{"id":1448,"date":"2009-09-02T04:39:10","date_gmt":"2009-09-02T11:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/?p=1448"},"modified":"2009-09-02T20:02:17","modified_gmt":"2009-09-03T03:02:17","slug":"blogging-blunders-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/blogging-blunders-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Blogging Blunders, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 2 of a series on common business blogging mistakes. Part 1 is here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Blogs are a new form of communications medium but many marketers still are stuck in the old one-way mode. To really appreciate the value of blogging, you have to approach it as a conversation. That means listening as well as talking. Here are some common mistakes:<\/p>\n

Failure to link<\/strong> \u2013 Links are online currency. Not only do they enable more efficient communication than that available with the printed word (see my earlier post\u201d \u201cWhat You Probably Don’t Know About Links\u201d<\/a>), but they\u2019re an acknowledgment that someone else has published something of value. Bloggers covet links. Links improve their search performance and drive traffic that leads to business opportunities. Mentioning someone else\u2019s work without linking to it is considered rude.<\/p>\n

Too often, novice bloggers fail to observe this simple protocol. They cite but don\u2019t link. It takes only a few seconds to add links to your copy and it has all kinds of benefits. Linking engenders goodwill with the source of the information. That may lead to a reciprocal link, which improves your own traffic. It can also start a dialog with a person whose work you respect. You don\u2019t have to agree with people to link to them, but you should always acknowledge that their work had value to you.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another reason to sweat this detail: failure to link can actually make you enemies. Thanks go Google Alerts, people now know instantly when their name pops up somewhere else online. If that mention doesn\u2019t include a link, they\u2019re going to be annoyed. So linking isn\u2019t an option; it\u2019s a necessity to maintaining good relations with people you respect.<\/p>\n

Treating the blog as a wire service<\/strong> \u2013 Don\u2019t use your blog to distribute press releases. That\u2019s missing the point of this two-way medium. Blogs are a way for people to connect with each other. They\u2019re a conversation, not a channel. If you treat your blog as another way to deliver a templated mass mail, then readers will abandon you faster than they\u2019d flee a flaming building.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing wrong with posting the occasional news release on your blog, but always add a personal message to frame its importance. Even better: link to the release and comment about why it\u2019s significant. Humanize the interaction.<\/p>\n

Being irrelevant <\/strong> \u2013 Shortly after the stock market crashed last fall, I visited 15 prominent corporate blogs. To my astonishment, only one even mentioned<\/a> the most perilous financial crisis in two generations. Most were filled with marketing happy talk. These bloggers failed to address a critical customer need for information. Worse, they looked clueless. touch. Imagine if Wells Fargo had used the opportunity to educate its customers about why the markets were in turmoil. Instead, it posted a travel video. What a missed opportunity.<\/p>\n

One of the great advantages of blogs is that they\u2019re fast and easy to update. Use them to comment on current events that affect your customers. You don\u2019t have to run afoul of regulatory guidelines to explain something. Educate and inform. Become a trusted source.<\/p>\n

Turning off comments<\/strong> \u2013 According to some estimates, about 20% of business blogs don\u2019t accept comments. Those companies are missing the point. A blog is a basis of discussion, not a TV program. Turning off comments is the same as saying you\u2019re not interested in what your constituents think. What an insult.<\/p>\n

The reason people most often cite for banishing comments is that they fear negativity. Those companies shouldn\u2019t be blogging in the first place. Occasional negativity is part of the fabric of good discussion and it should be embraced as part of the feedback process.\u00a0 If you\u2019re worried about inappropriateness, then enable comment moderation and filter responses. However, you should never delete a comment simply because it\u2019s negative. The writer will simply take his gripe somewhere else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 2 of a series on common business blogging mistakes. Part 1 is here. Blogs are a new form of communications medium but many marketers still are stuck in the old one-way mode. To really appreciate the value of blogging, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[5,6,9],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pTy95-nm","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1448"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1451,"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1448\/revisions\/1451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gillin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}