The past month, I’ve been “blogging about blogs” – and a central theme has been that 
blogging takes a considerable amount of time and effort. Often times, businesses make the decision to begin a blog without having any sense of whether blogging is the best use of their time and resources, or if the timing is right to begin blogging. Pete and I have developed this checklist to help you determine if blogging is right for your company. Even if you check zero of the items below, that doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t blog. But if you check a majority of them, we strongly recommend incorporating a blog into your communications plan.
___ My business’s core operations are sound, and I’m in a position where I want to bring as much attention as possible to my business
____ I have adequate resources for me or my staff to dedicate a few hours per week to the blog, including monitoring and responding to comments
____ I am willing to dedicate at least one year and a few weeks of intensive start up time in order to give my blog enough time t generate results
____ I have a nice website that I am confident in and want to show off
____ I wouldn’t mind investing a little money to optimize my website by adding a blog
____ I have a great web person who will work with me to implement the technical components I need to optimize my blog
___ I am a strong writer or I have a strong writer on my team
___ I am committed to integrating my blog with social media outreach in order t drive traffic and gain an audience
___ I would like to give my business an online platform for reaching new audiences not only in my current market, but also in bigger markets or even overseas
___ I want to increase my Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Should you blog?
Fantastic checklist, Rachel and Pete! I'll add that even when biz owners don't have the time or writing talent in house, that doesn't mean they can't maintain a blog. There are professional writers who can help them overcome those hurdles while producing content consistently. I hope that doesn't come across as self-promotional, but there are a lot of people who don't think of that as an option!
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Great point, Dawn! Writing doesn't have to be the deal breaker for a business - if they can find a way to partner with someone who specializes in content development, I highly recommend it. And, I WILL promotional - I highly recommend Dawn: http://www.dawnmentzer.com/
This is a good tool for businesses. I think what can be included is also the differentiation between blogging and social media platforms such as G+, Facebook, Twitter and such.
Some business owners may think that these platforms are sufficient to engage their customers. They may not be aware the power of blogging.
These are just my thoughts.
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Hi there, Thanks for reading and commenting! You bring up a good point. Some mistake 'blogging' as another form of social media, when I would argue that it's an extension of it. Blogging is the best way to bring traffic to a website, build credibility, and reach a mass audience. My husband, Pete, has a module dedicated to the topic of blogging, as part of the Social Media Jump Start Kit. It's #6: http://strellasocialmedia.com/social-media-jump-start-kit/