Blogging in business

I've been blogging since Dec 2004. I first started to try and understand why articles in newspapers and magazines were raving about them. ( I also followed the story Queen of the Sky - having picked it up on the BBC's web site. )

Now I am wondering whether to use Blogging as a way of getting into communication with my potential customer base.

The pros:

1) Get to know who you customers are.
2) Get fast feedback on issues.
3) Great for a small company with no dedicated sales or marketing effort.

The cons:

1) My industry is a conservative industry - will blogging mark me out as a potentially unreliable future employee ?
2) There is great potential for Brand damage. Just one quick thoughtless post could do a lot of damage.
3) Will I be viewed as serious ?

Also how often to update. Once a day would really encourage loyalty, but would be a lot of work. Maybe once a week is more realistic. It probably needs to be started some time before product launch to be effective - afterwards talk about the product could fill some of the articles.

This is all in the musing stage right now, but I need to make a decision soon. I think the Blog would need to link to the company and not be anonymous. I shoudl mention that sales should be to either individuals or engineering organisations.

Time to do the other part of my job and get the kids from school - I'll let you know what I decide. But please chip in with any thoughts.