A wise person once said, “Blogs are like golf; each year a million people take up golf, and each year a million people quit golf.” As we see clients struggle with corporate blogs, we agree.

Many blogs that were started with good intentions gradually die on the vine. Companies, executives and corporate blog writers struggle with what to say in a blog, how to say it and how frequently to say it.

It’s also fair to say that the “bloom is off the rose” when it comes to corporate blogging. It’s no longer viewed as a panacea. Customers will not be flocking to your door just because you are blogging (or tweeting for that matter). But blogging does have some advantages:

• A blog writer can say things quickly and less formally than might otherwise be the case with your website or other corporate communications vehicles. Blogs have the benefit of immediacy (with no requirement for a webmaster’s help) and alacrity.
• It can be a great “rapid response” vehicle, allowing you to quickly react to an industry, corporate or competitive issue or statement
• It can help your search rankings and drive traffic to your site
• It allows for feedback and interactivity, so you can get a sense for what your readers (or customers) think
• It provides a forum for repurposing content that you may have used elsewhere, thereby getting additional “mileage” out of it

But to be successful with blogging, you have to recognize some key differences:

• The best blogs are personified. Readers like to feel like they know the blog writer and feel some of the blog writer’s personality and humanity come through. One good way to do this is via the slice-of-life approach; what happened to you today that relates to some business insight you can offer?
• Blogs should not be looked at in the traditional sense as corporate communications. If you just regurgitate press releases, or take very little risk with your blog posts, you will not attract very many readers.
• Blogs have to be kept up. Once you fall behind, you are dead. We should know. We struggle with our blog as well.

Several years ago, we wrote a white paper on corporate blogging. While the environment has changed since that time, many of the fundamentals of good corporate blogging have not.

Download our white paper on corporate blogging: To Blog or Not to Blog?

If you need a good blog writer, or someone to help you with blogging strategy, we can help. We’ve learned most of the lessons.

Please fill out the form below and provide us with any other information that will help us assess the project. Better yet, call us at 770-457-2489 ext 227.