Are You Scared of Bloggers?

By on March 13, 2007 in Blogging with 7 Comments

Does you hear (or say) these lines in your boardroom:

  • Those bloggers need to get a life.
  • Who reads this drivel anyway?
  • Their readership can’t be too high, let’s just ignore it.
  • They misspelled ‘their’, when it should be ‘they’re’ – so they can’t be too smart.
  • I’ve yet to see any value of reading a blog

If these are lines you hear in your meetings, you’ve got a problem. It may not be noticeable yet, but you’ll be playing catch-up soon.

Bloggers are people. They are closer to being just like you than you’re willing to admit. In fact, they may be well advanced in their thinking.

In many cases, they are consumers and potential customers.

If they’re talking about your company – it may be because you ignored them in their previous efforts to communicate with you.

Take out your earplugs and listen for awhile. Subscribe to RSS Feeds. The future of your business depends on it.

Related:
– Blogging Has Two Roles
– Perceptions of Bloggers
– Business Blogging Without a Blog?
– Putting an Ear to The Blogosphere
– Is Your Blog Radar Up?

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I hear it from a lot of business owners: “Where is the ROI with all this Social Media?“ If this is a question you ask yourself, maybe we should work together a bit more. We can work together solo, or via a professional learning community. Find and increase your ROI. There is a “there” there.

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  • http://www.blogopreneur.com Kian Ann

    Hey Mike,
    This post should be at the front page of today’s papers. Its unfortunate but true that the perception of most corporate executives are that blogs are a nuisance.
    … and I can understand why after the recent “gang spam” on my blog.
    Well, I think we should persist on and keep up with pushing this message. There is a humongous potential in blogs.

  • http://www.ladylike4.com Jennifer

    Why can’t we just get rid of the two wrong versions of “there”?

  • http://healthywebdesign.com Dawud Miracle

    Not only are people bloggers…bloggers are people. We have feelings too, you know. And, as you said, we have bank accounts and credit cards.
    As more consumers find social media, it’s really going to make static websites obsolete in my opinion. People want to interact through the web and blogs serve that need.

  • http://www.maryschmidt.com Mary Schmidt

    Yes indeed. and “little” people are married to, live next door to, are related to “big” people. And A-lister big bloggers read us little guys too (and link to us.)

  • http://www.brandcurve.com Ron E.

    I think another important issue to understand is this one: If a blogger is complaining on bad service, bad product, or just general discontent with what that particular brand is offering, there is a HUGE possibility that many others are too, they’re just not into blogging.
    Companies should THANK bloggers for being “red alert” systems for many companies. When a blogger goes off on a specific issue it’s only because it’s happening. There is a great win-win opportunity in blogging and companies reading blogs. For me it’s so obvious it’s silly not to look at them with appreciation.
    Greetings,
    Ron E.
    http://brandcurve.com

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

    >Kian – It would be nice to have something like this message on the front page…but it seems the mainstream paints an opposite picture.
    >Jennifer – Great point (and chuckle!) I think Mirriam & Webster need to come up with one “there” and let’s use it across the board. It’s all about context, right?:-)
    >Dawud – I’m already finding myself doing business with people that blog over those that don’t! Usually, I’ll look at the back cover of a book to see who the author is. The other day, I bought Jeanne Bliss’ new book without even looking at it – because I already like what she writes in her blogs.
    >Mary – Great point about everyone having influence. The “little” blogger next door just might be pals with “THE BIG CEO” on the hill! That shouldn’t be the ‘why’ behind the links, but if one must have a motivation beyond the fact we’re all equal at the end – there it is.
    >Ron! high-fives! When a customer complaint comes across a blog post, we should be thankful indeed. This makes us better. Of course, we could throw hundreds of bucks away on a focus group…but a complaint has passion behind it. And passion is better than apathy, yes?

  • http://www.customerbliss.com Jeanne Bliss

    Dawud, thanks for the vote of confidence. I hope you like – scratch that – LOVE my book. I spent six hours a day for eight months writing it to help the brave customer zealots around the world learn from my adventures! All the best, Jeanne Bliss

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