The terrific thing about blogging for business is that you have a daily opportunity to tell your brand’s story. Blog writing is the fastest and most clear platform for expressing a company’s message. Blogs can become online magazines, portfolios and biographies for businesses willing to get creative and post dynamic material. Hipster shoe manufacturer TOMS is a unique company with a one-of-a-kind business model that uses blogging to tell its ever-developing, fascinating story.

TOMS Stories is certainly a blog, but upon first glance it looks more like the product of a real content provider rather than the newsletter of a shoe company. Filled with videos, travelogues, profiles of company initiatives and human interest pieces, TOMS Stories is an online magazine talking about so much more than shoes, which makes a lot of sense. Founder Blake Mycoskie is committed to social causes, and TOMS has given away more than 2 million pairs of shoes since the company started back in 2006. Fittingly, the company blog features information and news stories on the brand’s altruistic endeavors. A recent post, for example, reported on TOMS’ recent partnership with Save the Children to help, according to the blog, “get kids moving and eating better.”

TOMS’ commitment to global causes is certainly blogworthy, but the blog also talks about the money-maker: shoes. This trendy line of footwear makes the other projects possible. Therefore, the latest boots and shoes and the people and places that inspired them are covered in the blog with photos, videos and descriptions. Glossy fashion layouts and style reports from around the web fit in seamlessly with the rest of TOMS Stories. 

Why can’t our own company blogs be great looking, fabulous reads that defy all preconceived notions? We can’t think of any good answer to that. Blog writing like TOMS Stories gives our brands and blogs the permission to be more. More interesting, more global, more involved. TOMS loads its blog with dynamic content for a variety of readers, and gives readers and followers a blog about shoes but also a whole lot more.

Purchased by Yahoo! in May for a cool $1.1 billion, Tumblr continues to be the blogging for business and social media marketing solution for savvy brands who know how to really rock the platform. Unlike other social media channels, Tumblr is powered by sharing images and interests rather than personal information. Plus many Tumblrs are single topic blogs meaning that brands that use it wisely and specifically can easily reach out to target audiences. In honor of the vast and creative landscape that is Tumblr, we’ve devoted today’s “Five Things” to branded Tumblrs that will hopefully intrigue, delight and inspire you to consider using it for your company.

1.) Los Angeles County Museum of Art: LACMA, as the locals call it, uses Tumblr to give followers an up close and personal glimpse inside the museum. From photos taken at recent events and the installations of new exhibits to art news and museum job postings, the Tumblr is as diverse as the museum’s collection. 

2.) Glamour Magazine: The fashion industry was one of the first to hop on Tumblr and to really utilize its image sharing capabilities. Glamour magazine turns its Tumblr into a visual fashion feast for the eyes. Lush photos right from the runway, delicious fashion-themed memes and arty shots that you won’t see in the print edition are the kind of thing Glamour’s Tumblr does perfectly.

3.) Nabisco: Here’s a great idea from the folks who ingeniously created Oreos. Instead of having a Tumblr created by a nameless, faceless robot, Nabisco uses a real-life correspondent to cover branded events and promotions while posting the expected coverage of products and company news.

4.) Animal Planet: Tumblr users love cute photos of animals, and cable network Animal Planet wasted no time joining the social network to contribute to the never-ending stream of aww-inducing pics. Animal Planet is a fantastic example of how honing in on Tumblr’s single topic blog searches really pays off.

5.) HarperCollins: The book is not dead! Long live the book! Or that’s the impression one gets when visiting the Tumblr of HarperCollins. The brand uses the site to tease covers of new releases, quote famous authors and give the sort of dirt book lovers are nuts about.

The art of blog creation is always evolving. Beyond posts that sell your brand, way past posts of crazy videos and even further past posts with incredible images lives infinite possibilities for your blog. Our blogs need content, so why not burst outside of the bubble and use it a variety of ways? Here are six other ways your blog can serve you and your company:

Blog as PR Maven: Blogs make great places to house press releases, articles, interviews and official statements for your company. Not only do publicity-based posts solve a content crisis, they also direct members of the media to your website. Brilliant.

Blog as Bulletin Board: Changes in hours? New location? New staff? Hiring new staff members? Return of beloved product? Use blog posts to give the skinny on all the happenings at your business. Encourage employees and customers alike to visit your blog for the newest information on your business. 

Blog as Polling Place: Polls are increasingly simple to post to blogs and, with the cooperation of social media, can be popular and fun ways to gather market research and opinions from your customers.

Blog as Bookseller: If you’re in the advice/how-to business, blogs are a terrific place to push your e-book. Same goes for romance novelists, travel writers, poets and sci-fi authors with tomes to promote. Publishing excerpts, hosting book giveaways and posting reviews are just a couple of ways your blog can help you have a bestseller.

Blog as Catalog: For e-commerce companies, blogs can double as online catalogs. With more room for more copy and bigger images than your online store, blogs can profile products like shoes, furniture and gift items with stunning detail.

Blog as Employee Hub: Big companies like airlines, soda makers and toy companies alike are using inner-company blogs for their employees to help train one another, share experiences and problem solve. Why stop there, though? Industry videos, live feed from conferences, interviews with employees and tutorials all make for terrific inner-office blog posts.

Brands dive into the blogging-for-business waters for many different reasons. Some companies find blogs to be the perfect place to post photos of new products. Others use blogging to talk about all the behind-the-scenes action happening at a busy company. And even more take up blogging to explain the services and products they offer. Yet smart brands like Frito-Lay use blogs for all those reasons while pushing the latest promotions and events.

Snack Chat is Frito-Lay’s blog, but really it serves as a visual press release and bulletin board. A busy brand like Frito-Lay, with its dozens of subsidiaries, has hundreds of PR statements, social media events and new product releases in any given month. Therefore, it makes sense that Snack Chat is given the task of reporting on each and every one. Frito-Lay also sponsors events around the globe and those too are covered here. Blogs are terrific platforms for companies that generate news stories on a regular basis. Blog posts can go further in-depth than social media posts while saving room on website front pages.

Frito-Lay also uses blogging to create excitement around social media promotions. A recent post, for example, detailed “Get Fired Up.” This Twitter party celebrates the snacking (I mean, football) season with live game day recipes, special hashtags and product giveaways. The collection of diverse posts covers everything from WWE and a health fair to National Potato Day and a profile of a recent contest winner. Snack Chat doesn’t bother with a fancy layout or ultra-modern look which could be distracting. Its simple design reinforces the direct intention to talk about Frito-Lay’s many products and promotions. 

Promotions, events, fundraising campaigns and contests are the kind of thing blogging was made for. By using social media to promote these things and to direct folks back to the blog is even more powerful and amazing for your page visits. Special promotions are fantastic bait to reel in readers to a new company blog, too. There’s no limit to the promotional ideas and specials you can create, and your blog can be an integral part of each and every one. So how will you use your blog to promote the latest and greatest happening at your business?