Blogging is not mainstream

Posted on June 6th, 2005 by Charlie

I’ve been on the road all month and picked up some interesting observations. I have a string of things I want to share with you, in response to the various questions I’ve had. This is the first.

Try this: A useful exercise for any person who believes blogging is the greatest thing to come this way in a long time should walk out of their office to the nearest diner and ask everyone there what they know of blogs. My bet is that they will get, out of every 100 people, a few hands of people who have heard of blogs, two to three hands of folks who read blogs, and if very very lucky, one person who actually has a blog.

Yes, the reality is that really, statistically speaking, no one really blogs (of course, I exaggerate, but it’s not just for effect).

I still find the majority of folks I talk to really don’t know what a blog is, let alone what it takes to run one or why. The first thing many ask me is ‘what is a blog?’. Next, comes in the confusion of how they are different from forums. Once we waffle through those two questions, they then ask what types of companies are expected to have a blog and what expectations of performance do blogs set.

Oy, oy.

Being a marketing type, I speak with many about the usefulness of blogs in marketing, direct marketing, PR, CRM, and general business to business communication. The folks I speak to do, indeed, see how a blog can help, but really need to be able to see a clear measurable value. Also, considering all the stuff they already are responsible for, they worry about resourcing, processes, control, and ownership of the blog. And, what throws me for a loop, there are serious and understandable software and hardware issue, too.

Wow. Heavy.

I’ll post some snippets of my answers to some of these questions in subsequent posts. I’m not saying anything new or revealing. Also, I didn’t come up with this all myself, but have learned it from reading other bloggers. If you have some good links that explain these issues better, then by all means, post it in the comments. I should have more links here, but really can’t find any succinct posts that illustrate what I am trying to say.

Filed under: Charlie, General, How to Blog, Why Blog?

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One Response to “Blogging is not mainstream”

  1. Paul, on June 6th, 2005 at 5:14 am Said:

    Also, when people ask you what a blog is, they’re doing it out of politeness rather than genuinely enquiring about the medium.
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    It’s infinitely easier for small businesses without infrastructures to get the things up and running. However, it’s these same types who seem to make an appalling mess of it when they do.
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    Blogging is no quick fix and is nothing more than a specualtive investment for any company.
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    There isn’t too much spoken on this as an issue, but behind the scenes, I think there’s frustration and a backlash coming. You’ll notice that the majority of people who are plugging/selling the idea of blogs are terribly reluctant to touch on it.
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    They’ve either got some information that they aren’t willing to share, or it isn’t going the way they’d hoped and they’re plodding on regardless.
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    I know it works, but with every passing day comes a new caveat.