a public blog to have a continuing conversation with your customers.
Do you want an internal blog for your employees.
Do you need a crisis blog, a prepared website with emergency numbers and resources, that you and others use to communicate when an PR or natural disaster occurs.

or do you just want to play defense and keep track of what blogs are saying about you and your products?