Our Blog

I can remember attending a couple of fairly worthless marketing/PR trade association meetings a few years ago where the only word spilling from everyone’s mouth seemed to be “blog.”  Businesses just had to get into the act.   “Everyone” was doing it!  Don’t ask “why.”  Just blog, dammit!

 

Jump forward to 2009, and virtually everyone is doing just that.  I’m willing to bet that at least 50% of those out there blogging aren’t even sure why they do it, but they do.  Some blogs are good, some are mediocre, and some are utterly pointless.

 

This little corner of the blogosphere is not intended to serve as the pinnacle of cutting edge social media prowess.  I am not a guru/evangelist/champion/oracle when it comes to social media.  I’m just one advisor who has managed to talk a few people in the mortgage and title industries into doing a few things a little differently when it comes to marketing or PR.  This is a B2B primer for those out there saying “Yeah, I guess we need a blog.  I’m just not sure why.”  Start with these basics.

 

What’s the point of having a blog?

 

Have a purpose.  Otherwise, you might as well just keep a personal journal or diary.  Repeat after me:  “I have a reason to blog.”  Again, please.  “I have a reason to blog.”  In other words, don’t just blog for blogging’s sake.  Do it with conviction, and understand why you’re doing it.  Are you hoping to drive traffic to your corporate Web site?  Are you offering up a glimpse into your brand?  Are you looking to bring value to your customers or prospects in terms of information?  Are you trying to rebrand or rebuild a brand?  These are all valid reasons to blog—but your blog (just like an ad message should conform to a key message strategy) should reflect the goal in its content.

 

Read other blogs.  Lots of them.

 

If you’re going to take on a medium new to you, it always helps to reasearch it.  Get out there and read blogs.  Google the topics you want to blog about, follow blog posts you may see linked to your contacts on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.  Look for anything that interests you.  If you find a blog you like, chances are, the blogger will also list several other blogs on his or her site.  Check them out, too.  There are now about as many blogs in the vast expanse we call the World Wide Web as porn sites (Sorry Mom!), so you can’t go far without tripping over one.  Read one.  Read many.  What do you like about it?  What do you dislike about it?  Take on the perspective of the critical reader, and analyze why you go back to some blogs and not to others.  Keep that perspective in mind as you write.

 

Who’s going to read your blog?  Why?

 

In theory, this should flow from your strategy.  Are you writing to retain customers?  To win new customers?  The new cardinal rule of any kind of marketing or social media is that you need to deliver value (above and beyond your features and benefits—save that for the marketing collateral).  So, what’s valuable to your intended audience?  What will bring them back regularly to see the blog?  If you’re planning to simply cut and paste from the mission statement or past corporate news releases, PLEASE, stop right there.  It just won’t work.  Find the topics and subtopics of interest to your intended audience, and write about them.

 

Oh, and another point.  Social media is a fairly casual medium.  It’s hard for many business writers to wrap their heads around this point.  But personalization is now taken as a sign of authenticity when it comes to Web-based writing. Right now, the faceless corporation isn’t a very popular or trustworthy icon in the minds of consumers.  But people, with real lives and thoughts and feelings and all that un-corporate stuff—are.  Well, at least they’re authentic.  Put a name on your blog.  Use a contraction once in awhile.  Say something funny (if you’re funny).  Don’t let the lawyers write it—unless it’s a legal, case review blog of some sort.  Personalization is important.  You don’t need to talk about the nights in the frat house basement you don’t quite remember (in fact, I’d recommend against it).  But show that the writer is a person…not a spokesperson.

 

If you build it, will they come?  How would you know?

 

If you’re doing something with the point of reaching a goal, knowing if you reached that goal would be nice, dontcha’ think?  This one isn’t hard.  Align your metrics with your goal, make the supreme investment in Google metrics (it’s free) or some similar program, and determine what your numbers should look like if you hit a home run with your shiny new blog.  And don’t forget to check them.  Regularly.  Oh, and make adjustments accordingly (tweak or overhaul the content, review your traffic drivers, consider your frequency, etc.) if you don’t like the numbers.

 

Keep at it—and do something to get noticed.

 

If you’re not hitting your goals—or even if you are—keep at it.  A blog with great information that updates once a month or less won’t retain its traffic long.  People get bored quickly on the Internet, and can always find another blog to provide the perspective they’re looking for.  At a minimum, try to post 3 – 4 times a month.  And be realistic.  Do your duties at your small firm include direct sales, all marketing, all trade shows, the occasional closing, 50% travel, seven meetings a day and regularly fetching the owner’s dry cleaning?  If so, you may want to have a team of people doing the blog (make sure to let folks know who’s writing each post, though), or even a versatile, friendly consultant outside help, and keep it consistent. 

 

Not getting any traffic?  It happens.  There are hundreds of thousands of blogs out there multiplying like rabbits daily.  You have to give your future readers a nudge.  Link to your blog from your social media accounts and let people know when you have a new post.  Mention it in corporate newsletters.   Add the URL to your e-mail signature.  Post links and mentions to other bloggers with useful, related content (they’ll likely return the favor if your blog is worthy).  Anywhere you have a chance to let people know that you have useful content waiting for their perusal, then do it.

 

As I said at the top, this will not get any awards for being on the cutting edge (not unless it’s still 2005).  But if you’re a small business owner, and you feel it’s time to start a blog, this may be for you.  Good luck.