"Readers of blogs view the information shared by smart bloggers as one of the few forms of real, authentic communication there is," Scott says. "Audiences consume advertising with skepticism and consider pronouncements by CEOs to be out of touch with reality. But a good blog written by someone within a large or small company, a nonprofit, a church, or a political campaign commands attention."

For decades, only journalists held the power to make or break a story

Over the course of more than a year of research for his upcoming book, Scott reviewed hundreds of blogs and interviewed dozens of bloggers who have found success. Scott found that corporate blogs are often misunderstood by journalists as well as public relations and marketing professionals because the business bloggers' goal of promoting a single point of view is dramatically different than the journalist's goal of providing a balanced perspective. But once a viewpoint enters into the sprawling marketplace of ideas and is indexed by search engines and delivered via RSS feeds to millions of individuals worldwide, those thoughts and ideas demand attention.

"For decades, only journalists held the power to make or break a story," Scott says. "But today the Web is like a huge online city teaming with individuals and organizations of all kinds. Corporate blogs written by employees are the sounds of independent voices just like the sports fan on the barstool or that friend of yours who knows everything about stereo equipment. Corporate blogs and business bloggers are now important and valuable alternative sources of information, not unlike your next-door neighbor or the helpful salesperson at your favorite shop."

Scott's book "The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to use news releases, blogs, podcasts, viral marketing & online media to reach your buyers directly" will be published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in June 2007. The book, featuring a foreword by Robert Scoble, Vice President Media Development at PodTech.net, co-author of Naked Conversations, and one of the world's most popular bloggers at Scobleizer.com is available for pre-order at Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com and wherever business books are sold. ISBN: 0-470-11345-6

David Meerman Scott is an online thought leadership and viral marketing strategist. The programs he has developed have won numerous awards and are responsible for selling over one billion dollars in products and services worldwide. He is also an instructor for Pragmatic Marketing and he has lived and worked in New York, Tokyo, Boston, and Hong Kong and has presented at industry conferences and events in over twenty countries on four continents. Check out Scott's ideas on his own popular marketing blog.