Reasons You Shouldn’t Be a Blogger
Since I just wrote a post about taking the leap of faith to start blogging, I wanted to also talk about who shouldn’t be blogging in today’s blogosphere. Just like everything else in life, it’s not cut out for everyone. Here are some points I came up with that I tell my clients when they start off with
“hey you know that blogging thing . . . I want to do something like that . . . “
This is how I respond:
If you don’t have anyone in your office who can consistently update your blog, the you shouldn’t be a blogger.
If you aren’t comfortable with your company being totally open due to trade secrets or what not, then you shouldn’t be a blogger.
If you have nothing to say other than the regurgitation of industry news, then you shouldn’t be a blogger.
If you don’t have any important information to tell your customers, then you shouldn’t be a blogger.
If you don’t have the time to read other blogs and know your industry, then you shouldn’t be a blogger.
That’s what I got for now. Do you have any other questions I should be asking?
Jez 2.34 pm on 21.11.2007 Permalink
Think that is my biggest problem… has got me into scrapes a couple of times and probably held me back…
Mobile Notary 3.12 pm on 21.11.2007 Permalink
How are you writing skills? Is an excellent question. If you don’t know how to use proper grammar then take a class or don’t blog.
Jez 3.35 pm on 21.11.2007 Permalink
John Chows grammer isn’t great… I read a lot of blogs by Eastern European’s / Latin American’s, their English is not great either… it really depends on the topic, and how well the author knows it… but I suppose if your talking about promoting a native-English speaking business then your statement is broadly true….
Hannes Johnson 4.09 pm on 21.11.2007 Permalink
I don’t think grammar and spelling is that vital. If the content is good and people can (easily) understand what you’re trying to say then I think it shouldn’t hold you back. Like Jez says, John Chow is a great example
Dave Davis 11.05 pm on 21.11.2007 Permalink
Great points Gary, an excellent checklist/flowchart to scope out the potential for integrating blogging into an online marketing campaign.
We actually have a question in our needs analysis document that asks if the company would consider blogging. The response is about 99% yes, but the question after asks if they could dedicate someone to post at least once a week and the answer is about 99% no!
Blogging in my opinion offers some of the highest ROI when it comes to promotion due to the relative minimum investment required (only time). Most people fail to measure the ROI from their blog or even see it as investment.
I’ll be stealing some of your points…verbatim.
Daniel 11.06 am on 24.11.2007 Permalink
Since I have a journalism background, I think that if you’re going to blog in a given language, you should at least know how to communicate clearly in that language.
Marketers have some of the best blogs out there, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find simple grammar or syntax errors on them.
Gary Lee 5.16 pm on 24.11.2007 Permalink
I agree with Hannes . . . . I mean, my grammar stinks and I never got anything above a B+ in English Literature in High School . . . as long as you can write in a way where you can convey the message you want to convey, then I think you’ll be all good . . .
Gary Lee 5.16 pm on 24.11.2007 Permalink
remember . . it’s all about the delivery
Gary Lee 5.18 pm on 24.11.2007 Permalink
haha . . do I sense an lil bit of journalistic snobbery against bloggers? . . oh wait, is “snobbery” even a word?
Daniel 2.13 pm on 25.11.2007 Permalink
Ha. Can’t one be both a journalist and a blogger? A “blogalist,” even?
And yes, “snobbery” is a word! Durr…