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I was part of a telepanel at the WECAI Networkâ„¢ an all-day Teleconference Event event to "Help Women Do Business On and Off the Web." My Atlanta cohort and fun lunch partner, Toby Bloomberg, led the panel, where we talked about the joys and challenges of blogging.
Heidi Richards, Founder & CEO of WECAI was a great organizer and moderator. Our biz blogging panel was on Harnessing the Blogosphere, the Future of Blogs and How to use them to Promote Your Products, Service or Organization.
My illustrious co-panelists were:
Toby Bloomberg - Bloomberg Marketing
Yvonne DiVita - Lip-Sticking
Susan Getgood - Marketing Roadmap
Marianne Richmond - Resonance Partnership
Here's some of the notes I made--for what they're worth--which I talked about in my six minutes:
The first point I want to make is that "Blogs are conversations," and what that means is that as a blogger you are ALWAYS talking to someone--hopefully MORE than some one but some days it seems like an audience of one. Conversation means you are actually talking to other human beings, not just to yourself.
With that conversation comes a responsibility. Good blogging brings a responsibility to be genuine--authentic--and honest. That doesn't mean you can't tell stories or that you can't ever use poetic license. It means that if you lie and try to cover it up, you will never present your business in a way that doesn't ring true because 1of 2 things will happen: 1) you will be left unread at best, 2) you’ll be outed and mercilessly ridiculed at worst.
And NO ONE makes fun of people better than bloggers. So big rule of good blogging is to be who you are. It's easier and more effective than pretending. Be human. Be MORE than your business is. Don't be afraid to hold a point of view you believe in.
An obvious point but worth mentioning: a blog is not a commercial or a press release—again, it’s a conversation you’re having with your readers.
A word about comments--welcome them, be prepared to handle them. And remember you have options.
Comments can be moderated--which means you approve them before they show up—or unmoderated, which means they appear immediately. It's ok to moderate comments, get rid of spam. But don't toss away negative feedback. Criticism and debate is one of the most valuable parts of blogging. Arguments can be valuable, and you can demonstrate further who you are by how you handle negative feedback. (And don't be a whimp.)
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Good blogging requires that you consider what you are trying to do with your blog BEFORE you get started.
Blogging will work well if your business strategy is very customer focused and you're comfortable talking to your customers -- and NOT ONLY CUSTOMERS to others, but to others in the industry, to media and influencers, in a public venue. It is not so different from speaking at conferences, except that you are talking with potentially anyone and everyone at one time.
Remember, writing to the net is very public - Google has a long memory... and that's not to scare you. That's just the way it is. What you publish on your blog will remain searchable for a long time—even if you take down your blog, some pages remain “cached†and accessible for a while.
Don't BLOG IF -- you're doing it simply because blogging is in the news and everyone else is doing it. If that's the reason you get started, you will end up sacrificing honesty, authenticity, voice... and you will fail to resonate with your readers—which means you won’t have any.
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If you approach blogging with a passion to communicate with people, an honesty about who you are as a human being and as a business person, blogging can deliver some REAL benefits.
