On the Intrinsic Value of Blogging: Part 1
Posted by Ryan D. Jacobs on May 23, 2010
Everyone is talking about the importance of blogging these days.
If you run a business, you need to blog to build your corporate brand and cultivate engagement with your customers. You can no longer be content with just offering good products and first-rate customer service. No – now you must strive to “add additional value” by providing great content (e.g., tips, advice, comprehensive information about your products, etc.) that engages customers on a deeper level. Companies that do this well are able to move beyond mere financial transactions, effectively fostering customers’ affinity for their brands.
And then there’s the relatively new concept of the “personal brand.” Even if you’re just a regular individual hoping to succeed in today’s global economy, you need to blog in order to build your own unique brand. When potential employers conduct an online search to see what they can uncover about you, you want them to find meaningful content that you’ve created – and over which you have control – rather than just pictures of you partying.
There’s certainly no shortage of “how” and “why” books, blogs, and articles about this type of blogging. Of course, that’s more than likely because money is the primary motivation behind most of these experts’ admonitions:
- You should blog to build your corporate brand, which will help you keep your current customers and attract new ones.
- You should blog to develop your personal brand and build credibility, which will enhance your future job prospects.
I don’t disagree with these assertions at all. In fact, I believe blogging can be an extremely powerful platform for building personal and corporate brands. But I’m worried that people who read this type of advice – sensible though it all may be – only see part of the picture. I fear that these gurus don’t place nearly enough emphasis on the intrinsic value of blogging.
Some might be thinking, “Who is Ryan to write about the merits of blogging, when he has only been doing it for a couple months?”
Don’t worry, I’m under no illusion that I am an authority on the subject. But despite my relative infancy in the blogosphere, I have already derived enormous personal benefit from my rather insignificant efforts to date. And as I’ve begun to map out topics I would like to write about in the future, I can’t help but get excited about the endless possibilities and foresee many years of personal growth as I explore ideas – some old and some new.
I have come to an important conclusion: Even if my blog does little to build my personal brand; even if it doesn’t lead to more pennies in my pocket; indeed, even if no one ever reads what I write, I have no intention of giving up on it. At least, not any time soon.
Over the next few weeks I’m going to delve into why I believe blogging is inherently beneficial.
Why do you blog?
courtneykane said
I agree with you, Ryan. Blogging can never be so cynically about building a brand (if it was only about that readers would see right through you and not bother to come back). For me blogging serves a dual purpose. Firstly, it encourages me to write daily and contemplate my own process as a writer (I am writing my first book at the moment). Secondly, it is about community – finding like-(or not so like-)minded individuals out there in the blogosphere and learning from them, bouncing ideas off them, and being challenged by them.
I guess each blogger has their own purpose (keeping in touch with friends, expressing themselves in a public sphere, sharing ideas and great finds,…) but I think a successful blog (however you measure success) should have a purpose beyond branding, don’t you?
Ryan D. Jacobs said
I agree wholeheartedly! In subsequent posts over the next few weeks, I plan to elucidate how I think a blog can be eminently successful — even (especially?) when brand-building is not one’s primary goal. I’ll most certainly be touching on both of your main reasons for blogging, as they resonate strongly for me.
Thanks for your thoughts, Courtney. And all the best with your book!
Making Time to Write « Ryan's Ruminations said
[...] though, I also wrote about the value of blogging right smack in the middle of my musings on focus. Alas, with such a full schedule, I have had to [...]