Chatting with someone who never reads blogs
Posted by Mark White, Blog Consultant in Blogging News , Small Business Blogging , Social Media
I had the pleasure of having some friends over this weekend – it was great to see them, as it seems so long since we hosted at home following the arrival of our first born aka “he who shall be obeyed”! 
After dinner, I was chatting with one of my friends and we touched on something that I wanted to share with you because it’s just so relevant to what we are doing.
He kindly asked how my “blogging business” was going and I replied that at the moment there seemed to be a growing interest in both social media and blogging which meant that things looked positive for the coming year. He was very pleased for me but he went on to tell me that the while he knew of my interest in blogging, he had never actually read a blog himself. “Bollocks,” I thought. I said that I’d be surprised if he hadn’t, as I knew he was someone who liked to keep up to date with the news in general and the financial news in particular.
So I asked him if he read the Business section of the BBC news website. “Everyday”, he replied. “I particularly like Peston’s Picks – it’s the best bit of the whole site.” (That’s written by the BBC’s Business editor, Robert Peston).
“Yep, one of my favourites too”, I replied. “What do you like about it?”
“Well, he always seems to have written it that day so it’s got the latest news – exactly what I’m looking for – and you know that he’s got the inside track on the stories because of his reputation from the TV. I also like that fact you can also leave your own opinion at the end of the article and, to honest, some of those are really interesting too.”
Well, if those all sound to you like key characteristics of a blog then you’d be spot on and indeed Peston’s Picks is one of the most read blogs on the BBC site, particularly in the current economic climate, for exactly the reason my friend cited. But the fact is that although there are references to it being a blog, it just comes across as the place on the site where you can read what Robert writes. The fact that the technology he uses happens to be called a blog is frankly immaterial – it’s just the name we currently give to it.
So, in fact my friend is an avid reader of a blog (and no doubt others) without even knowing it. Perhaps he’s also exactly the sort of person that we should be seeking out and listening to as we start blogs for our own businesses. Rather than focusing on creating a widely read “blog”, I believe that he reminds us that instead we should be looking to write widely read articles or to engage in conversations or create connections with people we want to associate with. The fact that we do so through something called a blog happens to be because it’s the perfect tool for the job.
So when we plan our blogs, let’s put ourselves in the place of my friend and look at what matters to him – that’s all about content, authenticity, discussion and relevance. And it’s very little about the technology that we choose to use to supply him with those things.
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December 29th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Thats what you call not seeing what is in front of you – interesting story
January 7th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
It’s interesting how words like ‘blogs’ and ‘blogging’ can be a barrier. They might be mainstream but they’re not necessarily universally understood. It’s a reminder to us net folk that sometimes we need to be clearer or more inclusive with our language.
It reminds me of small business person I was doing some work with. My suggestion that he start blogging was met with general annoyance and disdain. I let the suggestion go.
A few weeks later I suggested that in his line of work, it would be great if he had a place on his website where he could tell stories and share photos. He loved the idea and was keen to get started.
A blog by any other name…
January 13th, 2009 at 2:22 am
Hear, hear! Personally, I love technology and I better being the owner of a website development company, but I know that many of my friends, family and clients don’t understand all the intricacies. I recently started a blog as a companion to my business website because I realized that I could utilize it to help give people a better understanding of everything I do. The response has been very good, as many of my clients have told me they have a better understanding of what I am doing with regards to building their website, and they are learning how to maintain it better. I think they key here is not to talk down to people, but try and put things in a way they can understand and a way that will help them better understand why it’s important to them.
January 15th, 2009 at 12:27 am
If you’re not in the industry, it’s the celebrity gossip blogs etc that get attention and create the general perception of the Blog word.
I told a friend that I had just started to blog. She looked at me as if I had grown another head and said “Oh, what do you want to keep an online diary for?”. Other friends have said similar things.
My new site (if I ever finish it) is going to have the blog seamlessly integrated without mention of the word!
January 15th, 2009 at 12:38 am
@Reeta Exactly right … seamlessly integrated is how it should be, in my opinion. In essence an interactive site throughout. Of course, one of the easiest ways to achieve that is to build the whole site on Wordpress which gives total integration!
January 17th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Everyone said build it in Wordpress but I, in my infinite wisdom, chose Joomla. The learning curve is everything people said it would be… If (When) I pull it off, I can’t wait to get your feedback
February 16th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
You know, it never ceases to amaze me that people are still so far behind the times. The truth is, blogging is fast becoming one of the most popular and successful social media tools, especially for businesses. It’s obvious that companies are starting to figure that out too. If you look at the latest numbers, blogging jobs are steadily on the rise. That’s impressive in and of itself, but particularly so given the current state of the economy.