Somebody recently asked me about launching a corporate blog.
They said “Oh, I hear this is a great marketing tool.”
It is indeed. It can help any business with SEO, build community, even increase sales (the latter being the part that people care about).
Here’s the thing: it is a SLOW process and not a quick fix. Blogs require sustained commitment, attention to detail and usually that you “be remarkable or interesting.”
None of the above are the least bit easy. Hence lots of blogs get no love, and end up dying a quick death.
The most important thing any organization that wants to blog needs to know is that the returns are painfully slow. Why? People don’t give a crap about yet another blog.
So, while I am certain your blog is going to be very dope, please remember to start it before the launch if you are a startup and bide your time/be patient if you are an existing business launching your first ever attempt. Whatever you do, pimp other people’s shit first, not your own.
It’ll take you awhile to get good. It’ll take awhile for you to understand and know the rules of your tribe. It’ll take you awhile to get noticed.
For God’s sake, it took Chris Brogan 8 years to get his first 100 readers. Try to remember that when you ask your staff some question about the ROI of your firm’s blog 3 weeks in.
Addendum:
Here is an example of a firm that has started blogging well before its official launch. Well done Fait ici.
I think two big problems with corp blogs are 1) companies aren’t dedicated enough to it so it doesn’t get constant updates and posts and 2) they don’t spend the time to make sure people SHOULD be posting…. ie) no point having your non-charismatic CEO writing posts just because he wants to. Likewise, it might also not be a good idea for your intern to be voice of company, unless of course they have a talent for blogging.