Is Your Business Blog Working Against You?
It seems like everyone’s getting into blogging these days. And, more and more businesses are doing it too. Terence Chang had a good article the other day on why you need a blog for your eCommerce store. But, there is also a downside to having a business blog, one that could cost you customers if you aren’t careful. Here are three mistakes that could steer potential (or existing!) customers away from your business site.
- Complaining About Customers
Probably all of us have an urge to share stories about “stupid” customers, but, while readers may enjoy the stories, it may discourage people from dealing with you. We’ve likely all done dumb things; in fact, some of us may be other people’s stupid customer story! Despite that, most of us really don’t like being the gluteus maximus of someone else’s joke, even anonymously. Plus, it could also give the impression you are a chronic complainer or difficult to work with. So, if people see that you share a lot of your “stupid” customer stories, they may be apt to just shop somewhere else.
- Blogging Instead of Taking Care of Business
If your blogging is standing in the way of customer service, you need to do something about it! Blogging can help you gain business, but if it’s taking time away from doing your actual business, that’s a problem. You need to look into doing some better time management or hiring some help. A blog that brings in business while costing you business is really not very cost effective.
- Advertising Your Incompetence
Similarly to sharing “stupid” customer stories, some people also enjoy sharing stories about the stupid things they’ve done. Now, while self-deprecating humor can be effective and allow people to relate to you on a more human level, you have to be very careful. If you share a lot of stupid mistakes you’ve made, you are more or less advertising your own incompetence, which could discourage people from buying from you. You may gain readers that want to hear about the stupid things you’ve done, but if they’re just reading your tales and shopping elsewhere, your blog is not helping your bottom line. Additionally, if it’s costing you existing customers, that’s no good either. This is an area you want to approach with caution!
One should also note that, even if your business blog is geared toward helping other people in your niche, as opposed to reaching out to customers, your customers will (unless you’ve been completely anonymous) find your blog (at least some of them anyway) and you still lose potential business as a result.
Having a business blog can be useful in attracting and maintaining customers and avoiding these pitfalls can help you to achieve a successful business blog!
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