Rare is the person who revels in doing sit-ups. But most of us do them, at least once in a while.
Why? Because we want what sit-ups give us--stronger muscles, less flab, and the ability to smugly tell as many people as possible that we reeled off a whopping nine crunches this morning.
In short, we may cringe at the process but we treasure the results.
On a related note, I've yet to encounter a client who jumps at my advice to revive a long-dormant blog, or to start one in the first place. Usually, they justify why they can't fit it into their crammed schedule or shrug off the communication tool as the domain for techno-geeks who live only in a cyberworld, not the "real world" that truly drives their business.
But the process vs. results tension of sit-ups holds true for blogging with a business purpose in mind. While we don't necessarily enjoy it, especially when getting one started, it's the bottom-line result that bring us to the keyboard.
There are numerous potential benefits, though each benefit hinges on at least one associated requirement:
1. Establishing yourself as an authority in your field.
Requirement: That you can articulate your expertise in a compelling way.
2. Creating content that can be developed into columns, news releases and other communication that extends into "the real world."
Requirement: That your material is timely, relevant and newsworthy.
3. Developing an ongoing and engaging dialogue with your audience and peers.
This dialogue not only enables you to keep a pulse on your market's needs and interests, but it also provides the opportunity for you to influence your market's agenda in a way that benefits your organization.
Requirement: That you communicate in a manner that seeks primarily to add value to others. Self-promotion is a turn-off.
Why? Because we want what sit-ups give us--stronger muscles, less flab, and the ability to smugly tell as many people as possible that we reeled off a whopping nine crunches this morning.
In short, we may cringe at the process but we treasure the results.
On a related note, I've yet to encounter a client who jumps at my advice to revive a long-dormant blog, or to start one in the first place. Usually, they justify why they can't fit it into their crammed schedule or shrug off the communication tool as the domain for techno-geeks who live only in a cyberworld, not the "real world" that truly drives their business.
But the process vs. results tension of sit-ups holds true for blogging with a business purpose in mind. While we don't necessarily enjoy it, especially when getting one started, it's the bottom-line result that bring us to the keyboard.
There are numerous potential benefits, though each benefit hinges on at least one associated requirement:
1. Establishing yourself as an authority in your field.
Requirement: That you can articulate your expertise in a compelling way.
2. Creating content that can be developed into columns, news releases and other communication that extends into "the real world."
Requirement: That your material is timely, relevant and newsworthy.
3. Developing an ongoing and engaging dialogue with your audience and peers.
This dialogue not only enables you to keep a pulse on your market's needs and interests, but it also provides the opportunity for you to influence your market's agenda in a way that benefits your organization.
Requirement: That you communicate in a manner that seeks primarily to add value to others. Self-promotion is a turn-off.
