Don’t Just Start a Blog, Maintain It

Posted by Edan Shertzer on May 12, 2009

Over the last few years, as blogs and other features of the Web 2.0 tool kit continue to gain prominence, we’ve frequently encountered the following unsettling scenario: while our clients are aware of how powerful and useful a company blog might be, they hesitate to set one up. Why the hesitation? Well, for the most part, these companies worry that they do not and will not have anything to write about. Their concern is not unique. Many businesses that are just becoming acquainted with blogging culture balk at the prospect of starting their own blog for fear they will not be able to sustain it. For any number of reasons, their line of work appears unbloggable.

Well, we’re here to tell you that that excuse frankly won’t fly anymore.

All web-conscious businesses today can and should maintain company blogs. It’s easy to do, really. Just think of the 5 Ws — Who, What, When, Where, Why — and that horrible 6th W, Writer’s block, won’t ever be a problem.

• “Who”: You. You and your staff are the easiest topics to write about. You can blog about the daily goings in your company, about your funniest staff members, about your work culture. It’s all relevant, and the audience that is interested in your company’s products/services will likely be interested in this information as well.
• “What”: You are the industry expert, the knowledgeable resource in your field. Take the time to write up a couple of paragraphs about your business and enlighten us mere mortals. You’ll find that industry news is a subject matter you’re unlikely to exhaust any time soon.
• “When”: Any special or out of the ordinary events coming up? Any promotions, or any you-don’t-wanna-miss-it kind of opportunities? Whether you’re launching a new product or organizing a networking meeting, let the blogosphere know about it.
• “Where”: If you work in a major metropolitan area, tap into the endless flow of information stemming from your area’s major media outlets and give it your own spin. If you’re in a minor metropolitan area, like the suburbs, become a major media outlet yourself and write about what’s happening in your locality.
• “Why”: The most open-ended of the 5 Ws. Here’s your chance to write a couple of passionate paragraphs about the mission of your company. Or your chance to explain why you’re launching a certain product/service at this time. Or your opportunity to question the business maneuvers performed by your competitors. Why not?

If you’re the one planning on doing the writing, we recommend scheduling a weekly/daily block for blogging. Just sit yourself down and crank out a paragraph or two. The more you write, the easier it’ll get. And don’t forget, any blog entries you write can easily be modified into new content for your website!

“Dear Diary, My How You’ve Changed!” — Business Blogging Goes Personal

Posted by Edan Shertzer on May 5, 2009

To start off this week’s Tip, here’s an extremely abridged history of the blog: in the olden days (we’re talking 1990s here, practically pre-history to current Internet users), blogs, short for “weblogs”, were the exclusive prerogative of computer geeks and tech nerds of all stripes and colors. Then, a New Yorker named Jason Calacanis got together with seven of his friends and they all started writing blogs. Each friend maintained 10 blogs, for a total of 80. After blogging for a year, the 80 blogs made $1 million in Google AdSense revenue. Soon thereafter, Calacanis’ company was bought out by AOL for $25 million.

All of a sudden, blogging ceased to be regarded as merely the tech nerd’s favorite pastime.

Today, blogs are just about the fastest-growing feature of the Web 2.0 tool kit. Actually, to be a little more accurate, blogs are spreading across the Internet like wildfire. It certainly seems like everyone and his brother now runs a blog, from hot-shot celebrities to angst-ridden high schoolers. Blogging has changed the face of media as we know it — the worlds of politics, sports, entertainment, and daily news are now cocooned in a blogosphere that is bigger and more comprehensive than any information source previously known to man. And that’s no exaggeration.

Every business could use a blog. As far as SEO goes, blogs are great for creating new content for and generating backlinks to your website. If your business doesn’t have a blog, start one, either on your website or at a new domain. The smartest option, at least from an SEO perspective, is to host your blog on a separate server with a different IP address from your corporate website. You’ll be rewarded with a faster and more powerful indexation from Google and the other search engines.

Don’t know what to write about in your company blog? Well, that’s the real beauty of the whole blogging thing. Feel free to write about anything that enters your mind, even the most mundane events of your day. Spend a couple of minutes getting your thoughts together, and eek out a paragraph or two every so often. Before long, you’ll find that blogging isn’t just an important chore, it can actually be fun.