What should your company blog about?

A company blog is an incredible marketing tool. A side benefit of having a blog is that it helps with SEO.

Did you know that 60% of all businesses in United States have a blog?
Did you also know that 65% of those blogs are abandoned shortly after they are started?
Only 35% of all business blogs are active.

(The above numbers come from "State of the Blogging World - 2012" info graphic on blogging.org)

That's good news and bad news. Why? When a competitor abandons their blog and you keep your blog current and active, you win. But, if you abandon your blog (and let me tell you, it's not that hard to abandon it if you have a wrong attitude about it), you lose. You are sending a "I don't really care." message to your online visitors.

Primarily, there are two reasons blogs get abandoned.

1. The blogger has a wrong attitude towards blogging. Instead of wanting to blog, the blogger thinks he/she HAS to blog.
2. The blogger does not know what to write about.

Attitude adjustment is easy. The mental switch needs to be flipped. Once the blogger truly understands the importance and benefits of a blog to their business, they will WANT to blog.

It's the second reason that stops most bloggers. I might be wrong in my analysis but I think it's because they either truly don't understand what their business is about or they have temporarily forgotten. Let me give you an example.

A photography studio might blog about "how to take different shots", "what kind of lightning and background to use", etc. They might get a few visitors, but most people are not interested in that kind of stuff (unless they have a deep interest in photography). People use a photography studio because they simply want a nice portrait of themselves and not a class on photography. It's almost like a restaurant explaining you how your meal was prepared with a step-by-step process before actually serving you the meal. It's not what we want. We go to a restaurant to enjoy the evening, not to get a cooking lesson.

Now imagine the same photography studio blogs about "creating and preserving memories". How many people want to create and preserve memories? All of us. In fact, that is the reason why most people use a photography studio. The blog can give their readers ideas of places to visit, how to prepare for a vacation, how to throw a successful graduation party, etc. So, even though the blog does not talk about nuances of what makes a great photograph, they are communicating directly to their audiences heart. I think this is a much more effective business strategy and also a lot more fun to blog about. What do you think?

Does your company have a blog? How to you keep it active and fresh? Share your answers in the comments below.

- Mayur