This is part 2 of a new series on how to start a business blog, and is aimed at businesses of all sizes. In these articles, I’m going to address business-specific concerns and requirements for business blogging. Previously: How to Start a Business Blog, Part 1
Step 3: Determine the Purpose of Your Business Blog
One way in which business blogs are unlike personal blogs is that they’re not… well, personal. They need to fulfill a business purpose. Or, if you turn it around to face the customer: a business blog should meet customer needs. A business has a purpose beyond just earning money. Earning money is the result of a business fulfilling its greater purpose. A business blog helps the business fulfill its purpose. Hammering out the purpose of a business blog is one of the most important early steps in the process of starting a business blog.
To help you choose a direction, I’ve listed some non-mutually exclusive overarching goals a business blog can strive towards:
- Convey company news and events.
- Demonstrate knowledge, expertise, passion, and authority in a niche or industry.
- Provide helpful tips and info on getting the most from company services or products.
- Pass along success stories from customers about how your business has helped them become more successful.
- Dominate a niche or industry in search results (hence market and mind share) by becoming the authoritative source for information on a subject and using good SEO.
- Become a resource for the media and cottage industry about your business’ market, elevating your business’ position and brand.
When I speak of a business blog, I’m not specifying any size of business. I will in future articles, where necessary, because there are some things a large company should do differently than a small one. What I’ve written above could just as easily apply to a business of one (like a MicroISV) as to a Fortune 500 company.
The points above can be combined in any way: all of them or some of them can be the goals of a business blog. The first one alone would make me and everyone else yawn as we reached for the back button. They aren’t exhaustive, either; I’m sure others could add to the list.
In How to Start a Business Blog, Part 3, I’ll take a look how to determine authorship for a business blog or for multiple blogs. Subscribe to my RSS feed so you don’t miss it!
I do agree — all those points are hallmarks of a great business blog. I’m still not sure about the personal thing, though. I read a somewhat personal post at SEO Moz (I’d say it was a form of business blog) which was a funny story about how the author’s family all thought she worked at Google, despite her efforts to tell them otherwise. I thought it made the business behind the blog seem more friendly and easy to relate to, I guess. It shows that the business staff are just like us, we all have kooky families — and we trust people who are like us.
I think as long as you don’t get too personal then adding a bit of informality and personal anecdotes to a business blog might work. Though it would have to be done well, and carefully.
@Skellie, I think your last point about “too” personal is the key difference between telling a relevant story (a highly valuable tactic) and sharing something that is inappropriately too personal.
A personal story that’s related to business shows the human side of us. Internet is just cables and wires if not for the human touch, conversation and interaction in it. It’s the same for business and business blogs. I definitely prefer to read a “human” blog than “robotic” blog.