In the interest of full disclosure, I must reveal that I am a blog enthusiast. I read them, I write them, I advertise on them. So when a new study “Harnessing the Power of Blogs” released by JupiterResearch confirmed that blogs do in fact have a measurable impact on consumers purchasing decisions, I felt more than a little vindicated.

If you have ever read Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, you are well aware of the role “Mavens” and “Connectors” play in influencing opinion. Blog readers are exactly that. They are the Mavens and Connectors of the online world. So, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that their influence online can have an offline impact.

You see, just like with “real world” Mavens, when you get your brand in front of a blog reader, you aren’t just reaching them. You get the added bonus of their 97 Twitter followers, 283 Facebook friends, 74 Del.icio.us subscribers, and 165 Gmail contacts.

While we can point to studies that show blog readers spend more money than any other demographic online, or are far more likely to click on an ad on a blog, their real value is unquantifiable.

Blogs are where conversations are taking place. Consumers are talking about your products, with or without you. Just because you can’t find a metric to measure it, doesn’t mean it isn’t effecting your reputation, or your bottom line. Dell, Jetblue, Apple, along with a host of other brands, had to learn that the hard way.

If your brand doesn’t have a blog, it should. If you don’t actively monitor the blogosphere to see what others are saying about you, you should be. And if you rule out spending money on targeted blog advertising because you don’t feel it will provide a measurable return on investment, you shouldn’t.

But, then again, I’m biased.