It's About More Than Blogging

My friend, Karen Anderson, has a wonderfully informative blog called Writer Way, and her recent post, Way Beyond Blogs, is certainly worth a read.

One of the challenging things for businesses right now is to adapt to the changing terrain of communications. For decades we've been told that marketing and PR are vehicles with which to shape public perception of your business. But the truth about branding is that perception is reality, and the experience people have with your business has everything to do with their perception of your brand. Customers can sense very quickly if you have integrity, if you're being honest, if you're over-stating your case. We've gone from a demand for services to a demand for experiences, and are now entering a phase of demand for authenticity.

Way Beyond Blogs offers several links and tips to get you up-to-speed on ways you can deepen your brand through meaningful partnerships and participation in the communities around you. Never underestimate the power of good, old-fashioned honesty and integrity.

Oh Brave, New World!

It's been on my mind for over a year now to start a blog, but I couldn't seem to get past the apparent selfishness of it. I mean, really, who's going to tune in to what I have to say on a regular basis? Aren't bloggers just people who sit alone and type away into the wee hours of the morning about whatever pops into their minds? And yet. I feel the pull to do just that. So I did what I always do in situations like this: I turned to Google.

The web has increasingly become my Magic Eight Ball of choice. "Should I blog?" "Concentrate and ask again."

Actually, I entered "reasons to blog" and got 16,700,000 results from Google. And that included at least one dud, which was "Reasons to know your Ghetto!" which led me to an adult site. Hmm. Verrrry interestink.

What I learned from this small amount of research is that blogging isn't quite as selfish as I'd thought. For one thing, with 24 years' experience working as a communications professional, I think I have a few tidbits to offer up to the world that might just help Somebody, Somewhere. But among other reasons to blog were things like connecting and contributing to the collective wisdom,engaging in discussion, and learning from each other. My favorite quote was, "Professionalism is more than consumption, it is contribution." (Rovy Bronson.) I don't know who Rovy Bronson is, but that quote pushed me over into the camp of folks committed to blogging. (We all seem to quote Rovy, yet I couldn't quite find out who he is.)

So, why tune back in for more? Well, I'll do my best to put forth modest pearls of wisdom that relate to how best to tell your story, how to raise awareness of you and your business, and how to avoid common promotional pitfalls that are costly and time-consuming.

"Is anyone still reading this?" "Ask again later."