Archive for the Blog Thoughts

It’s a frequent question and my stock answer is… it depends. Helpful, yes?

Blogs are the website-of-choice and in many cases are the way to go - it you’re going to keep up with them. A stagnant blog leaves the impression that you aren’t around, aren’t available, still in business… egads! At least with a traditional website… well, you don’t expect them to be updated so frequently!

I’ve spent literally hours over the last few days visiting different blogs - on most I spent only as long as it took to click over to the next blog, but there were many that held my attention for quite awhile longer. What made the difference?

Content.

I’ve had many conversations over the last several months with my buddy Chris Muccio about creating good, solid content. Trouble is, everyone is beyond busy - tapped out, overwhelmed. It’s tough to find time to blog consistently or be actively involved in whatever social media/networking you choose.

It’s easy enough to find content providers to fill in the gaps, and on occasion I’ve used ghost-written content myself (not for this blog, btw). But this is not the content that provokes conversation or brings people back on a regular basis - it merely keeps the posts somewhat current. The content that brings people back - at least that draws me back - is interesting, thought-provoking, informative, edgy… not the same ol’ same ‘ol.

Naomi Dunford’s blog, IttyBiz, fits all of the above. While giving out solid small business advice, she weaves in interesting tales of her life. And there’s always a marketing lesson to be learned.

Blogs afford an opportunity to connect with your visitors, and because of their interactive nature, allow them to connect with you.

Especially for those in business, it brings home the point… people do business with those they know, like and trust. What better way to let your visitors get to know you than with a well cared-for blog?

Well, after having a blog over at Typepad for almost a year (and rarely posting), I have set up a WordPress blog. This is what I recommend to all my clients.

It was a learning experience setting it up! The programmer I use for all my blog work is on holiday until the 20th, and I, being somewhat impatient, decided to try my hand and skinning a template and importing all my typepad posts. I’m happy with the way it turned out! I’ve spent most of the afternoon looking through the multitude of plugins to add…

So here it is - my first WordPress post. Now if I can just keep up the momentum…

Powered by ScribeFire.

Many of my clients enthusiastically decide they’re going to start a blog. Great! But my question is… Are you going to keep up with it?

There’s nothing much worse than a stale blog (look at mine - I haven’t posted since Oct 8!). The whole point of a blog is to get a conversation started with your customers… and if you’re not saying anything, chances are they aren’t either.

I can’t say that my blog is out of sight - I have it set as my home page, so every time I open a new browser window, it’s staring at me, reminding me that I’ve been neglecting it, that I’m wasting opportunities…

So while I think blogs are great and the people who keep up with them are definitely on the right track, I don’t think blogs are for everyone. But that’s my opinion. What is yours?