If you've got it, flaunt it. Or so the saying goes.

In an online financial services first, newly launched person-to-person loan marketplace Prosper (Netbanker Archives) includes an "In the Blogs" section in its online Media Room. The link, positioned between the traditional "In the News" and "Press Releases" sections, allows users to easily read about the company in pre-selected online blogs (click on inset for a closeup).

This provides much more material to view than the three news articles and single press release the 3-week-old company has posted. The company has control over the content; so don't expect to see links to any ProsperSucks blogs down the road. 

For Prosper, the blog links provide several benefits:

• Several are authored by Prosper group leaders, so they contain ongoing encouragement for the lending exchange
• The newness of their business model provides good fodder for inclusion in wide variety of blogs
• They are too new to have much negative talk in the blogs

Action items
Most financial institutions receive little press play, there just isn't that much newsworthy in the daily battle to sell and service deposit and loan accounts. However, if you are well received in your community, you may be receiving good feedback from local bloggers. Linking to these posts could be a valuable addition to your "About Us" section.

--JB