As the Know More Media business blog network enters its third year, let me share a few lessons I have learned about the personal power of professional blogging:

1. Numbers mean nothing without people. For two years now, our network has worked hard to build strong audiences and valuable conversations around niche business topics. Part of that building effort has meant nearly obsessive-compulsive statistical analysis and constant number-crunching. But every page view (barring electronic miscues) means a human visitor. Every feed or email subscription means a person who cares about a topic who has decided to invest some time in our blogs on a recurring basis. Every email, IM conversation and phone call means a chance to connect on a personal level. And all these signals are amplified through the conversational power of blogging.

2. Digital conversations can change tangible things. You are now reading zeroes and ones interpreted by boxes and hurtled through space at breakneck velocity. Shut off the boxes and this inner world vanishes. But you may remember the ideas you have accessed, and you may decide to apply them to real situations in your life.

3. Strong friendships and meaningful business relationships can arise from blog conversations. As individuals comment on our blogs and establish contact with our expert bloggers, I see many fruitful connections germinating between human beings. Thanks to the easy comment/trackback feedback system built into the blog platform, and thanks to the automatic indexing of our content through Web feeds integrated into that platform, we are able to jump-start conversations that lead to real professional collaboration.

4. Professionals can use blogs to increase their power to affect individuals intellectually and emotionally. Blogs encourage open discussion, which helps people enrich their online experiences.

5. Blogging and offline conversations can enhance each other. As professionals blog online and converse offline, the quality of what they publish and say can improve.

I've been blessed to have so many rewarding interactions with other people through the medium of business blogging that I could not write them all if I had a thousand pages.

And thanks to the evolution of new media, by this time next year I would have to change that last sentence to ten thousand.

Thank you for making business blogs a source of personal growth and enjoyment for all of us at Know More Media!