Devoted to small businesses and those who run them

Blogging is not selling. It fits PR much more than sales and better even that marketing.

Blogging is personal. The readers will relate to the blogger - it should be one person and they should not be speaking as the company.

If the company wants to do a blog they will have to provide something of real value to readers. Gossip about the company and their products won't be a benefit. It will just be ignored. The blog needs to give.

When the going gets tough:
be willing to talk about it. Ask yourself what you really care about. If it's not what you're writing about you may as well stop and make it sooner rather than later.
think about what you are angry about - it can give you the energy to break out of a rut and take a new initiative.

Hi Evan
Thanks for your insights. I absolutely agree about the need to give value and to steer away from the hard sell approach.

Blogging is about building connections. I like your tips for when the going gets tough, too.

It may take some soul searching to determine if blogging is the right communication tool for each individual business and blogger.

Yvonne, it seems to me there's one thing business overlook when they decide to start a blog - does the person doing the writing, er, like to write?

Believe me, if they don't... it shows!

I think that's the most common flaw, and why they give it up after awhile.

Hi Robert
This is so true. The choice of who should do the blogging(or if more than one person) is an important one.

Some business owners think that it should only be them, but often they are not the best person (or only person) for the job.

People do under-estimate the personal commitment it takes to keep a blog going.

Originally it is exciting and very flattering when you start seeing the traffic come through. This fires the person up with enthusiasm and they spend more time blogging.

But they don't see exponential returns. Traffic doesn't seem to be growing, few comments are left and people become disenchanted.

BUT I love my blog and as Robert says, that's because I love to write.

Hi Paul
Loving to write is a big part of it, plus the sense of community.

I also know bloggers who say the writing part is hard, but they are passionate about their subject.

As you say, there's a big personal commitment to blogging required, and that is often what wanes as the novelty and enthusiasm wears off.

There is good advice in this article as well as in the comments. I am on of the ones that started blogging primarily to get better search engine results, and it did an amazing job, but at the time I started blogging I hated reading and writing and it showed. Now, I love to blog and to write about my ideas. I'm still not as good at sharing my ideas as I would love to, but very early I learned to Love to Blog.

Hi Francisco
Sounds like you're hooked on blogging. How do you find it in terms of promoting or sharing about your business?

I think we've all come across those sites on our ramblings around the Web Yvonne. The just scream 'abandonment' and it certainly doesn't give a very good impression of the company concerned.

I think the problem is that many businesses don't really know what they want to get out of ther web site. It's often a 'me too' thing and then they don't have the back up to sustain it.

This article really hits home for me. I have 7 blogs, one of which is for sale and I've stopped adding to it. The remaining 6 get uneven amounts of my time and attention.

To combat this problem of lack of focus, I decided to focus on one blog for at least a month and contribute as many pillar articles to it as I can. After a month or longer when I start to run dry on new post ideas, I go on to one of the other blogs on which I have new post ideas. Still, I have to contribute at least two pillar articles to each of the other blogs a month to keep them active.

Doing this often gives me more ideas for posts on all my blogs. I've started keeping a list of ideas, and then going into the relevant blog writing area of each and starting a draft post about the idea. I can usually come up with a reasonable draft title and if I can write a paragraph or two about it, it's a viable idea. It also gives me a starting point when I come back to it.

I have too many blogs, I know, but I'm having a problem deciding which to give up. One of the 6 I've decided to stop contributing to but haven't listed it for sale. I let it collect my Twitter feeds for now. That brings me down to 5 blogs. Those blogs are staying and I'm going to have to find the time to devote to them so they are all viable and contribute positively to the blogosphere.

Hi Karen
As you say, jumping on the blogging bandwagon without knowing what you want to get out of it can be a trap.

Having a basic plan and being willing to experiment and be flexible, seems to be a good starting point.

Hi Sherri
Wow 7 blogs... even 5... I take my hat off to you.

It is hard to stay focused.Many people get discouraged when they don´t see the results and traffic immediately.It just don´t work that way.

When you enjoy blogging, you will more likely do it for a long time.Choose a niche that you all ready know a lot about and update your blog with fresh material regularly.

Choosing a niche you're passionate about is good advice Tom. It certainly helps with keeping up momentum.