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The biggest problem with corporate blogging is the huge potential to put everyone to sleep. Blogging is time consuming and thought intensive. If companies don't have the time to write, or don't have interesting thoughts to share, they shouldn't bother blogging. On the other hand, for those of us who work in thriving, innovative companies with expert, opinionated coworkers, corporate blogging is great!
In short, we blog because we care.
I read Mashable.com every morning, and their bloggers are the most passionate, prolific group of web fanatics I've ever encountered. If you're looking for a great source of coverage on social media and new technologies, check them out! From following Mashable's own coverage on social media for business, I've learned that the most successful company blogs start with a strategy that works for who they are, and then follow it up with stubborn persistence and real personality. It's a long haul and a lot of work.
Sometimes blogging for business isn't successful. On Technorati today, there was a great article by Tom Johansmeyer on Five Reasons Why Corporate Blogs Fail. Given the unique demands of B2B blogging, here's one of my favorites from Johansmeyer on reasons that business blogs go bust:
4. The blog is perceived as “extra”
B2B companies publish plenty of material. When it comes time to start blogging, there’s a perception that the blog is (a) less valuable and important than white papers and glossies, (b) an extra effort above what is already invested in published materials and (c) easiest to ignore when resources are constrained. This thinking is absolutely incorrect. When you factor in search engines, media, flexibility and speed to market, the case against hefty PDFs and print is salient.
In a world of iPhones, Blackberries, texting, and rapid social media communications, speed to market is huge. We hope that this blog serves you well with quality alarm automation information and expertise from our own staff, plus breaking product news as we continue to innovate software that serves you better.
That's why our readers have already heard from many different bloggers here at Bold. We want to bring fresh voices and new perspectives to the art and science of alarm automation software. Though we just started blogging two weeks ago, we've already covered topics from GPS tracking, to CSAA Five Diamond Certification for central stations, to alarm monitoring in Australia.
We'll keep it coming, but we want to hear from you. What do you think is important for us to blog about? What do you blog about? Please respond in the comments!
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P.S. For our friends at Technorati: JB8QPY8UWWZC