Many small businesses go back-and-forth over the decision of whether or not to blog on the company site.
On the one hand, blogging can be a great online outlet for promoting your company’s products and/or services. On the other hand, it can be an issue when consumers take exception to something about the company, leaving staff and/or management to have to defend itself online.
The bottom line is that blogging offers companies the opportunity to have a personal connection with customers, both current and potential. Having an interactive dialogue with these individuals allows your company to reach out to them, discuss their needs, and see how you can better what the competition can offer them.
With that being said, the tricky part is avoiding the pratfalls that come with a blog. Remember, messages in the online world spread like wildfire, so it just takes a few negative comments and or reviews on your blog’s site to put you on the defensive.
Things to Ask Before You Blog
If your company is considering starting a blog or shelving the current one, take a few things into consideration. Among them are:
- Why are we thinking of or have been blogging in the first place?
- Are we going to be or have been donating the proper resources to a company blog?
- How have we or how will we respond to negative comments that are posted on the blog? If we’re not going to allow consumers to comment on the blog, what is the reasoning behind this?
- Who will be or who has been blogging for us to date? Is it better to only have one individual blogging going forward or multiple individuals?
These are but a few of the items small businesses considering or presently utilizing blogs need to look at.
First and foremost, make sure your company has a blogging policy in place that clearly states:
- Avoiding releasing trade secrets, avoiding conducting personal attacks
- Who is eligible to blog on the site
- What the rules and regulations are for sharing pertinent information
- Whether or not you will accept guest blogs
- How frequently the blog will be updated.
Is Your Blog Worth Your Reputation?
In the event you’re considering a company blog or have been using one but are rethinking the merits of it, keep in mind that even with or without a blog, there are other ways to promote the company’s reputation.
It is easier than you think to increase the company’s reputation by offering top-notch customer service, increasing your online presence, and staying one step ahead of the competition. It also does not hurt to have your marketing team monitoring the web as much as possible for articles, comments etc. directed at or involving your company. Being attentive to what is being said on the Internet is important.
At the end of the day, no one can truly put a price tag on how much a company’s reputation is truly worth.
One thing we all know, however, is that trying to reinvent a tarnished reputation can take lots of time and money, something many small businesses in today’s economic conditions are short on.
image: mushon
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About Dave Thomas
[...] course there are valid reasons for not implementing a blog, the very cost of your reputation being one of them, but when leveraged properly the return on investment can be simply astronomical. [...]