To Blog or Not to Blog

I have a copy of this magazine here, Wearables published by ASI (Advertising Specialty Institute). This particular publication focuses on sellers and buyers of "wearables" that are customizable with advertising or corporate logos.

A couple of months ago I was contacted for an interview about the value of blogging for business. The interview went well and eventually I was notified that it had gone to press. The fella who interviewed my found me through my business blog. Interesting.

As you can see, if you click on the above image and view it full size you can read the full interview. You might also notice that there is no mention of my blog address, nor anyone else who was interviewed.

I went to the online version of the magazine and found a feature called "Business Toolkit". If you click on the web subject, up pops a window with an image of the print page using a application called "Flash Paper", which in not unlike a PDF. There you can read this same article, still with no live links.

So, a publication that is trying to educate their readers about the value of blogging for business is not actually using that technology or any other ability to "link" to resources outside it's actual print magazine. I was shocked!

I did not want to appear ungrateful but I had initially taken the time for this interview because I believed it would drive traffic to my blog. I interview people all the time and this is the exchange: You answer some questions to me and I'll put you out there! Yes, folks can find me easily if they google my name. In this case though, I wonder how you can talk about a technologies' worth and then not actually use it. Hmmm.

I contacted the editor via email and asked what has happened with this. The response I got was:

"Melissa,
You're right, it wouldn't have done much harm to include the links for the blogs. Just chalk it up to a simple oversight between writer and editor. Thanks for your help
C.J. Mittica"

Alrighty then!

What tells me is that there is a fear of technology in some business sectors and a sense of "self-protection" as well. A thought that perhaps if you like to someone else, you can giving them a change to leave your site. There are ways around that like a second browser window opening with the link so that you can easily go back if you wish. It's not rocket science but this example was simply astounding to me.

Blogging for business makes sense. If you actually read the above article, you'll get my take on it. (!)

If They know who I am... Part II

photo by Erica Marshall of www.muddyboots.org

...Will they still like me?

Here we go with the second installment of this topic.
We may laugh about the topic, but really it rings true. Who are we when we post to our blog? What side of ourselves are we showing? For consistency sake, thinking about this before you start a business blog is a very good idea.

• How often to post?

The general rule of thumb on this one is around 3-5 times a week. I think you should post as much as you possibly can. If you are promoting your posts, you don't always have to promote the most recent one. If you have them well organized in your archive, you can pull out blog posts to send to people if they have questions about a particular point or product. Even though this is a moving log of information, it can also serve as a FAQ that you and your readers turn to for information in the future.

• Sparking conversation

Ask questions! You don't need to have the answer, but you can gauge what you readers are thinking about by directly asking questions or by having a poll on your blog. A poll is generally a question with a yes or no answer that folks can just click on without logging in a comment. This can also be a way to get readership. If you put it out there that you have a poll that you want votes on, this can in it's own way draw new readers.

• Photos?

Yes, yes, yes AND YES!
You know I have design background and images are important to me. Everyone is drawn to an eye-catching image. Having a "dry" blog with only text is just what it sounds like. It lacks life. Not everyone is drawn into the "magic" of your words. Chances are, it's the image that will get them to stay beyond 5 seconds.
Beyond the images, having a clean, nicely designed, uncluttered blog it pretty important. Ask people you don't know to take a look at your design before you go live. If you need help, get it. This is another area of your professional image stepping out into the world. Take that seriously.

• Links.

Having a sidebar with links of related interest is an important element, but not an absolute. What is pretty important is to use links when you are speaking about another entity that has a site that folks can go to. Don't worry about losing them. So, if you are mentioning something about the SBA, you should have a link to the SBA!

One last thing: Once you're up and running, make sure you are using something like Statcounter so that you can see who is coming to your blog, how long they are staying, how they found you and where to go to after they visit you.