Blog About Blogging

I just had a fairly heated discussion with a colleague about why someone writes a blog. I’m talking about a business blog here, not a personal one to network, find a job, vent about an issue, or just share a challenging journey. The genesis for the debate we had was related to a blog this individual wrote for his company about an industry meeting he attended. He often runs his writing past me as a sanity check and proof reader basically. And also to come up with clever titles for his blogs. 

In this latest instance, I struggled to find the purpose of his dissertation and suggested he needed to understand who he wanted to influence with what he was writing; essentially what was the purpose of his words and who would he like his audience to be. Simple, clear writing, even about technical topics, is a good approach in my view to engage readers.

His response was, “The purpose of a blog is to get people to come and read it.”

I parried with: “No, the purpose of a blog is to get people to come back and read what you have to say repeatedly because you have proven yourself to have significant ideas and comments about a subject that matters to them.”

Ultimately, we may have been saying the same thing. In the course of a blog, the writer can demonstrate, among many things, his knowledge, expertise, ability to entertain and inform. A possible by-product of the blog, if you are representing a company, is that readers will look further into your company, its products or services via a search or your website to learn more because they have connected with you on a personal level.

It should never be a straight out product promotion, although many are. That’s what advertising is for, as well as your website and brochures. Since I’ve been in the marketing game for quite a long time (read: before the Internet), I liken a blog to a signed article where trade book editors typically cut out any attempt to blatantly promote your product. The point of a signed article, somewhat like a blog, is to share knowledge and insight about a specific topic. But as in any self-publishing endeavor, you get to use your own voice, be informal if you like and even entertaining.  You’re the final editor. And hopefully what you write is worth reading.