Why Startups Need to Blog (and what to talk about …)
techcrunch.com
techcrunch.com
Startups need to blog to remember what they did and why they did (and this is the most important part) within the context of what was happening at that point in time.
We think we'll remember all of our brilliant moves and boneheaded mistakes. But we won't. And sometimes it isn't even obvious why we made them, out of context.
But a blog will provide an historical record of what we did when. So we don't repeat the same mistakes next time. And so lessons learned are documented.
so lessons learned are documented.
BUT, blogging should not be misunderstood as documentation.
you do not put all your learnings in the public view.. (well, may be in the social web 2.0 view of business, but not in a traditional business).
You create an internal repository of documents (designs/requirements/deals/legal etc.), and go back to them, when the need arises.
You're right that there are internal documents that the business is required to develop. Or ones that are necessary for the business to function. Those may or may not be proprietary.
I was thinking more along the lines of the ethereal thought process of the entrepreneur or maybe providing context for public decisions.
Thanks for making this distinction.
why not?
* Some of the lessons learned are highly specific to your project/team. They may not translate well to other teams/projects. Such things, while valuable, may not make sense on a blog.
* Perfect transparency may be at odds with building brand confidence. Letting your customers see every one of your mistakes (in the guise of lessons learned) may work either way with regards to customer confidence.
Mark Suster made a nice post. I'd like to elaborate on his points, "What" and "Where".
The point of a blog (in the context of making money) is to build a following of readers; qualified prospects for your product or service - who may ultimately buy your product or service. Ie- a distribution channel.
Yet there are other ways to build active distribution channels without needing to engage people at yourcompany.com/blog. Particularly if you have a 'company blog' that nobody reads...
Think laterally. You can leverage blogging, social media, and email marketing in other ways. It doesn't have to be your 'company blog'.
I recommend planting your 'media presence' with more strategical precision. If not at yourcompany.com/blog then at somesite.com. Where you can build a brand and market to a niche' that has the maximum potential to reach the highest amount of qualified prospects. And then build relationships with those prospects to connect the bridge to your business.
Don't waste time blogging about your company if nobody is reading. Mark Suster is a VC, he inherits followers by default - you have to try harder, think smarter.
However not everyone can write well. It might be one of your employees and not the founder. Or you could try a video blog or a podcast.
I rarely click through to TC posts - there are far too many of them on HN - but I'll always read his posts.
Think laterally. You can leverage blogging, social media, and email marketing in other ways. It doesn't have to be your 'company blog'.
Agreed.
http://www.allthingsdistributed.com/2006/03/naked_answers.ht...
He gives a nice example about Mint.com - Mint used it so heavily in the beginning of their launch that (I read this somewhere) they made it a point to create a blog post for every important personal finance topic. And they did really well on that front!
One more important thing is to be consistent - I've had my share of blogging and let me tell you consistently blogging has worked better than creating art pieces every once in a while (except if you're pg!)