Blogging amazes me. And scares me. I’m a far from expert blogger, and the purpose of this blog makes the spontaneity which makes the medium so powerful seem inappropriate. But I love blog reading. I love the uninhibited candour of those who can and will get up and share the contents of their mind with strangers. I love the edginess of their blogs. I love the vigour and sexiness. I have frequently found myself brought to tears, made to laugh out loud or placed in sheer awe of the writing skills and unexpected enthusiasms of the authors. But is blogging really a business skill?
In a large business, I’m not certain that it is. The endeavour of blog producing will always be likely to seem contrived, as though something essentially ‘free spirited’ has been coerced for commercial gain.
But not so in a small business. The blog of a hairdresser, or a painter and decorator, or a software developer, or an accountant or, dare I say it, a copywriter, can be personal, informative and image building. It can establish authority in the field and introduce the author to a new, loyal and affectionate readership some of whom may, in time, become customers.
If you plan to blog on behalf of someone else, as a copywriting task, be warned: it’s very hard indeed to simulate the passion of ownership which good blogging requires.
But if you plan to use it as a tool in your own business, then go ahead. If you get it right, you’ll enrich the world.
