I spend a lot of time trying to convince businesses to start their own blogs.  After all-a blog allows you to speak to your market, listen in return and react to the feedback.  I read blogs.  They are my main source of information; they keep me in touch with opinion leaders like Seth Godin and David Meerman Scott and they introduce me to people who can provide a perspective on subjects which I have little knowledge.  Blogs provide free education.  A good blogs is invaluable to its audience. 

If I were to be honest I’ve never been able to convince a CEOor head of department to start a company blog and I’ve been baffled as to why they can not see the value in it.  So I decided to do some more research.  What are the leaders in the blogospheresaying about corporate blogging?  Well, according to David Meerman Scott’s latest post on the topic; it’s the CEO’s ego that stunts his/her blog’s success. I couldn’t agree more, but the post still didn’t convince me.  Sure that is one part of it, but what about an organisation that has not experienced the rewards of a successful blog or felt the confidence crush of an unread blog?  I ventured onto the comments below the post to see what other readers had to say and I found a gem contributed by Jim Dempsey.  Jim shared his reasons for blogging.  His reasons were simple, customer focused-he was blogging to add value.  And then it hit me; all this time I had been asking the wrong questions – or perhaps - I had given the wrong answers.  I was sitting on the side of the corporates.  I’ve been selling the blog’s value  to the business instead of selling the blog’s value to the client/consumer/customer/reader.   A blog that results in added value for the reader, adds value to the business.

So how do I prove this theory?  I start a blog of course.  A blog that adds value, not to me, but to my reader.