Company Blog: Should You or Should You Not?

By on November 21, 2006 in Blog Coach, Blogging, Conversations, Marketing with 22 Comments

I’ve noticed conversations around the blogosphere and offline about whether a company should start a blog. Here are three:

  1. Bruce Prokopets at SocialCaster shares his bottom line on a conversation between Mike Manuel and Jim Turner. Does it make sense for a local pizza company to blog?
  2. Carolyn Manning‘s recent comment here poses the question of whether its more beneficial to form a cooperative effort among like-minded businesses.
  3. An academic, overhearing a conversation I was having yesterday, asked why even have a blog when a website is less expensive and easier to modify (huh?)

Embracing these one-at-a-time:

One solution is Merchant Circle, which provides a lot of tools for a small business to use – including the customer reviews that Mike Manuel talks about. And if you’re searching for a dog groomer in Delmar, DE…

Should all companies blog? Nope.

If a company wants to build valuable relationships, engage with their customers, extend their reach, become more findable and improve their bottom line in the process (and in this order) – they will probably find value in blogging.

Reverse the order above, and its probably best not to blog at this time.

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  • http://essentialkeystrokes.com Char

    Very nice post! It kind of reminds me of conversations about 10-12 years ago when so many companies were arguing the value of having a company web site…

  • http://www.converstations.com Mike Sansone

    Bingo! It sure is an echo, isn’t it? Traveling at a faster pace.

  • http://socialcasterblog.com Bruce Prokopets

    This is my first time reading your blog and I’m damn jealous of the domain name, lol. I have to say that your post and comment on my blog are swaying me a bit. I am somewhat pro-blogger, but I’m also a realist. I have seen many teenagers, adults, and public company chairman start blogs only to let them nose dive after 30 days of no dates or sales coming from the blog. Since reading your post (and yes I did try the google searches you suggested) I feel I should refine my view on this subject. My feeling are that it really comes down to “the voice”. Uncle Vinny at the pizza joint who’s only computer experience is his cash register won’t even sit down to blog even after you made him one. On the other hand, his nephew on break from college might have alot to say about working the summer at his uncle’s restaurant and find some pretty cool pizza related links. That can then snowball into all sorts of cool things. But all this still costs time and when Uncle Vinny is looking for results, fast, he would gain more from a proactive (and possibly equally as cheap) local online marketing initiative.
    In the end, I’m not sure a blog should be explicitly built to create those kinda of results anyway. I think blogging should be fun. I think blogging is a great PR tool and with patience and maybe a bit of strategy can really generate some buzz.
    I get that. You get that. Most anyone reading this post gets that. Does Uncle Vinny? Will he ever? Seriously.
    Sansone responds: Bruce, thanks for continuing the conversation here. Yep, I’ve seen even the most engaging business owner become silent – and the least likely to succeed become an avid blogger.
    Uncle Vinny doesn’t always need to write something, pictures would be good:-) Thanks for starting a great conversation.

  • http://thoughtsphilosophies.blogspot.com Carolyn Manning

    Mike,
    I went back to my last comment and noticed Tony had referred to a ‘network’ rather than a ‘co-op’. I thought the two were interchangeable, but perhaps ‘network’ would have been a more appropriate choice of words?
    What I had in mind was basically a master blog where local companies could attach themselves and grow their own businesses, while creating a supportive community.
    Carolyn

  • Engagement Principles

    Whenever customer loyalty is critical, then blogging is an excellent idea.
    I think blogs hit their stride when used as engagement marketing toos – where an organization connects with its customers in areas of shared passions and values.
    Good examples would be organizations selling into lifestyle/leisure markets (like outdoor gear).
    Rather than sell boots, backpacks, etc, a company would blog about its commitment to the outdoors and outdoor lifestyle, connecting with customers, forming a community, and creating loyalty that extends far beyond their latest product features.
    If you view blogging as just another pipeline to stuff PR content through, then there’s probably little point.
    Creating a blog with the intention to engage is – I’m starting to believe – the key to success.
    Sansone response:Great analogy. Engage in a conversation that the reader will find valuable – and it’s not always about our product or service – but what that product or service provides.
    “Intention to Engage” – I like it.

  • http://www.onebyonemedia.com Jim Turner

    I think Mike and I decided that blogging locally can be broken down into blogs that are used for the macro purpose of the micro purpose. I still beleive that a blog is good for every company be it local or glogal I am currently in Housaton visiting family and if I want to find the best pizza locally, I might use Google and get a pizza blog down the street. I might choose them just based on the fact they have a blog!
    Jim

  • http://successfromthenest.com Tony D. Clark

    Carolyn – I guess I usually think of a blog co-op as one blog with several contributors, and a blog network consisting of several individual blogs that fall under some umbrella.
    But it’s a great point either way. Many dog grooming blogs, maybe with other similar service blogs like trainers, that cross promote and create a supportive community (to use your words – because that says it very well).
    I still think it would incredibly fascinating to track these types of social tools back to specific business goals. Most small businesses I work with are so passionate about what they do and knowledgeable about their field, it would be very cool to spread that out into the “conversphere” and see what results come back.

  • http://thoughtsphilosophies.blogspot.com Carolyn Manning

    Tony,
    Great word: conversphere.
    Tracking would make for some fascinating insights because the collaborative effort will necessarily change many initial goals. When an individual, or a company, works alone, ideas can be kind of dead-ended. But add a bunch of different ideas and, well, who knows?
    Carolyn

  • http://www.allbusiness.com/blog/CustomerServiceExperience/10783 Glenn (Customer Service Experience) Ross

    Jim,
    As a blogger, I appreciate your willingness to select a business based on whether or not they blog. But, I wonder if there is a sufficient number of people out there who would do the same. There might not be a good ROI for the business to blog for that reason, especially since they’d have to get a sufficient ranking to be on the front page of the search results. (When I want pizza, I want it NOW and I ain’t scrollin’ through 10 pages of search results.-)
    I do believe that Mike has listed the reasons to blog in the right order.
    Regards,
    Glenn

  • http://www.onebyonemedia.com Jim Turner

    Glenn,
    The good news to your argument is that if you are a pizza shop and you are in fact blogging, chances are pretty good that you will be on the first page of the Google search. I you blog and use simple key words like Pizza and the name of your town, or best pizza in town or the like, those key phrases will be spidered to allow you to be in the search results I’m looking for. Check out the word “Genuine” It’s just a daddy blog, I’ve used know SEO tactics, but I am competing with companies like microsoft and Genuine advantage software. Genuine software company and Genuine scooters. This is the power of blogging, be it local or global.
    Jim

  • http://successcreeations.com/ Chris Cree

    Reading through the comments here, I realize the one I just left at the Blogarithmics post really fits in the discussion better over here. Since I’m wordy I’ll just link to it here rather than clog up your comments, Mike. ;)
    Sansone responds Thanks:-) We’re thinking alike (on the clogging, not the wordiness)

  • http://www.converstations.com Mike Sansone

    Great conversations here! I may add a response within comments above here and there.

  • http://www.converstations.com Mike Sansone

    Some great points here. I think that every company should at least listen to the blogosphere by reading. Not everything, but things said about their company, their clients, maybe their competition.
    Human nature might take over though. How long can one listen without chiming in?
    Caring to engage is key I think. I agree with Carolyn – loving the word “conversphere”.
    I’ve had a few people tell me that when they see a company that blogs, they are apt to remember them for future use – they don’t go looking for them (yet).
    Will we get to the point of a customer searching for: auto repair blog urbana?

  • http://www.merchantcircle.com Kevin

    There’s over 60,000 merchants who’ve already claimed their business listing on MerchantCircle and that number continues to grow at a phenomenal rate!
    It’s great to see the Merchants who take advantage of all the FREE features, like blog, post pictures, build coupons and write newsletters to their customers. We cheer for them everytime one of them becomes the top search engine result from their hard work.
    Blogs definitely give a business character, something that’s sometimes hard to define or convey on the web.
    We’re glad we can be of help.

  • http://aldocoffee.com RichW

    Having used only a blog since we opened (and having blogged for my other business since late 2002) I can’t imagine having only a static website. It’s a matter of tools getting better – another local coffeehouse is using a WordPress mod to create something that sort of marries both static and blog very nicely (www.tazzadoro.net).
    The blogging is easier now. And as Mike points out, the Google bennies alone are great.
    Where it gets tricky and time consuming for us is wrapping our arms around the RSS component. Regardless how ‘easy’ it may seem to be to move everything over to Feedburner or something similar to enable better tracking, it’s nonetheless something we dread doing and have been putting off.
    Likewise, a few weeks ago Mike pointed out that Panera was sending off RSS feeds of its daily specials. We did that when we opened and kept it up for a couple of months when things were simple. But that got to be a royal pain since many times we had to change our offerings. Even now, lots of days I don’t know exactly what soup I’m making until I get to the store because I go shopping on my way in. So to fully utilize RSS, I need to completely overhaul how I organize the menu and offerings every day.
    I guess what I’m saying is that blogs for us have moved from the tactical to the strategic…

  • http://www.converstations.com Mike Sansone

    > Kevin, keep up the great work! Every small business should claim their MerchantCircle listing – it doesn’t have to be a replacement for other efforts, but there are some valuable tools there. Thank you!
    > Rich – you continue leading the way, both as an example online and the willingness to share your experiences with others. Thank you!

  • Brett Trout

    Great post Mike! That is my philosophy as well. If blogs create transparency and let customers know the real you, what is a customer to assume when they see you refuse to blog? Pretty soon, customers will realize that the only ones who are not blogging are the bad guys (and bad gals) who cannot afford to allow customers to see the real them. Blogging definitely provides a huge leg up to honest, intelligent, skilled professionals like you!

  • Michelle

    Hello all,
    I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Blessed Holiday Season into the New Year of 2007. I just started blogging to meet and greet potential customers so that they can get to know me and what my business is about. I am a singer/songwriter and in addition CEO of my own entertainment company. My vision is to encourage the professional artist in his/her endeavor to make a living while pursuing their passion of music and art. I hope to help change the global music industry for the better while simultaneously attempting to educate the private and corporate sector of what true professional musicianship is….Hopefully my efforts will somehow culminate in true performing and recording artists being appreciated more in the financial realm for their futures….stop by sometime and give me a shout out… :)
    Michelle

  • Idetrorce

    very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
    Idetrorce

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  • http://www.merchantcircle.com Kevin L.

    MerchantCircle is proud to help more than 500,000 local businesses acquire customers by offering an alternative to over-priced, ineffective offline marketing channels. Find out what local merchants in all 50 states say about their MerchantCircle experience here: http://www.visualcv.com/merchantcircle.

    We’re committed to providing every local business a web presence, easy-to-use marekting tools and a platform for connecting with other merchants, all for free. As always, please email any questions or concerns to support@merchantcircle.com and we will respond as soon as possible.

  • MisterSparky-Houston

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