Corporate blogging is one of the emerging careers in marketing and PR circles. As more people use the Internet daily to get their news, check out companies they are interested in dealing with or working for, compare information about future purchases and communicate with colleagues and friends, a growing number of businesses are using blogs to communicate better online. Blogs can help a business accomplish several things: Adopt a more relaxed and natural tone and start conversations with the public. Build up good content about the company, its activities, people and products Put a 'human face' on the business Increase search engine visibility ? which positively affects brand perception Create a thought leader profile for the person writing the blog or the company sponsoring the blog Position you as a 'News Master' in your industry Companies like Stonyfield Farm and CareerBuilder.com went the route of hiring an in house blogger. IBM and Microsoft encourage their employees to blog in addition to their normal duties. Some companies are adding blogging to the job description for their marketing and PR employees. "Blogging can be an effective tool," says Doug Hay, CEO of ExpansionPlus, a firm that sponsors the Internet Marketing Forum, a series of seminars for CEOs and CMOs who want to get familiar with Internet marketing strategies. "You can set up a blog on a free platform in a matter of minutes. But unless you have a sound content strategy and someone who can write good material at least three times a week, you won?t get results. Blogs and RSS feeds are all about content." "Blogs have gotten a lot of attention because they've proven effective at influencing decision-makers, which is what marketing is all about," said Charlene Li of Forrester Research in an ECommerce Times article this week. Writing in Corante, Dana Blankenhorn gives Seven Rules for Corporate Blogging - "Have an outsider do it," he says. "An insider has better things to do and they're too close to the story." Salaries being offered for in house bloggers range from $40 000 to $70 000. Outsourcing the work to an Internet marketing agency runs around $30 000. Depending on your goals and the marketing results you're after, outsourcing your blog looks like a good strategy. This article is free for republishing