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With the announcement of the winners of the Irish Blog Awards this weekend I am sure that business blogging will be discussed by many businesses large and small.

But I’m concerned that they are getting bad advice.

In some conversations I have been having with business owners this week it seems as though they are being told by web designers and marketers that authoring a business blog or joining the microblog comunity at Twitter is THE way to build visibility and buzz about your business to attract more clients in a downturn economy.

But what few people are explaining is that a business blog may not be the relevant solution.

Yes this may seem odd coming from someone who authors a business blog, teaches others how to integrate a blog into their marketing and communications programmes and who has been engaged in the Business Blogging Subgroup of the Irish Internet Association’s Social Media Working Group.

Content marketing, delivering information that is educational and valuable to your prospects and customers is definitely a strategy that should be considered. But authoring a business blog is not the only way you can achieve this.

If you were to recommend content marketing as a strategy, would you start with an ezine, a blog, webinars, podcasts, ebooks, ecourses, article marketing or white papers? Ideally we might do all of these, but if resources, especially time, are limited, what do you recommend to people?

If you are serious about considering starting a blog here are four questions to consider:

1. Are you clear about what the content of your business blog will be and how the content will relate to your business strategy?

2. Have you considered how your business blog will be integrated into your overall marketing and communications plan?

3. Are you prepared to invest the time in not only writing and posting content to your business blog but also engage, connect and build relationships with the blogging community and your blog readers?

4. Does your organisation culture enable or want to enable direct dialogue with clients and prospects online, and can you get the support of your legal team and external affairs or communications department?

Don’t get me wrong; I could not have imagined attracting as many qualified leads to my business with no cold calling without a business blog, my podcasts and my ezine. But before you invest in setting up a business blog then realising that you just aren’t ready to create content and nurture your network online, I encourage you to consider the bigger picture of your overall marketing plan both online and offline.

What do you think – are business blogs right for every business?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Read Joe Pulizzi’s article on the importance of writing for search engines and readers HERE

Attend the breakfast seminar about business blogging on the 26 March 2009 – details are HERE

Learn more about how business blogs can help you build buzz about your brand at a half day workshop on the 28 April 2009 – details are HERE

Visit the Blacknight business blog, overall winner of the 2009 Irish Blog Awards for inspiration and an example of a great business blog HERE