“Do you hear me? Do you care?”
—The Missing Persons
The notion of a blog started out as a great idea. A channel for a writer to publish a column when and how he or she liked. A channel that was distributable to an infinite audience, essentially for free. And it was free for the audience to receive as well. Now the writer and audience could exchange ideas without a publisher controlling the game. But what started out as unique publishing model to serve a niche audience has become a template for any business, large or small, or any individual to attempt to get noticed on social media. What happened?
The first bloggers understood who was most important – their audience. This is because they came from publishing where the audience actually paid for content. And respectable publications grew their subscription bases by regularly providing relevant information to niche audiences. Some bloggers, the more successful ones, still do this. Lately it seems that everyone else skipped class the day they covered this important concept.
Why are you posting? Let’s be honest here. Is it because you think the information will be useful, or is it to keep your name or brand top-of-mind with your audience should they need to hire you or buy your goods or services? If it’s the latter, then that post that begins with, “Interesting article”, followed by a link, is doing the opposite. And why are you posting everyday? If you’re talking that much you had better have something really interesting to say, or your audience will unsubscribe real fast.
Do you want them to hear you? Do you want them to care? Then make your content relevant and post only when you have relevant content.
Bentley Brands is a brand communications firm that helps clients grow their brands through unique, effective and highly personalized services.
