A week or so ago, there was a lot of discussion on other blogs about who should be writing for your business blog. They included:

The options presented originally were four; the business owner, employee(s) of the business, freelancers, or canned blog posts. I have my own opinion on this, but before I give you that, I wanted to take a look at what has been suggested from others.

Talk in the Blogosphere

Blog Design Studio in their discussion touched on why each of the four options might be good. However, in the end this is what they had to say:

In reality I believe it really doesn’t matter as it depends on the individual and apart from everything else, one should keep all the situations in mind before deciding that who should blog for the business, however only one thing should be kept in mind and that is what’s best for the business and I think all the answers will be clear as water.

I Do Blogs took a bit of a different approach and provided some questions that a business should consider when they decide who should write the blog.

What’s your budget? Do you want to pay adequately for a freelance writer? ($25 isn’t nearly enough.)

Who knows more about promoting articles on the web, if that’s what you’re going for?

Who knows more about search engine optimization, again, if that’s what you want?

Who knows the heart of your business?

Can your leadership communicate with a freelancer?

Is canned material even worth messing with? (Most of the time, no, but linking to other articles is great - shares the link love.)

What kinds of blog-like features do you want to offer? If it’s just updates, write it yourself.

All good questions to ask, but I am still not convinced.

Business and Blogging in their final take on the question said, “I think that all four alternatives can be acceptable if they are used properly. However, there are drawbacks to each alternative.”

Here is a list of the drawbacks:

Option 1: Have the CEO or owner blog. Drawback: Time. Most business owners and CEOs are very busy. They may not have time to update the blog like it should be updated.

Option 2: Have employee(s) blog.
Drawback: If you pick the wrong employees, then the blog may not accurately represent the company’s vision.

Option 3: Have a freelancer blog.
Drawback: If you pick the wrong freelancer, then the blog may not accurately represent the company’s vision.

Option 4: Use “canned” blog posts.
Drawback: If the “canned” posts aren’t customized, then you run the risk of someone else’s business blog having a very similar post to your own.

I would certainly agree with the fact there are drawbacks on each option. Some more then others.

My Take on “Who should write your business blog?”

Let me first start off by saying, I have very strong views on this topic. In fact, some have warned me that I am a bit unbending on this. But I have my reasons and they stem from my experiences over the last 4 years of blogging and digging deep into blogging to promote a business.

First of all, the initial question posed by the original post gives you a good idea of what should be your first concern when you are making this decision. Who should write your business blog? This is a blog for your business and no one knows your business better then you. No one knows your business’ vision better then you. This is especially true for small business and small professional service firms. If you are a small business owner, other then one or two key employee, you are the heart and sole of your business. And you are most likely the voice of your business.

And establishing this voice on the Internet is a very critical component of having a successful Internet marketing experience. Your customers and/or clients are most interested in hearing this voice and they want to get to know you better too. As the owner, you are in the best position to project the correct voice and the voice you want to be out there on the “World Wide Web”.

You know your business, your customers, your market and your niche better then anyone. It is only natural that you should be the one who should be writing your business blog. However, I certainly hear and appreciate the “drawbacks” and even excuses as to why as the business owner, you don’t have time to blog. In my opinion, you don’t have time not to be the one doing the majority of the blogging.

Blogging is marketing and it is so much more then that too. A business blog is one of the best opportunities you have as a business owner to develop relationship with those in your market and/or niche. It is one of the best ways for you as a business owner to build a community of people who are looking for your product or service and to provide them with information. Information about you and your business. It is your opportunity to carry on a conversation with them by using a well designed, maintained and updated blog. Publishing a business blog is also a great way for a business owner to be transparent with those who are interested in what you have to provide.

As the business owner, if you are the one doing the majority of the posting to the blog, your readers and/or customers are going to know this. They will appreciate that you are taking the time to be the one to provide them with this information. And they will appreciate the fact you are the one who is willing to be open to exposing yourself to the readers of the blog. That you are the one being involved in the conversations created by blogging.

Because blogging should be part of your overall marketing plan, look at it as marketing also. Do you make time to market your business now in other ways? If you step back, I bet you do. From placing ads in the newspaper to putting ads in the Yellow Pages™, you spend time marketing. You most likely do other marketing activities if you are a small business or professional service firm owner. How much time do you devote to all of your marketing activities? And how much of a return or how efficient is the time you are spending on these other activities? I will almost bet you, there is time which you are devoting to these other marketing activities you could devote somewhere else. And devoting that time elsewhere may give you a better return on your time.

Consider for a moment how much time you do spend on other marketing activities. Is there time spent there you could spend blogging? You will find that you do have spare time during your busy week where you could sit down for an hour or two and knock out 3 or 4 blog post for your business blog. What better way then to write about what is happening at your business. What new products or services are you offering? Are you getting ready to release or introduce a new product? Did you just hire someone new who will be providing a new service to your customers or clients? Your customers and/or clients want to hear about these things. And you are the one in the best position to do this.

Is it cost effective and time effective for you the business owner to be the one to post to your blog? Yes. Is it always going to be possible? No. And it is these times I would agree you should have someone else in your organization you trust to be your voice, take some of this on for you. I know other businesses where the owner does the majority of the blogging. However, these same business owner bloggers also have key employees also blog. Just as your customers and/or clients want to hear from you, they also like to hear from your employees. And having key employees also post on your blog puts that added human touch to your business.

One word of advice however, make sure you approve everything that is being posted to your blog.

Freelance Writers

I am not against hiring a freelance writer if you are caught in a pinch. However, I do have a problem with relying completely on using a freelance writer. And all of the reasons I mentioned above are the reasons why.

Canned Blog Post

In a word, no. I am totally against purchasing canned blog post for your business’ blog. This is your business and quite frankly, there is no reason to buy canned post. Because this is your business, how can you ever expect “your voice” to be projected from a completely canned post.

Final Thoughts

There you have it, my reasons why I think the first choice for who should be writing your business’ blog post is you. However, as I mentioned, don’t overlook having some key employees also handle some of this for you. And one more person you can use to do some of your posting are guest bloggers. I will talk more about using a guest blogger and being a guest blogger in the very near future. However, not here as this post has become entirely too long.

I know this post will cause some of you to react in the negative. And that is OK. I don’t expect our readers to agree with us 100% of the time. In fact we will never grow as business owners if we are not challenged to think of other ways to do things. What I do want you to do is not sit there and not say something. Whether you agree or disagree, leave your comments on what your thoughts are on this topic.

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