Hannah Paramore - Why Not To Blog

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OriginallyPublished:http://www.whatsnextblog.com/archives/2008/09/what_the_world_needs_now_another_ceo_blog_not.asp

10ReasonsYourCompany(Destination)Shouldn’tBlogWithalarmingregularity,mostrecentlyyesterday,Igetinquiriesfromcompanieswhowantmetocreateablogforthem–usuallyfortheCEO.Andnineoutoftentimes,Italkthemoutofit.Thetop10reasonsItellcompaniesnottoblogare:1.Theblogsmostcompanieswanttocreateareguaranteedtojointhe900,999outofeverymillionblogswithnoreaders.Why?They’reboring.2.Abloghastohaveapersonalvoice.Ifyousoundlikeacorporatedrone,nobodywillreadyourblog.3.Youneedoriginalcontent.Theblogosphereistoomuchofanechochamberalready.Whatcanyouaddthat’soriginal?Orsignificantlybetterthananythingelseinyourniche.4.Bloggingtakestime–lotsofit.Let’sevensayaCEOisagreatwriter,whoenjoysresearchingandcraftingposts.Andlet’ssayheorshewillwriteaboutwhatpeoplewanttohearaboutandnotjustwriteaboutwhatthecompanywantstosay.Andtheyhe/sheiswillingtoupdateafewtimesaweek.Allofthattakesanywherefromtwotofourhoursapost.5.Youneedtoreadconstantlytobeagoodblogger.Thatincludesblogs,butalsomediaoutsidetheblogosphere–feeds,forums,mainstreammedia–soyoucankeepyourreadersinformedaboutyourtopics.6.Ablogisnotasubstituteforamarketingcampaign.Itissimplyapossiblepartofcorporatecommunications.7.Ablogisnotasubstituteforadvertising–ifyouneedtofillanewhotel,orsellaproductbyacertaindate,advertise.8.Ablogisnotaquickfix–theresultscomeinthelongterm,thesamewaytheydowithPR.9.Blogsarenotcheap.Agoodonerequiresskilledprogrammingtosetitup,aprofessionalgraphicdesignertomakeitpartofyourcorporateidentity,atalentedanddedicatedwriteroreditor,full‐time.10.Youneedtodrivetraffictoablog.Therearemanywaystodothat.Allofthemrequiretime,effortandmoney.Waystodrivetraffictoacorporatebloginclude:(Advertising)–onblogs,whereyoucanbeincrediblynichespecificandcost‐effective;bybuyingGooglekeywords;byincludingyourURLintraditionalandonlineadvertising.(Promotion)–youcandrivetraffictoablogwithskillfulpromotionthoughotherblogs,bybecomingarespectedpartofsocialnetworkingcommunitiesfrequentedbyyourcustomers;withcontests,viralmarketing,andtheuseofavarietyofWeb2.0promotionalmethodsdiscussedfrequentlyhereandinotherblogsthatcoversocialmediamarketing.