The most important part of blogging for startups seemed to be completely missing from this piece: historical record.
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.
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.
I am not a business person. So none of this may be valid. But I can think of a few possibilities:
* 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.
It also depends on your model. Our business hinges on our domain knowledge and expertise. We share some but not all. We want to give to the community, but still maintain a competitive advantage.
Agreed. I wasn't arguing for absolute transparency. However it's almost always possible to phrase your learnings in such a way that they don't reveal your secret sauce or proprietary secrets.
Agreed that it might not make sense on a blog; I was just reacting to the general trasparency question. In terms of building brand confidence, my experience is that being honest about mistakes and what you're doing to cut down the chance they'll happen in the future is great from a customer relations point if you do it well.
Blogging is good. But blogging to an empty void is a waste.
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.
Anyone can learn to write well, though. A company blog is maybe not the place to be learning, though - if you have the time, probably better to start with a personal/non-professional blog.
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'.
Mark Suster has one of the best blogs for entrepreneurs out there and this post is a home run no less!
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!)
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.