Blogging -- Four Pros and Four Cons

It’s 2010 and blogging is no longer a hot new marketing tactic. Yet I’m hearing from entrepreneurs are still unsure if blogging is worth their time. While blogging can be a powerful way to build brand awareness and share of voice, it also has some major drawbacks.
Here are some pros and cons of blogging for business.

Pros

1. Blogging can help you gain recognition as an expert in your field because you’re out there producing content that educates and informs people.

2. It can help you stay state-of-the-art because you’ll constantly be looking for ideas and information to share. Blogging puts pressure on you to stay current and up-to-date.

3. It can help you attract customers because they’ll have more reasons to see that you’re the real deal and feel comfortable with who you are because you’re showing it and not just saying it.

4. Blogging allows you to develop more in-depth content that’s all organized and accessible in one place. You can just fire up your blog and there are all the resources and opinions and information you’ve been sharing for years.

Cons

1. Blogs take time. Having a blog but rarely posting on it is just a giant waste. In fact, if you’re going to do that it would be better to not even have one because a blog with three posts from 2007 that’s just sitting there makes you look like someone who does not follow through on things. It sends a negative message, whereas if you had no blog it would just be a neutral message.

2. Blogs generally do not make any money directly. They may not even make much money indirectly. Early on people thought if they built enough traffic that would attract advertisers and generate revenue, and we could all quit our jobs and be bloggers, but it turns out only a tiny, tiny percentage of bloggers have been able to do that. The rest operate because they either have a passion for the issue or the blog fits one of their larger business goals. But it is not generally a revenue generator.

3. Blogs can be hard to find. Unlike an ezine that goes directly into your target’s mailbox or posts on social media that appear directly on your followers news stream, people have to go look for your blog. It’s true you can make it so that people can receive an email whenever you post something new to your blog, but they still have to request that and then go click the link to see what you’ve posted. Often people just don’t have the time or interest to take that step.

4. Blogs take time. As with most marketing tactics, you are not going to see results right away. People will gradually have to find your blog and like it and stop back. If you’re intrigued by blogging, give yourself at least a year to do it regularly and decide if it is worth the effort. Less time than that might not be enough runway for your blog to really find an audience and take off as a worthwhile venture.

©2010 Barbara Wayman, BlueTree Media, LLC.

Barbara Wayman, APR, president of BlueTree Media, LLC, publishes The Stand Out Newsletter, an award-winning monthly ezine for people who want to know how to leverage the power of marketing and public relations. Get your free subscription today at http://BlueTreeMedia.com/ezine.htmlThis article may be reprinted when the copyright and author bio are included.