SmallBusinessNewz

The New York Times recently ran an interesting piece about how most blogs on the web are abandoned, or at least very rarely updated. The article cites a study performed by blog search engine Technorati, which found that something like 95% of blogs it tracks had not been updated in the past 120 days (from the time the research was collected).

Is This a Problem That Plagues Your Business?

The article was written mostly in reference to people starting blogs from home, just trying to acquire an audience or make some money online. I suspect that this is a fairly common scenario for business blogs as well.

I (and many others) have repeatedly stressed how great of a tool a blog can be for business. It can inspire trust and keep the public informed about your business activities. However, it's only going to be a great tool if it is maintained.

I realize an update every day is not always practical, but I wouldn't advise against it unless there is nothing to say. You probably don't want to force your writing, but regular updates are key to making sure people know you are taking the blog seriously, and it will give them reason to come back (or hopefully subscribe via RSS). If your business is on Twitter (or other social media sites), you might think blogging is unnecessary, but remember, blogging and tweeting can compliment each other.

Get Organized

It's easy to let a blog slip away from you once you have it up and running. If you're a business owner, you're definitely busy, and maintaining a blog takes a little time and effort. You may even forget about it altogether as you get caught up in the daily grind and simply living your life.

If you use organizational tools, you're productivity will likely increase, and you'll be able to find more time for blogging. In fact, some tools will keep the idea fresh in your mind, and/or give you inspiration to do so. The best tool I can think of for this is a feed reader.

I've talked before about the business benefits of RSS also, but probably the biggest benefit you can get out of it is the flood of information and ideas that come in via the feeds you subscribe to. That said, I would suggest subscribing to as many feeds in the topics you are interested in, and even if you can't read them all, you will always have a ton of information at your fingertips, without having to leave one browser tab.

If you use a Calendar for organization, you can use it to schedule posts for certain topics. If you know when you're going to be releasing a new product for example, plan a post for that day in advance.