Organizations don’t blog, people do
85% of corporate blogs have 5 or fewer posts. That figure is widely accepted in discussion online and offline.
That’s a pretty shocking figure. What’s it tell us? Possibly any number of things.
- The organizations don’t give a darn whether they have a blog or not – they were told by someone they needed to have one.
- The organizations don’t know what blogging means.
- That the blogging is done poorly and without engagement so there’s not the positive feedback which makes blogging feel worthwhile.
- The blogging was done for SEO and not to build relationships and word of mouth reputation. Blogging solely for SEO gets tiresome, unless you you’re hiring someone to create content for you — and I’m not sure that’s even a blogging.
But what strikes me as most telling is that organizations don’t blog, people do. I’ll confess I stole that from Eaun Semple (@euan) who authored, Organizations Don’t Tweet, People Do.
You need to have a passion and a soul to blog. Blogging is not for everyone. You don’t just decide as part of a marketing strategy that you’re going to have a blog.
What’s the niche that drives the blog and it’s readers to the blog? Where’s the heart and passion that fuels the blog?
A blog doesn’t write itself. Someone with a passion to expresse themselves about what they are reading, or at least someone with a passion to build relationships and their reputation through blogging needs to get jazzed enough to sit at a keyboard.
For law firms, it’s even more important that it be the lawyers blogging. Sure, have a practice group blog — or even a law firm blog, if you do only one area of the law, but let the lawyers drive the conversation. It’s the trust the lawyers are establishing that grows relationships and establishes expertise.
Everyone talks about taking the online engagement offline. How can we generate business from our blog? Coffees, lunches, and a ballgame are had with people you get to know as people through blogging, not an organization.
No question, a law firm benefits by blogs driven by lawyers. Look at eMedia Law Insider, Duets Blog, and Employment and Labor Insider as examples of lawyer driven blogs benefiting the law firm.
I am sure I’ll be made out to be a liar when someone directs me to a great company blog authored by nameless individuals. I just think that’s a much tougher row to hoe than a blog driven by individuals if you’re looking to maintain and grow your blog.