Blogging with Besen Retail

Blog. Blogging. Blogger. You've heard the words thousands of times, but what exactly do they mean? The word "blog" came about as a truncation of the word web log, defined as a website that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and likes to other websites and sources provided by the writer. The first known use of a blog on a mainstream news site was in August 1998, when Jonathan Dube of The Charlotte Observer published an ongoing web log reporting the effects of Hurricane Bonnie. So how big is this blogging network? It has been reported that approximately 2 million blogs have been activated in 2003, a number which has skyrocketed to 15.5 million in 2007, and up to a whopping 400 million in 2010 (statistics via technorati.com). With all these blogs existing within the blogoshere, how would one categorize them? Personal: A collection of journal entries, photographs, videos and other forms of media that an individual stores at a specific Internet address. Basically, a public scrapbook of the author's life. Journalistic: The latest in world news, politics, sports, science, technology, and celebrity news. Corporate: Blogs used internally to enhance the communication and culture within a corporation or externally for marketing, branding or public relations. Now what does all of this mean to a retail leasing company? Enter The Besen Retail Blog: As the editor of The Besen Retail Blog, it is my job to create and maintain this virtual smorgasbord of personal, corporate, and journalistic perspectives on retail leasing. The foundation of a retail leasing company is the ability to connect the dots between tenants, owners, and retail properties. This interactive space within The Besen Retail Blog provides us with a medium to advertise exclusive listings, showcase deals, and offer a unique insight on the retail happenings of New York City. Creating this blog has helped us achieve our goal of keeping store owners, potential tenants, and basically anyone who is interested in their neighborhood's happenings up to date with the latest retail news. Long story short, check us out at besenretailblog.com. Jerry Dweck is a marketing & research associate at Besen Retail LLC and is the editor of The Besen Retail Blog, New York, N.Y.