So many advice columns, tips and books focus on what you should talk about on your corporate blog, but few ever go into things that you should not talk about. While it is important to focus on the positive, you also need to be aware of some common mistakes that can derail your efforts. With the right approach, and saying the right things, your corporate blog can be successful. However, it only takes one bad post to sink all the work that you have done.

Let’s go over a few things that have no place on corporate blogs:

1. Company Rivalries –

If company X has stolen your customers/clients/ideas, your blog is not the place to air that dirty laundry. Company rivalries may be interesting, but at the end of the day, the participants just end up looking foolish, or downright nasty. It is best to take the high road when you are in the midst of a problem like this and keep the dirty laundry where it belongs. Your corporate blog should always present the best possible public face to the world, and that face should not look petty.

2. Bad News –

While there are some instances where full disclosure on a blog can benefit a company when there is bad news, if you are not versed in the art of communicating bad news and putting a good spin on it, it does not belong on your blog. Once again, we come to the public face of your company. Your blog is the place for positive news, not for “the sky is falling and we are all going to be homeless.” Keep the bad news out of your blog, unless there is absolutely no way that you can avoid addressing a problem.

3. Inappropriate Humor/Graphics/Videos/Sound Files –

Viral videos have exploded on to the scene and although many are truly funny and you may want to share them, they have no place on a corporate blog. Bottom line – if you wouldn’t tell a joke, show a video or graphic to your 98 year old grandmother, it doesn’t belong on your blog. You may think it’s funny, 99% of your readers may agree, but it’s that 1% that can tank your company. Always keep it clean, and avoid running the risk of tarnishing your company’s image through inappropriate content.

One thing that corporate bloggers need to be aware of before they write one word is that in the blogosphere, a post is forever. It’s not just about weathering the storm that a bad post can cause for a week. Thanks to search engines, caching, linking and copying, a bad blog post will live forever.

Before you write anything, think for a minute if you will be proud of that post in a month, a year, five years. Chances are, that’s how long that post will be around. If the answer is no, write something else. Always take the high road and your company will benefit.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-10-22 05:29:19. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Listen to corporate blogging evangelists long enough and it’s easy to start thinking that success is going to fall out of the sky and bonk you on the head. However, spend a few weeks implementing all of their techniques and you may end up wondering whether or not all of this hard work is worth the effort. Before you fall into this trap, and give up, it is important to decide whether or not corporate blogging is worth the effort.

As with any good marketing plan, corporate blogging takes time to implement. It is vital to develop smart expectations, and realize that in order to achieve them, you will have to put in a measure of work. While there are a few success stories of corporate bloggers that were instantly successful, it takes the average blogger more than six months to start to see results. If you are not willing to wait that long, you may want to rethink your position.

Let’s look at this problem logically. First, you have a problem – you need to promote your company or products and you have heard that corporate blogging is a great way to do that. The solution is setting up that blog, working hard and being patient. The results can vary widely, based largely on your niche and how much effort you put into implementing the solution.

Corporate blogging is not for everyone and there are some businesses that are not well served by this type of marketing. Realizing that your results may not be nearly what you hoped for is a bitter pill to swallow, especially if you have just spent the last six months of your life slaving away at your blog.

So, is corporate blogging really worth it?
The answer varies on many factors, namely: How much time are you willing to put into the effort, How well you plan to promote your efforts and whether or not you can effectively reach your audience. If you understand this going into your corporate blog, it is easier to develop a solution that will ensure that all of the effort you are putting into this is worth it.

You can work for months on a blog, but if you are not promoting it, if you are not writing posts that readers care about, you are wasting your time. You can wait months to see results from heavy promotion, constant writing and tweaking of your efforts, but if it results in increased sales, it is definitely worth it.

Check the hype at the door and look at corporate blogging logically. It is a powerful tool – but only when implemented, used and promoted properly. Fail in any one of these three categories and you may just be wasting your time.

The best solution for many budding corporate bloggers is to read through case studies of other companies and their blogging efforts. You can learn from their mistakes, develop a more reasonable expectation of results and work to implement the necessary ingredients for your success.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-10-20 05:25:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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