5 Reasons Your Company Should NOT Have a Blog…

By on January 26, 2007 in Conversations, Marketing with 6 Comments

Business folks I talk with are a bit surprised when I say, "You probably shouldn’t have a blog…yet." In most cases, it’s in response to these tactics:

  1. Hot Marketing Tool – Blogs can be Conversation Stations – a vehicle to engage with your customers. Using a blog as a soapbox for a marketing monologue will not only get discouraging fast, but could drive current customers away.
  2. Ghost Blogger – When a company says they’re going to have an anonymous writer for the blog, or someone writing for the principal face/voice, I start waving a red flag. Boo! on Ghost Writing
  3. Repurpose Content – A good idea if used sparingly and if you make the copy conversational – or take snippets from your brochures and white papers and expand on the thought. But if you’re going to use the blog as simply another channel for that dry material, think again. People don’t read your brochures (do you read theirs?), so why think they would read it on a blog? Remember, it’s a conversation.
  4. Old College Try – This is why I ask for a three-month commitment. The old college try is like sitting at the edge of the swimming pool and paddling your dangling feet. You never really went swimming.
  5. Won’t or Don’t Read Other Blogs – This could be a 500-word post on its own. Again, it’s a conversational tool. Blogging has two roles – just like any other good conversation.

If your blogging efforts tank, you look bad, I look bad, blogging looks bad…your prospects look elsewhere.

I think every company and business leader should be blogging (verb) right now – at least the reading and researching part.

I think every company and business leader would be wise to start working with a blog (noun) – at least behind a firewall or hidden from indexing and start working on their strategy and voice.

Look, the lightbulb wasn’t invented by someone just plugging an electrical cord into a candle. Look beyond what you’ve been doing to reach your customers. Be open to new possibilities.

I forget who said it, but remember this: If Union Pacific Railroad saw the potential of passenger transportation, maybe we’d be flying Union Pacific Airlines.

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  • http://essentialkeystrokes.com Char

    You hit the nail on the head with this one. I know people who are guilty of #2, 3 and 5 and wonder why their blog is just not taking off. I think I will subtly pass this on.

  • http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/ Michael A. Stelzner

    Hi Mike;
    You are on to something here when you mention repurposing white papers.
    Sections of a paper, for example “the benefits of XYZ” might be appropriately respun into a blog entry (of course with a bit of added dialog).
    The only issue is the tone. White papers are often not that personal one-on-one discussion that seems so successful in blogs.
    Mike

  • http://www.qaqna.com/ Tom Vander Well

    5 more reasons your company should NOT blog:
    1. You don’t need new customers
    2. You don’t care what your customers are saying
    3. You’re set in your ways (nice leisure suit, btw)
    4. You’re fine with what you’ve always done (oh, you mailed out a direct marketing piece? I must have pitched it with the Pizza coupons and credit card offers – sorry)
    5. You really don’t have anything worthwhile to sell, serve or say

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

    >Hi Char, I hope this article helps your folks. Since it’s a ‘soft copy’ feel free to swing mightily:-)
    >Hi Michael, Thanks for your input. An elaboration of a solid white paper makes for great blog postings. Of course you’re right that bringing the info more conversationally is important. Much like we would do offline, yes?
    >Hi Tom, Your 5 additional reasons, especially # 4! Thanks for the laugh (I laugh because it’s true!)

  • http://www.websitespeopleread.com Deborah

    Mike,
    It’s true what they say about the importance of a great title and this blog post caught my attention in your review of January 2008 most popular blogs. I liked how you also showed what was popular a year ago and truthfully we haven’t grown a whole lot in a year. There are still a vast majority not seeing the benefit of a blog or seeing it as another avenue for dry marketing materials.
    Story time: just met with a new prospect interested in setting up a blog. Before the meeting I asked if there was a competitor already blogging and he said yes. I visited the blog and it was a sales tool, a one-way “talk at” with no traffic. Big surprise.
    When I met with my new prospect he said “I want a blog but I don’t want it to be anything like the competitors – I want people to visit and comment.”
    Yeah. This is a person READY for the fun, excitement and addition that is blogging.
    Have a fine day!

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