“If you prick us do we not bleed?” lamented Shylock (most recently portrayed, and brilliantly played by the great Al Pacino) in The Merchant of Venice. The answer is as certain as George W. mangling his syntax in a press conference on foreign affairs. But the answer confounds many communications managers who still wrestle with the question of whether to blog (or not).
A recent study by Bain & Company involving 1200 executives throughout the world (see Management Tools & Trends 2007 study) reveals that 30% of those companies (a cross-section of small, medium and large companies) use blogs. Those same executives report an underwhelming rate of satisfaction with their blogs of only 3.39 out of 5.
Clearly, more companies are blogging, but with mixed results, and causing many more to think about it, but wonder if they should or not. Huh?! Yes, some are as confused as Dick Cheney on a hunting trip.
To solve the dilemma, I offer some clues in the form of 6 key ingredients for a successful blog:
1) You and/or your executive(s) need something noteworthy to say, and be able to write in a conversational manner
2) The audience (customers or employees) have an interest and appetite for reading a blog
3) The blog has a content focus (e.g. strategy, innovation, “What keeps me up at night”)
4) Two-way dialogue: encourage your audience to join the conversation by posting comments and questions
5) Blog regularly (e.g. 2 or 3 times per week, or as much or as little as the audience demands)
6) Write for the web: keep it short, succinct and break up blocks of text with bullets, sub-headers and tight paragraphs
No, the ability to write is not enough reason to blog. If you have something to say and can write it well, and with a focus, then perhaps you should blog.
“If you tickle us do we not laugh?” Shylock’s follow-up retort to the prick-and-bleed question might prompt an additional question of humor in blogs. My advice: tread with caution. It’s easier to bleed than to make people laugh. (I clearly need more Dick and Dubya fodder).
