5 Reasons to Not Blog

Have a Blog? Want to Blog? Should you even consider Blogging? Every business site owner can answer “yes” to at least one of these questions. While one may already have a Blog or want to integrate a Blog, the toughest question of the three is should you even consider Blogging in the first place.

Why is that the tough one? Because it is the one that many in my experience fail to answer honestly. While one should consider Blogging, just like most decisions business owners need to make when it comes to their online program, one shouldn’t Blog if they are not prepared to do so properly. When you have a business Web site and add a Blog — Blogging is Business!

I’ve been doing online now for over 15 years and what I’ve seen time and time again are business site owners who tend to believe that they can make “online” be what they want it to be — in other words, do what they are willing to do, learn only what doesn’t challenge them too much and ignore the rest. Then, these very same site owners expect the best of results.

When it comes to Blogging, more times than not site owners do what they want which isn’t enough to enhance their brand, engage new and current customers alike, or even be taken seriously.

Here are 5 reasons to not Blog even if you have already started or are considering adding a Blog and most importantly if you should honestly even start in the first place.

1. If you cannot commit the time and resources to Blog about interesting and unique information that your site visitors are interested in, at least several times each week, week in and week out — don’t start.
2. If you are unwilling to take the time to create well written grammatically correct content — don’t start.
3. If you think just posting links to other sites or uploading PDFs found elsewhere online is Blogging and you have nothing uncommon or of value to offer your site visitors (or are unwilling to do the due diligence to create such posts) — don’t start.
4. If you are unable to respond promptly with professionalism and clarity to site visitor comments — don’t start.
5. If you are starting a Blog purely because you think you’ll make money off of it without having a business model in the first place — don’t start.

Be apathetic or oblivious to what site visitors what to hear from you about while not checking for proper sentence structure and typos and you (and your brand) will not be taken seriously. If you do not Blog on a frequent and consistent basis, visitors will be uninterested and won’t subscribe. Appear unapproachable by not responding to site visitors input and your efforts will seem gratuitous.

The bottom line is your Blog is your brand. Do not make the mistake of underestimating that fact. If you are going to Blog, do it right or don’t do it at all.

At your service,
Judith

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2 Responses to “5 Reasons to Not Blog”

1. Susan Leigh Babcock says:

   December 3, 2009 at 9:45 am

   Judith,

   Thought provoking and spot on. It is important to establish and promulgate best practices in this brave new world. Thanks for your contribution!

   I hope the people who need to read this find it. Is that too much to hope for?

   Susan
2. Judith says:

   December 3, 2009 at 2:06 pm

   Hey, Susan:

   Thanks for taking the time to provide your comments! I’ve blogged about this topic pretty much every month or so to keep it front and center to ensure folks who stop by understand the importance of Blogging properly for best results. I have been e-mailed and asked why I haven’t done a post on “why you should Blog” — which I have, but I will be updating and posting about that next week!