Blog time! Just do it!

I didn't get a chance to write in my blog last week - I was just too busy.  There's a whole bunch of things I have lined up to blog about (so stay tuned) but since I'm guilty of ignoring my own blog, I thought it's maybe time to blog about blogging itself!

As it turns out, within a 24 hour period last week, I heard the response "... but I don't want to write about myself ..." as I was recommending my fellow consultants to go ahead and start a blog.  It was interesting to hear the same response from two different very accomplished business people, and it got me started thinking about their reaction.

Very often, when we talk about blogging and social media, people just think about the technology.  "Oh, I need to get on Facebook!",  "I must twitter", "Should I use Word Press or Blogger?", etc.  We all fail to see that these are just distribution channels.  No wonder there are so many "all about me" blogs out there - people just wanted to get a blog going and didn't consider their audience, their platform, etc. and so they started blogging about something they were very verse about (themselves).  And that's probably why the first reactions I got was "I don't want to write about myself", like that's all blogging is about!

Blogging happens to be a strong element of a larger branding campaign.  It doesn't matter if its a branding campaign for a Fortune 500 company or branding of an individual.  It's even bigger piece of the branding exercise if it's for an individual, a consultant, or a small company.  Blogging creates a voice, and it is nearly impossible to take on a thought leadership brand if the company (or individual) has no voice.  So, in that case, blogging is an essential part of establishing yourself as a thought leader.

Besides the "I don't want to write about myself comment", other common responses are "what if my position on something offends a client or prospect?" or "I don't want to give people a chance to comment negatively on my product or thought!".  Now, these are a more valid concerns.

However, blogging is about having a take, especially if you want to have a blog that is differentiated.  Having a take doesn't necessarily require stirring up controversy, but it does mean that you need to take a stance on something.  If your blog is "safe" it's most likely boring (unless it's a "how to" blog --- which then doesn't do much for the thought leadership brand).  And boring is not a good thing ..... bottom line: want it or not, having a take is a part of creating a position of thought leadership.

On the other response: if people have something to comment on negatively, what better place to have those comments aired than on your own blog? - where you have ample opportunity to respond, but even better where you have an chance to link to other pages with similar responses and comments, and increase your page rank!  The negative comments are getting blogged somewhere, at least if they happen on your own blog, you know about them and can keep them under control.  As a friend of mine said, if your teenagers are going to drink, they're better drinking in your own house with you around!