“Writing a blog is like writing thoughts on pieces of paper and throwing them over a wall”
What lovely imagery, but an alarming start to a talk about blogging. Blogging for business, at that. We gathered in the Agency.com and Tequila’s bar for the 26 event, trying to match the faces to the blogs, blogs which command impressive followings of 60- 70, 000 subscribers. We were in the company of experienced bloggers, who were knowledgeable, personable and poised orators.
So what did we learn? Much of it was logical and verging on the obvious, but then some of the best ideas are, the ground rules of any blog but especially for business are to inform, entertain, teach and solve problems. However to make a great blog you must try and be unique, remarkable and targeted. Makes sense right?
A common grumbling from non-bloggers to bloggers is ‘where do you find the time?’, but it really implies “someone’s got too much time on their hands…” however the frequent response is you make the time, you carve it from your day. Any free minutes you have, you spend it on your blog to keep your it fresh, well you have to don’t you? Otherwise your blog and business’ voice dries up.
Further insights included before starting a blog ask yourself, your company: “What do I/we do naturally and can it become social?” That might mean simply listening and talking to your audience, it might mean teaching them something, for free. If you are prepared to give content away for free, it might seem counter-intuitive but the customers (and their money) will come to you. It’s a matter of trust and creating advocates and followers of you and your brand. These advocates will spread your message, now that is priceless.
So if you do think that writing a blog is like writing thoughts on paper and throwing them over a wall, why not try it out, like putting messages in to bottles, something magical may come from it.
Photo: Mrlomo
