In part one of this series we discussed a post made by Matt Cutts on corporate blogging. We went over the first point he made in his post, regarding leaving yourself wiggle room on deadlines. Now, let’s go over the second point, about how to handle yourself when dealing with or talking about a competitor. As Matt put it, never trash talk a competitor – but what does that really mean?

Most corporate bloggers are savvy enough to understand that trash talk has no place in a blog. Even if you are riding high on success and you have the world at your feet, there is no need to even mention your competitors. Trash talking them will actually end up hurting you more than them and once you leave a bad taste in your audience’s mouth, getting rid of it is nearly impossible. Let’s illustrate this point with a scenario.

Let’s say that Business Owner A has a corporate blog that gets a good deal of traffic and covers company news, as well as a few other topics. On Monday, Business Owner B decides to start an ad campaign that will directly effect the revenue of Business Owner A. The first reaction for many is to lash out and belittle the efforts of Business Owner B.

So, that’s exactly what Business Owner A does. They devote several posts of their blog to trashing B, and their product or service. Instead of getting the attention away from B’s ad campaign, all that A has managed to accomplish is giving them more traffic from readers that want to see what all of the fuss is about.

The second effect is that Business Owner A now seems a bit whiny and definitely unprofessional. Competing ad campaigns are common and their readers are savvy enough to figure out that the posts are being fueled largely by sour grapes. The overall image of Business Owner A has now been tarnished, and readers leave the blog as a result.

Now, instead of circumventing the ad campaign launched by Business Owner B, all that A has managed to do was to hand them new visitors on a platter. They managed to hurt their own business and will forever be remembered as poor sports. All of this could have been avoided by simply never mentioning Business Owner B in the first place.

No matter if a competitor is trashing you, dragging your company through the mud, or competing aggressively against you – never trash them in the public eye. The only one that will end up wearing egg on their faces is you. Remember to take the High Road, no matter what – and you’ll end up reaping the benefits. Readers are not stupid, and they do understand more about your business than you think they do.

Don’t give your readers the chance to see you in a bad light. Remember that professionalism is key if you want to establish yourself as an authority. Whining, complaining and trash talk have no place on your corporate blog.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-11-17 05:24:55. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

• 3 Tips on Avoiding Failure with Your Corporate Blog One of the main problems facing corporate blogs is that they have a high rate of failure. This can be due to many factors, but it doesn't mean that your blog is doomed to fail. With the right techniques and management, your blog can be incredibly successful and can serve......
• 3 Smart Blogging Techniques for Business Owners If you are getting ready to launch a corporate blog, there are a few techniques that you can use to make sure that it is a success. By utilizing these methods you can ensure that you will quickly build up a new readership and starting increasing your customer base. Corporate......
• Talking To Not At Your Readers Many corporate blogs fail simply because they strike a wrong chord with readers. If you want to use your blog to increase traffic and sales and improve your relations with the public, it is vital to develop a technique that will allow you to talk to your readers, not at......
• Corporate Blogging Goes Mainstream If you were one of the early adopters of corporate blogging, or if you are on the fence about whether or not it is a solid form or promotion, recent statistics show that more companies than ever are getting their feet wet and beginning to take blogging seriously. What does......
• Professional Blogging Roundup - Don't Get Sloppy This Season Instead Get Busy! This list is full of dynamite bloggers. Every link is worth investigating. Get to it! Corporate Investors.com writes Blogging Up A Storm For Customers' Sake. Centers on two corporate giants Dell and Southwest Airlines. Business Week intones Blogs Keep a Company Death Watch. Daily Blogging Tips says 70% Think That......

• What Is VoIP and How Can It Benefit You Have you heard about or seen the commercials for VoIP? It stands for Voice over Internet Protocol and is essentially just that. It’s a way to make phone calls over the internet. There are basically three ways to use it including: * Computer to computer * Computer to fixed network......
• Virtual Office is Possible With the Right Technology As more people take heed of their entrepreneurial spirit in an effort to earn more income, they will find that they need a quality yet affordable communications system that will grow with their seedling business. There is no better choice that a virtual PBX phone system because it can......
• Reasons to Start Blogging In the 1990's people started to set up websites know as web logs, a term which has been colloquially evolved into the term blog. A blog is a internet website where users post regular article, providing commentary, information, news, and various other forms of posts. Why do individuals start blogging?......
• Technology For Your Small Business Toolbox Technology is evolving quickly with new gadgets, gizmos, and what-nots coming out everyday. It can be a little overwhelming for small and home based business owners trying to figure out if they need it, want it, can use it, should have it, will help them. The most important factor......
• Create a Blog Create a Blog – Blogs are a great indirect way of really building credibility online. A blog is a Web log, or basically a journal you keep online. As opposed to a traditional website, you create posts to a blog with messages that are dated (much like online forums).......