B2B Marketing Blog

Maybe late on a Friday isn’t the best time to blog. It’s been a long, busy week (not to mention rainy) and I’m not sure that I’m really focused. I could skip it today and do it this weekend, since the Patriots-Jets game will likely be a blowout 6 minutes into the first quarter. But more than likely I’ll watch into the fourth quarter instead, then answer some email, and there are the kids. Then Monday I have meetings all morning and a report due by noon and client calls and … Sound familiar?

Finding the time, energy, motivation or topic to talk about in your company’s blog isn’t always easy. And having all these factors come together all at once is rarer still. And who can’t find a way to rationalize blogging further down on the list of priorities? Listen, we’re in the communications business and even we are surprised at the occasional lapses we have. “Oh my, you mean no one’s blogged for almost three weeks?” You’ve never seen a room full of writers look so guilty.

Relax. First of all, your blog isn’t supposed to be a chore. It’s supposed to be a forum for your passion. And passion, like all emotions, ebbs and flows. Readers will immediately recognize an entry created simply out of guilt, so don’t do it.

Second, all the web crawlers and search engine algorithms take time to cover the billions of blogs and web pages floating out in cyberspace, so allowing your entries a little time to mature is actually a good thing. Daily entries can actually hurt the SEO impact of your blog.

That said, how can you keep your B2B blog fresh enough to be read and valued? First, give everyone in your organization the opportunity to post, but recognize that not everyone will. Many good employees aren’t comfortable with being “corporate missionaries.” That doesn’t mean they’re not valuable.

Second, look at your company’s blogging guidelines. (You do have them, don’t you?) Are they too restrictive? Remember, it’s a blog, not a corporate manifesto. There is room for different voices and (GASP!) … fun. (Yes, there, I said it.) Set an example by undoing that top collar button and loosening the tie a little when you blog.

Third, remember (and remind your potential contributors) that blog entries need not be tomes to your enterprise. In fact, the best blog entries are short and concise.

Seems like a good place to stop.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 14th, 2007 at 6:45 pm and is filed under Interactive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.