Best Practices for Bloggers

We all visit blogs. Many of us post and comment on blogs. You might even post a comment on this blog.

If you're like me, you can probably name your favorite blogs, the ones that keep you coming back again and again. You learn from them, they make you laugh, they engage you and they create value for you. In short, they create connected-ness between you and a brand.

Then there are the blogs that make you cringe. You know the ones I mean; you stumble upon them when you're researching a question or just killing time. And you stumble away as quickly as you can, never to return. They read like a marketing campaign. They have stale content. The comment feature is turned off so there is no two-way communication. Yawn.

But what are the best practices for a blog? What makes a good blog good? Here are my own best practice recommendations, followed by a link to an article about blogging best practices that covers areas I don't - such as legal considerations.

1. Fresh Content. To keep content fresh and ensure your audience sees value in reading your blog, post regularly - I recommend posting daily. Stale content is snooze-inducing.
2. It's All About Them. Your blog content shouldn't read like a marketing campaign. An audience visits a blog because they want to gather information about a brand, answer a question, or solve a problem. They want a human experience and do not want to feel like a marketing target. The purpose of a good business blog, in my opinion, is to establish and grow a relationship. Sales will follow.
3. Monitor & Answer Comments. When a customer or potential customer uses a comment to ask a question or file a complaint, they deserve an answer. There's no greater turnoff than believing a brand isn't listening. If a question or complaint goes unanswered, the customer is likely to feel the brand's interest is insincere. A blog gives a brand great opportunity to create loyalty through sincere and transparent interactions with customers.

In doing research for this blog post, I found this article "Corporate Blogging: 7 Best Practices." While there is some overlap with my own best practices, this article provides valuable pointers on legal and policy considerations. Best practice recommendation 6, "Reinforce the company’s core values," is of particular value.

Ok, I get it: This explanation of social media is simplistic. VERY simplistic. But sometimes a silly approach is the best approach. What I like about this video is that anyone can understand it, anyone will grasp the point.

We all can think of friends, relatives or coworkers we know who don't fully grasp the power of social media -- how it can improve our lives and our businesses. My father is a good example of someone who just doesn't get it. He looks at me in awe, for example, when I locate a restaurant on UrbanSpoon or Facebook in a matter of minutes and decide it would be a good choice for us based on customer reviews or the recommendations of friends who've eaten there.

Even my father would understand this video explanation of social media.

I can also think of small business owners I know who are slow adapters. When I share this video with them, they will finally 'get it.'

Greetings!

Welcome to my blog on social media, ecommerce and internet communications!

In this space I will explore topics related to social media, new media communications platforms, and ecommerce strategies.  The opportunity to write regularly and share my thoughts with a wide audience intrigues me. This is not my first blog, however.

For several years I posted regularly on my blog “Leading from the Left.”  I was one of the first elected officials in NC to utilize blogs (and other social media, for that matter!) to connect with constituents. The experience was extraordinary for me personally and professionally.

At the time blogging as an elected official was relatively new – older mentors warned me against it. Its power quickly became apparent, however, and I used the blog to go ‘over the heads’ of the traditional media to communicate directly with my audience. “Leading from the Left” provided an avenue to explore topical subjects, share thoughts on complex ideas, communicate with a wide audience, and extend my influence as a subject matter expert. I explored topics on my own terms and in greater detail than I had been able to previously in newspaper articles and opinion pieces.

When I decided not to run for reelection to the Orange County (NC) Board of Commissioners, I stopped blogging. Though I now post regularly on Facebook and have learned to power of that platform, I still miss blogging.

In addition to this blog, I’m creating a blog for my house. Yes, that’s right my house! I will shortly be placing my house on the market and will be selling it myself. I’ll market it via Craigslist, Facebook, Twitter and via a blog. Link to follow!