A blog is a frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links although the concept of blogs being “personal” is changing over time as more and businesses see them as a valuable business tool.

A blog is often a mixture of what is happening in a person’s life and what is happening on the Web or in business, a kind of hybrid diary/guide site, although there are as many unique types of blogs as there are people.

People maintained blogs long before the term was coined, but the trend gained momentum with the introduction of automated published systems such as Blogger at blogger.com and wordpress.com. Thousands of people use services such as Blogger to simplify and accelerate the publishing process.

Blogs are alternatively called web logs or weblogs. However, “blog” seems less likely to cause confusion, as “web log” can also mean a server’s log files.

Some major corporations’ web sites contain internal blogs, where employees can post their thoughts, ideas and more; sometimes they are public, sometimes not.

It has became possible for anyone with a computer and a web site somewhere to publish their work and have it visible anywhere around the world in seconds. Now, anyone can spread their message, instantly. Aspiring and established writers alike can bypass the traditional publishing industry, and disseminate their work directly to the public.

As powerful as this may seem, the real power lies in syndication, which gives any writer the ability to broadly distribute their writings by plugging the content into an RSS feed: Really Simple Syndication.

Because of RSS you can now have your content spread through the entire internet immediately, to build an audience overnight with no technical skills at all, and you’ve just tapped into the ultimate in viral marketing and branding.

If you are thinking about using a blog for your business, the key to remember in making a blog work for you is to focus on a topic that relates to your work and or expertise.