Driving to work this morning and saw a Clayco truck along the highway and it reminded me of something I noticed several years ago.  These three local companies all pretty much have the same tagline.

Is it the same writer / branding person somewhere in St. Louis delivering the same thing to different clients or is it just a happy coincidence?  

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Note: Writer's block is gone, look for a detailed post soon.  Thanks for the well-wishes from those responded to me on Twitter or facebook.

If you are considering blogging because you’ve either been told or believe that it will help your search rankings, it will help personalize your business or drive traffic to your site.  I’m telling you that you don’t need a blog. 

Yes, if done effectively, blogging can improve your search rankings, generate traffic and help put a personal face on your business, but so can more effective web design and copywriting and yet most people are smart enough to outsource those two, but try and fail at blogging  (a point we will come back to later). 

Be Consistent or Be Dead

The web is littered with the broken remains of dead blogs.  Blogs that were started years ago when the craze first began. These sites launched with internal fanfare, a few well-thought out posts, some that may have even generated traffic or comments and ended up with a last post date of 2006 or 2007.  This looks far worse for the business that if the blog hadn’t been created at all.  With that in mind, here is a list of reasons of why you shouldn’t blog:

• You are not a writer
• You will struggle to find new content and therefore your blog will become stale
• People really don’t care what you have to say
• Your company or industry is boring
• You are afraid of writing anything controversial (for examples, see the previous two bullet points)
• You don’t understand “technology” and haven’t figured out to how to post from your typewriter (OK, it’s unlikely that you’re reading this if you are still using a typewriter, but you know what I mean)

“I want to do it anyway”

Good for you.  You have tenacity. I admire that. If you can do it without worrying about the bullet points above. Go for it – and send me the URL so I can track your success (or say I told you so in a year from now).

Here’s a tip if you think you can pull it off (and your company is big enough), use multiple authors, it will increase your number of posts and make it easier for each person to have post ideas.

“Hmm, I like the idea, but you have me concerned”

If you think you like the idea of a company blog and the items on the list above are a problem, consider another option – outsource it.  I’m sure there are several freelance writers out there who can create content for you at a reasonable price (and even do it in your voice). If you don’t know any writers, email me at brian at wearespoke dot com.  I’ll send you some names.

Another Option – Try Social Media First

If your goal is to make your company more personal – other options to consider are social media tools like facebook or twitter (micro-blogging). Like blogs they can make your company seem more personable and they can generate traffic to your site. If you can make the commitment and keep the statuses of those items up-to-date, start a blog. 

Don’t Put Lipstick on a Pig

If you have an ugly website, don’t drive traffic to it. It’s not going to help generate new business.  Focus your energy on a new website design instead, then focus on blogging. By the way, ugly doesn’t just mean the design – If your site is pointless (no clear call to action other than listing your information in a brochure like fashion) and you think it will generate business, you are mistaken. The first thing you need to consider when someone visits your site is what are they for.  If you are driving traffic to a site, have a reason – (e.g. Learn more about my time saving product, learn about how I can save your business in the failing economy here). 

Tell Me What You Think

If you think I'm right or wrong, let me know in the comments below.  If you have any questions or want to learn more about how to improve your blog, website or social media offerings feel free to email me at brian at wearespoke dot com.  Thanks for reading – Brian.