by Brandon Cornett

Here today, gone tomorrow. It seems that’s the lifespan of many business blogs these days. The blog goes up, it fails to deliver the desired result, and the blog is abandoned. It’s an endless cycle of waste.Wasted time, wasted energy and, in come cases, wasted money!

In order to break out of this cycle and ensure the success of your blog, you must first understand the reasons why business blogs fail. This will give you insight into what not to do, as well as revealing the things you should be doing.

Reason #1 - The Blog Lacks a Purpose

A business blog that lacks a purpose will also lack direction. When that’s the case, the blogger does not know who the intended audience is or what kind of information they want. Without these essential ingredients, how would you even begin to write the first post?

Ask yourself the following questions with regard to blogging. What are my goals? What do I hope to get out of my publishing efforts? How will my blog support my company’s marketing and communications goals? You should answer these questions before you even write your first post.

You should be able to state your blog’s purpose in one or two sentences. For example: “The purpose of my blog is to educate small business owners on the benefits of Internet marketing.” Notice that this statement has an action (to educate), an audience (small business owners), and a subject (Internet marketing).

Reason #2 - The Blog Lacks Originality

There are literally millions of bloggers publishing content online each week. So how will your blog stand apart from the rest? Even within your topical niche and specific area of expertise, there is guaranteed to be dozens, hundreds or even thousands of bloggers publishing new content on a regular basis.

In order to succeed in such a crowded space, a business blog must offer something original. Originality can come from many sources. A blogger can provide tips or instructions that are hard to find elsewhere, offer a fresh new insight into a particular topic, or even create a new topic that nobody else is blogging about. These are just three ways to add originality to a business blog. The main thing is to be original in some way, shape or form.

Reason #3 - The Blogger Lacks Patience

In some cases, a new blogger will already have an audience from day one. For example, if a popular news columnist ventures online to start a blog, he or she will soon have fans flocking to the new site. But such cases are rare.

It is more realistic that when you first start blogging you will have an audience of one (yourself). But this can change over time, as long as you put in the effort to publish quality content on a regular basis. Many business bloggers lack the patience and determination necessary to build an audience. It’s hard work, and it usually takes weeks, months or even years to accomplish.

It’s really all a matter of expectation. If a business blogger expects to generate a vast amount of leads or sales from the blog in a short time, he or she will normally come away frustrated. On the other hand, when the publisher outlines clear objectives for the blog and publishes quality content over a period of time, the audience will eventually grow. And with that audience comes blogging success in general (leads, sales, subscriptions, or inquiries).

Your Roadmap for Success

Now that you understand the common reasons why business bloggers fail, you’ll be better able to avoid the same mistakes in your own publishing efforts. Establish your blog’s purpose early on. Strive to make it unique and interesting in some way. And be patient but persistent with your blogging efforts. Success will come eventually.

Blogs are alive and kicking on the internet. Blogging has phenomenally changed the landscape of the web. It has dramatically influenced and changed businesses. Businesses will have no option but to accept this reality. They are not alone providing their information on the web. The same information is being competitively provided by competitors who are fighting to have a share of the lucrative blogging pie. Buzz creation for business blogs therefore should rank top priority for those businesses that are out on the internet to create a market for their niches and to succeed in their online campaigns.In the culture of blogging, it is imperative to speak with a voice that should be activated on a personal level. That is to say, communication with the blogger at the other end should be more personalized. It should be the same treatment for customers, who are in effect assets to your business. You can create buzz by constantly engaging your customers and bloggers alike in conversations that should be honest and transparent. Bear in mind that only meaningful conversations will bear fruit. These will develop positive experiences that will be relished by your customers as well as bloggers.

Blogging requires participation on your part. It requires two-way traffic for communication to be real and interactive. There is so much interactivity and feedback to be captured amongst customers, suppliers, partners and employees. To best achieve this objective of effective communication , there are guidelines that will help in this area.

(1) Always be a good and sharp listener

Conversations are abuzz everywhere. You can notice customers, suppliers, your partners and even your employees talking, engaging in conversations at any time of the day. The imperative issue is not the quantity of feedback that you are provided with, but the quality of the feedback. Quality feedback includes both constructive and destructive feedback. Such feedback may throw light on certain issues that have not been apparent to you before. Comments from such feedback are too precious to be discarded. It is therefore important to learn to listen to more feedback from conversations around you.

(2) Understand feedback without prejudice

Feedback provided needs to be evaluated. This process of evaluation must be done without any prejudice on your part. A fair understanding of the comments will help you to achieve a fair conclusion. The feedback is precious finding, and it comes from a customer that is an asset to your business. Therefore, give credit where it is due. Give value to the feedback. Do not forget to accord value to your customers too for the generous feedback they have given you. Always eliminate prejudice as far as understanding of the comments and feedback are concerned.

(3) Be generous with giving value

Buzz creation for business blogs requires the endorsement of value for every conversation that is going on in your business. Conversations can be from anyone in your business hierarchy. Forget the garbage perception that certain feedback and contributions are not worth your attention. Every conversation deserves a listening ear, simply because it may offer the best and most viable solution to a current issue in the business. Value every conversation, be it coming from the lowest ranked employee or coming from the top hierarchy of your business. In a nutshell, be generous in giving value to your business blog, blog contributions, employees who blog, customers who blog, as well as to other bloggers.

(4) Show your conviction

Blogging requires you to know what your business will be in for. There will be much conversations that you will have to be involved in. Conviction on your part is essential if your business is ready and has something valuable to offer. Always use the passion that is in your business blog to trigger more passion from your customers. This process requires you to readily participate in the interpretation and evaluation of all blog conversations. Your business blog best serves this purpose. Always show to others that you are convicted to your business, and you intend to serve them efficiently.

(5) Stand out and speak up

Have your voice ready. This is integral to the culture of blogging. Make communication effective and provide valuable contributions that others can learn from you. You are the best person in your niche . It is therefore important that you speak up and give the best presentation that others will appreciate and not forget. Speak with passion and with quiet authority behind you. Your customers, as well as other bloggers, will listen - attentively.

Blogging provides the opportunity to expand your business. Communication will be more personalized. Businesses will gain visibility on a wider horizon. These are the real benefits that you can get from buzz creation for business blogs.