When it comes to blogging, people in the “pre blogging” stages get a bit stumped. They are not really sure where to begin or what questions they need to answer.
I highly recommend to business leaders that they sit down with at least five other people on their team and begin answering a few critical questions. Here are four to get you started.
1. What is your purpose?
Before you begin writing a blog, it is critical to get clear about your intentions. There are many reasons for writing a blog including:
Establishing your expertise
Adding value to your existing client base
Writing to build the foundation for a new product or service
To interact with the public
To post breaking news in your industry
Connecting with other bloggers
Building a web presence
2) Do you want to be an expert or reporter?
Many people host blogs and simply report on links or stories from other sources. While this is fine, it does nothing to establish your expertise, and we do encourage bringing your expertise to your blog. We recommend that you use a combination of the two by:
Writing articles and reviews of new stories and
Posting current, breaking news.
The key with number 2 is to not just post the story but to link to the story and then comment why you think this piece of information is important and relevant to your brand AND to the lives of your customers.
3. What writing style will you use?
Most people write in a very passive tone, and they simply chop away at text. The goal with a blog is to be a bit on edgy and allow your conversational tone to come to the surface. For a great example of this, I recommend you check out the blog by SUN Microsystems CEO: Jonathan Schwartz.
4. Who will monitor your blog?
You will need one administrator whose sole purpose is to manage and monitor your blog. This needs to be someone who is not only a great blogger (who can write great posts) but someone who can observe the comments, traffic and who can watch the trends emerging on your blog and through social networks (like Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In.) If your company is a company of over 20 people, it may be time to hire a part time or full time social media manager or expert.
What other questions are on your mind? We would love to hear from you, so please use the comments area below to post your pressing questions, and we will get those answered right here…on the blog!