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Blogs Are NOT for Everyone

In a Marketing Profs article, "Seven Reasons Why Businesses Should Blog Now" Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba say, " For any organization, a blog is part of a long-term customer evangelism strategy. Since blogs are easy to set up and pay for (some are free), launching a blog should be at the top of your to-do list. "

I disagree strongly. Just as every company doesn't need a newsletter or even a Website, blogs are not for everybody. As I noted in Straight Talk About Blogs: Do You Really Need One," there simply is no such thing as a perfect marketing tool�or an effortless way to build traffic to any site, including blogs.

Blogs are writing intensive. Most people would rather have a root canal done than write something coherent, pithy and provocative every day. It takes talent, skill and training to write down ideas clearly and make them interesting to read. A blog that is an obvious attempt at self-promotion may be mocked by other bloggers. You could be a laughing stock of the blogosphere.

Categories: Blogging and Moblogging

BL Ochman | Sep 28 04 1:27 | TrackBack (0)

Comments

As always, spot on. :-)

Posted by: Adriana at September 28, 2004 7:39 PM

Further to that, blogs, like newsletters and articles, are only as good as the information they are supplying. It isn't enough to have a lot of sharp graphics and links, it requires good content on a consistent basis. Whether or not the "blogosphere" is laughing, a poor attempt will just be ignored, which is a far worse fate. Great post!

Posted by: aleah at September 29, 2004 4:35 PM

Hmm � my take is different. I believe the REAL VALUE of company blogs are that they can serve as another way to listen to customers.

Company blogs shouldn�t be thought of as only a way to speak to customers. As the adage goes -- to be a good communicator one needs to be a good listener.

In today's world, it is becoming ever more paramount for companies to listen better in order to be more successful. And for some companies, they may find blogging as a viable way to listen to their customers.

Posted by: johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy) at October 2, 2004 2:26 PM

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About BL Ochman

Blogger, social media strategy consultant to Fortune 500 companies, and sought-after corporate speaker B.L. Ochman heads the creative team of whatsnextonline.com. She also publishes the Ethics Crisis blog for SRF Global Translations

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