The Case Against Blogging

Are you contemplating a leap onto the increasingly crowded blogging bandwagon? Maybe you ought to think twice. Don't get me wrong. For many entrepreneurs, blogging is a highly effective (not to mention cheap) marketing tool. But it's not for everyone. I recently spoke with Debbie Weil, author of The Corporate Blogging Book (2010 Updated Edition), about when a blog can do more harm than good. Our advice is that you should absolutely, positively not start blogging if...

• You only plan to blog about your company and its products or services. "That's boring and people will run away screaming," says Weil. "The whole point of the blog is to add value through content so a reader is inspired or they learn something new." That new widget you're releasing in a month? Put it in a press release. Mint.com, a personal finance website that was recently acquired by Intuit, does it right with MintLife, where readers can learn, for example, about how to save money while studying abroad or how much it costs to have a pet. It's about education and entertainment, not plugging the company.

• You can't commit to posting at least three times a month. Okay, the ideal frequency would be closer to at least once a week, but once every ten days keeps readers interested in checking back. "It will look like it's being kept reasonably well updated," says Weil. "Two weeks is too long between posts. Even worse than not having a blog is having one and not updating it." You don't have to write every post yourself, but make sure that whoever is writing your company blog understands why you're blogging and that posts need to sound human. Corporate speak is a huge turnoff, says Weil. Check out the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) blog which is written by a team and (believe it or not) is incredibly informative, entertaining, and sometimes funny.

• Your blog isn't part of a larger social media strategy. "A blog is the hub of social media strategy," says Weil, "but you need outposts to drive the traffic back to your hub." So that means you'd do well to hop on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube as well. Zappos, for instances, uses Twitter for customer service, and its Inside Zappos blog to communicate the online shoe company's "fun and a little weird" corporate culture. The Zappos Facebook fan page is where devotees share the Zappos love and where the company frequently posts links to new blog posts. And, of course, there's also a Zappos YouTube channel.

Blah Blah Blog image by Flickr user H. Michael Karshis, CC 2.0
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