Last week, I wrote about a new Pew Internet and American Life report on the increased use of the Internet for important decisions. Here’s a bit more Pew data that should be of interest if you’re thinking about creating an online presence for your mediation business. This data comes from a January 2005 report, so I can only imagine that the numbers have continued to increase:
- Blog readership shot up an eye-popping 58% in 2004.
- Over 6 million Americans got news and information fed to them through RSS aggregators.
- 27% of internet users say they read blogs, a 58% jump from the 17% only 11 months prior. This translates into 32 million Americans who were blog readers by the end of 2004.
- 12% of internet users have posted comments or other material on blogs, suggesting that the public is starting to catch on to ‘net interactivity.
- Blog readers are relatively well off financially (42% live in households earning over $50,000) and educated (39% have college or graduate degrees).
- Americans Using Web for Major Decisions: Can They Find You?
- Why would I want a business blog?
- Blogging Strategies for Marketing Mediation
- Using the Internet to Market: Your First New Year's Action
- Building Buzz with Blogs: Internet Marketing for Dispute Resolution Professionals (Even If You're Not a Geek!)
Pew concluded that “by the end of 2004 blogs had established themselves as a key part of online culture.” Are you blogging yet? If not, it should be part of your online marketing strategy for the coming year and beyond.
