Many corporate blogs fail because they forget two things:
A blog is not a traditional news publication. It didn't spring from the ether. It's a conversation.
A blogger is not a journalist. Journalists report facts. Bloggers connect and share.
So many corporate blogs make the mistake of trying to become a newsletter or an online news site. They are strict and regimented. Even worse, they are self-contained, only read and relevant to those within the company. No surprise, they don't get a lot of traffic and no one links back.
Why? Cause they are talking to themselves. It's like someone shut them in a room and they are just chatting away. Yes, some of what is said is good, but who's gonna hear it?
You have to remember that conversations have two parts: listening and participating.
"We monitor what's being said on other blogs. That's how we figure out what to write in posts."
BAD! To continue the room analogy even further, what you are doing is holding a glass to the wall, listening to the neighbor and then talking to yourself.
I'm not saying it's bad to just lurk--what's bad is to lurk and write. If you want to... Read more
