Tuesday, May 12, 2009

B2B or B2C Blogging for...What?

There is some disagreement out there about whether or not corporate business blogging is really beneficial or not. On one side, those who adamantly feel this is an important component of your company image, an the other side that feel it has no value particularly because the ROI is not clear and so it is a waste of time and resources. One thing is certain, if you don't have a blog, the ROI is...zero! I personally believe that a blog does have value but there are certain conditions required to achieve returns...uh oh , here we go with PLAN again!

Before beginning to blog brainstorm some questions for example, who is your audience? What information do they want? What problem(s) are they looking to solve?...and so on. A good next step is to determine what blogging is to accomplish in the scope of your overall corporate strategy, is this an info, dialogue, branding or other type blog? If you're comfortable that you're on firm ground up to this point get to blogging...with certain conditions.

Speak truthfully in a clear voice that will be heard by your audience, there's enough 'stuff' out there. If you offer information or insight that is not the truth expect to be called out on the carpet, we don't have time for it. A key to successful blog development is that you become recognized as a trusted source, so stay true. Reflect on real experience or comment similarly but you must have a motivation that stays on the high ground or you will not develop any loyalty from your readers.

It's true that there are many blogs that are not generating the desired outcomes and there is little or no ROI, but a well planned blog, that forms part of a consistent corporate strategy and is patiently nurtured and adheres to the highest level of integrity will have tremendous ROI. Want to invest the time? Ultimately this is your decision but here's a final thought. If your blog initiative resulted in one more satisfied customer, what would that be worth to the company? What about two? Three? If you don't blog, it could be that you would never generate that business, its lost to a competitor...

We're at the edge of the future!

Andy Xhignesse

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