I recently journeyed to the orient for two weeks to teach
English, eat spicy food, and realize the potential of this fine country. This
experience left me with something more than a new posse of 3rd grade friends and a
stomach full of Tums; it gave me a first hand look at the rise of
a superpower.
The city in discussion is Shanghai. Anyone from a professor to a
contractor can highlight the technical points of how the urban development plan
is going to unfold, but you will never truly understand it until you see the
massive skyscrapers being built as if they were going out of style. The
best way I can represent this to someone who has not traveled there is through
this website: Shanghai
Urban Development Exhibit. This caption from the exhibit is one of
the most amazing city displays I have ever seen. The true nature of what
is happening is outlined by this floor display. I could go on and rave
for days about this exhibit, but I'll divert you to this site as a deeper
reference. Professional
TravelGuide.
How does this relate to blogging? Well, the exhibit itself has only indirect
ties to blogging. The direct relationship is in the promise of the
exhibit. Construction is already underway on achieving this dream, which
is projected to account for almost 19
million inhabitants in the city; compare this to New York City's 8.25 million.
Furthermore, the need for businesses to advertise to all 19 million inhabitants
will certainly increase proportionally to the population size. How could
a company in Shanghai or a company planning on being in Shanghai cope with this
advertising need? Business owned blogs.
It is already too hard for individuals in countries such as China to maintain a
personal blog due to the restrictions of the government. The only way a
company could utilize such a blog tool would be through a monitored and
code-conforming administrative layer. By meeting certain criteria for
posts, a company can ensure that all content posted is pertinent and meets
regulatory standards.
In a city such as Shanghai, it is important to establish a well known blog
image and gain a significant market share before the initial boom. Doing
so would put that blog name in the mouths of almost 19 million people.
Ask any U.S citizen who uses the internet on a daily basis about which search
engine they use and I guarantee that Google, Yahoo, or MSN are the top three
choices. The reason being? These companies have been around
since the early years of the internet and maintain a prestigious brand
image. Model a business blog strategy off this example and that blog may become the front runner in the industry.
Some blogs that I found along the way in my research of
China:
Shanghaiist
All Roads Lead to China
Technomic Asia
Check these sites out for more information on the developing nation. You
may be surprised at how fast this nation is growing.
