The company I work for, Insight2, specializes in helping companies through the 'fuzzy front end' of marketing processes. Companies invest in us to help them overcome the standstill inertia of repetitive product lines or static markets and point them in a new, profitable direction. As a result, one might assume that anyone who spends as much time with a company such as ours would have no problem starting a new blog from scratch.
This is not the case.
Just like our clients, when my boss said to me, "You should really start a new blog to get some online exposure," I was lost. Sure, I know what a blog is, but how the hell are you supposed to start one from scratch? Infinite is the best word I can think of to summarize the amount of potential topics, commentaries, and subjects that could potentially be addressed. Even then, the most important factor yet has to be addressed: How am I going to make this entertaining?
For a couple days, I found myself drowning in a baby pool of cruddy ideas. Rather than pouncing on the first semi-amusing idea that came to mind (the same problem our clients approach us to solve), I backed off and took a new approach. If I am marketing this blog to my decision-making peers in other industries, then what am I currently reading and how do I currently read it? Without a budget to do big picture market research, I figured I could probably take the time to figure out my own values when it comes to internet materials.
And so I put on my Sherlock Holmes monocle and started perusing. Here's how I define a blog as worthwhile or a bust:
1. Clear Purpose - Subject matter is important, but I knew going in that high-speed roller sculpting and Scandinavian doll collecting weren't going to be on the list. However, the blogs I value over time manage to have a tightly defined scope. Marketing blogs tend to cover a singular facet of marketing. The design blogs tended to cover an area of design. Even the sports blogs covered a single team or sport. Blogs that tend to drift around from topic to topic don't stay on the RSS reader long.
2. Enlightening - Something worthwhile was brought to my attention. This can range from a humorous video, to a new product concept, a marketing study, or a status update on my favorite team's roster. While some blogs I read 'break the news' while others just 'report the news' that someone else uncovered, the importance to me is that I don't have to go searching for meaningful news. Some of the blogs I read link most of their articles to other blogs.... that's one google search I didn't have to make.
3. Personality - By reading blogs, I get to know the writer. Unlike college, you get to choose who you're learning from when you're reading blogs. I'm gonna choose the professors that I like. Sarcastic, ingenious, straight-shooting, detail-oriented.... everyone is different, but if I can't hold an enjoyable conversation with the author, then the five minutes it takes to read their blog can be better spent.
I'm certain that there are other elements in play, but these are the three that I'm going to focus on while I build the Insight2Perspective blog. This blog is going to be focus on providing perspectives on consumer understanding, accompanied with meaningful links and materials.
As for the personality, well, you'll figure that out on your own.
Nice post. The challenge with blogging is to stay on top of it. My trick is to write ~10 posts at a time but stagger their post times.
Posted by: Creoquality | 12/16/2009 at 06:31 PM
Great start. I have found myself struggling with the same issue all year - should really start a blog, but have hundreds of ideas. What to focus on, where to start, etc? Should be a good New Year's resolution for 2010. In the meantime, I'll follow this and let you be the guinea pig. Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Jason Williams | 12/17/2009 at 12:56 PM