ANTenna Blog -- Internet/Web

Why Business Blogs Suck -- And How To Make Sure Yours Doesn't

Posted by Fredric Paul Thursday, Jul 10, 2008, 04:28 PM ET

Business blogging can't that hard, right? After all, this Fredric Paul character does it, so it can't be rocket science. Well, maybe it's tougher than it looks. According to a new research report, most BtoB blogs are "dull," "drab", "unimaginative" "failures."

In the words of the $379 Forrester report -- called How To Derive Value From B2B Blogging -- "corporate bloggers ran into roadblocks stemming from a misalignment between invested effort and expected returns."

The Wall Street Journal blogged the research too, calling most BtoB blogs "boring as paint," and saying that most businesses don't think they add much value.

Here are the numbers:
70% of corporate blogs stick to business or technical topics
74% rarely get comments
56% simply regurgitate press releases or other already-public news
53% of BtoB marketers say that blogging has little or no significance

I can totally relate...

The problem, says WSJ blogger Reshma Kumar, is that "most BtoB bloggers publish irregularly, don’t stick to it for very long, and rarely inject personality into their posts."

If you don't want this to happen to your company's blog, Forrester suggests these four strategies:

1. Be A Conversation Starter, Not A Spoiler
2. Make Blog Content Entertaining, Easy To Digest And To Use
3. Connect The Dots Between Events And Community Involvement
4. Invite Thought Leaders, But Coach Them On Community Etiquette


Good luck with all that. My advice as a professional blogger (how pathetic is that?), is simply to do the opposite of what Kumar says most bloggers do: do your best to publish regularly, stick with it, and inject your personality wherever you can. That way if no one cares about it you'll it's you they're not interested in, not just your lame blog.


Internet/Web
Sales/Marketing




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