How to Blog for Business

To really work, Sierra observed, an entrepreneur’s blog has to be about something bigger than his or her company and his or her product. This sounds simple, but it isn’t. It takes real discipline to not talk about yourself and your company. Blogging as a medium seems so personal, and often it is. But when you’re using a blog to promote a business, that blog can’t be about you, Sierra said. It has to be about your readers, who will, it’s hoped, become your customers. It has to be about making them awesome.

From Let’s Take This Offline by Joel Spolsky of Joel on Software.

Joel goes on to say that blogging may not be the best way to build a customer base in terms of return on investment. In fact, he plans to give up the practice so he can focus on building his company, Fog Creek Software.

But Sierra’s point is a good one. What makes corporate blogs interesting is not about projects or people. It’s about the company’s culture. What intrigues the company as a group? What inspires them? What kinds of insights do they have? How closely do they follow trends and technology? Is my industry even on their radar?