My goal was to determine whether the concept of Business and Blogging could be carried over to the search and investigation of the MBA experience at a personalized level. I encountered some challenges in locating the desired information however this is often the case when performing researched based literature searches.
The blogs were variable in their content but a select few provided endless amounts of data for prospective, current or post MBA grads. These blogs also linked to sites of similar interest and advertised local MBA programs which is a huge plus for the universities looking to recruit applicants.
Given the press over the last few years around blogs and their necessity within the business realm, it appears to me that MBA programs are also taking on this type of marketing strategy. As we learned in class, the construction of such a marketing tool is relatively inexpensive and without it, one could lose out on potential customers who opt for another university that does have one available to peruse.
While I had thought the blogs on personal accounts would be the most valuable I soon realized that my attention was captured better at a more structured respectable blog.
I suppose one could make the analogy of blogs to websites going back several years. When stores did not have online shopping, people would move on to the next best spot that would allow that customer to purchase electronically. We are in an electronic age where we are utterly dependent on technology in order to perform daily tasks. Why would this not expand into our desire to expand our future through education? It seems completely logical to me.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Boston Based
Finally, I was in the pursuit of university business school blogs in the Boston area. Both Harvard (HBS), MIT (Sloan) and Babson blogs were easy finds. Boston College, Boston University and Northeastern University were without personal business school blogs.
Having learned of the fierce competition for students amongst these competitive schools, it would be of interest for those without blogs to look into developing their own. As Professor Watson indicated, either blog or be blogged and this proved to be true for all universities listed above.
Having learned of the fierce competition for students amongst these competitive schools, it would be of interest for those without blogs to look into developing their own. As Professor Watson indicated, either blog or be blogged and this proved to be true for all universities listed above.
Getting back to Google
Now slightly frustrated and unsatisfied with the lack of information found at what appeared to be a more personalized search engines for blogs, I have turned to the ever faithful google search engine. Trying again, I typed in 'MBA'.
What a difference! Immediately I am flooded with personal MBA blogs and one of substantial interest: www.mbadepot.com. This particular blog has endless information which can be personalized to your school or school of interest. Created by a former University of Texas, Austin MBA student, this site, while very busy in appearance, captures the pre, during and post MBA experience.
From this site, I then began clicking on blogs that were personalized such as personalmba.com and one about an Indian youth searching for someone who pursued something similar to what she was looking for. I initially had thought these were the types of blogs that would provide me with that level of knowledge only captured by those who knew the reality of MBA live and specific to their school. The personal blogs were not satisfying to me.
Actually, many of the accounts either were personal bragging blogs about the schools that he or she had been accepted to or their struggles with funding and deciding where to go.
Finally, one blog took me to a business week blog (www.mbablogs.businessweek.com) which provided a vast realm of information. I scanned 7 or 8 blogs in a few minutes and immediately found several which could provide me with some insight and satisfy the information search I was looking for all in this one location! In addition, the fact that these posts are found on a reputable business magazine website, I am much more comfortable in taking stock in what is posted.
What a difference! Immediately I am flooded with personal MBA blogs and one of substantial interest: www.mbadepot.com. This particular blog has endless information which can be personalized to your school or school of interest. Created by a former University of Texas, Austin MBA student, this site, while very busy in appearance, captures the pre, during and post MBA experience.
From this site, I then began clicking on blogs that were personalized such as personalmba.com and one about an Indian youth searching for someone who pursued something similar to what she was looking for. I initially had thought these were the types of blogs that would provide me with that level of knowledge only captured by those who knew the reality of MBA live and specific to their school. The personal blogs were not satisfying to me.
Actually, many of the accounts either were personal bragging blogs about the schools that he or she had been accepted to or their struggles with funding and deciding where to go.
Finally, one blog took me to a business week blog (www.mbablogs.businessweek.com) which provided a vast realm of information. I scanned 7 or 8 blogs in a few minutes and immediately found several which could provide me with some insight and satisfy the information search I was looking for all in this one location! In addition, the fact that these posts are found on a reputable business magazine website, I am much more comfortable in taking stock in what is posted.
Technorati Searching...
After spending some time in class looking at the Technorati site, I started my MBA blog search at this location. My first impression of this site was that it had the look and feel of something that could also be found at youtube. Lots of scattered abbreviations, items in quotations, top 10 searches (today being Britney Spears) and top videos. My immediate thought was that the information I found may not be the most relevant to a student looking for insight on their MBA adventure.
Typing in 'MBA' in the search field for the site brought disappointing results. The first four or five entries were merely symbols and incomprehensible to the average person. What was of interest was two advertisements for USC and Babson's MBA program. Clicking on the link to Babson's provided site brought me to a place where I can send away for information to be mailed to me.
So, I went back to the search field and now typed in graduate business schools. Again, disappointed with the complete lack of relevant results. However, I was presented with a link to Northeastern University and MBA programs.
This link was much more valuable that the one provided by Babson as I was able to investigate programs directly from that link. Dates for information sessions and links to university publications were available but no blog was apparent from this location.
At this point I have become frustrated and decided to look elsewhere for potential blogs on MBA programs but both Babson and Northeastern stick out in my mind as they were two schools advertised on Technorati's site. Its a beginning...
Typing in 'MBA' in the search field for the site brought disappointing results. The first four or five entries were merely symbols and incomprehensible to the average person. What was of interest was two advertisements for USC and Babson's MBA program. Clicking on the link to Babson's provided site brought me to a place where I can send away for information to be mailed to me.
So, I went back to the search field and now typed in graduate business schools. Again, disappointed with the complete lack of relevant results. However, I was presented with a link to Northeastern University and MBA programs.
This link was much more valuable that the one provided by Babson as I was able to investigate programs directly from that link. Dates for information sessions and links to university publications were available but no blog was apparent from this location.
At this point I have become frustrated and decided to look elsewhere for potential blogs on MBA programs but both Babson and Northeastern stick out in my mind as they were two schools advertised on Technorati's site. Its a beginning...
Enlightenment
Over the last few weeks, I have become much more educated on what a blog is and how it differs from a web page. Through my graduate school MBA course in Blogging and Business, I have discovered that there are 9 million blogs available for internet surfers to read and 40,000 new ones popping up each day.
I soon came to realize that I had been reading different types of blogs each day but had not realized that these were blogs in fact. These resources can be viewed as advertisements for one's product, either desirable or undesirable depending on the tone and goal of the blog. Most importantly they are written by an individual, creating a personalized experience for the reader.
As Americans, we tend to feel much more comfortable with a company or service when we feel that there is a person to person connection rather than being just a number. Some companies are more successful at capturing their audience through blogs than others, for what reason is not consistently apparent to myself.
Where blogs seem to be reported and discussed as necessary elements of businesses in this day and age I began to think about how this can change marketing strategies for companies. Taking this one step further, I began to wonder if MBA programs were being blogged about and possibly influencing potential student's decision to pursue and or where to pursue a MBA.
This blog will evaluate two different search engines on blogs and the respective blogs that are available on how useful the information is to the public as well as whether top business programs are following the corporate culture to blog on their programs
I soon came to realize that I had been reading different types of blogs each day but had not realized that these were blogs in fact. These resources can be viewed as advertisements for one's product, either desirable or undesirable depending on the tone and goal of the blog. Most importantly they are written by an individual, creating a personalized experience for the reader.
As Americans, we tend to feel much more comfortable with a company or service when we feel that there is a person to person connection rather than being just a number. Some companies are more successful at capturing their audience through blogs than others, for what reason is not consistently apparent to myself.
Where blogs seem to be reported and discussed as necessary elements of businesses in this day and age I began to think about how this can change marketing strategies for companies. Taking this one step further, I began to wonder if MBA programs were being blogged about and possibly influencing potential student's decision to pursue and or where to pursue a MBA.
This blog will evaluate two different search engines on blogs and the respective blogs that are available on how useful the information is to the public as well as whether top business programs are following the corporate culture to blog on their programs
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