Our company has been casually blogging for some time so now we have a good feel for what our customers like to see in this format. When our new website is released our blog will become a focal point of our site and a source for quality content on web hosting and applications. Company blogs will become more important in the next few years so you should start one now if you haven't already. While your business may already be well established, and perhaps even have a community forum with a good number of members, a blog can only further the connection with your customers. If you maintain quality posts on a regular basis, you'll really bag this new way of improving your public relations.
I have words of warning before you begin. I do see mistakes in existing company blogs out there, there are a few things that I believe should not be discussed. One of them is talking too much about your own products and services. That is what your website is for. No one wants to spend time reading about your services elsewhere only to see oddly placed sales pitches in the blog. It just doesn't fit. Your blog is a chance to point out something else about your company that is important but perhaps rarely noticed. You have to keep that in mind and be sure not to waste this opportunity.
You should also be sure to keep things as serious as possible no matter how fun you're feeling that day. (We all have those days when the idea seemed like a good one but later turned out to just be off the wall.) The company blog is a reflection of your business. So unless you are going for silly and wacky, try to keep things consistent. There is a time for humor in many situations, but you have to control the impression that visitors will receive after reading your blog. After reading only a few posts, a visitor will have developed an image of your company and its vision. Make sure that image is the one you want.
With your goals and image in mind, the question now is: who in your company is going to create these posts? You may want to discuss the new blog idea with your staff to uncover who could work well together for developing content and then the writing process could be handled separately. Having a quality blog is definitely a challenge and really should not be the responsibility of only one person. There is a way for any team to accomplish making a blog a success for your business.
And now I'm off to hopefully start taking my own advice!
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