A recent survey shows that only seven out of 58 PR agencies in Denmark have their own blog (In Danish). Still you can most likely get advice on blogging from way more than the seven who blog themselves.
Now does this have to present a problem?
Well, I’m not quite sure, to be honest. I guess you could write off some of it with the old saying about the shoemaker’s barefooted children, but still.
- Would you buy a car from someone who doesn’t drive?
- Would it make you feel more or less comfortable to know that your bank contact has messy finances?
- Vegetarian butcher?
- Lactose intolerant cheese monger?
And so on and so forth. You get the point.
I guess it all boils down to trust. If you trust your adviser to give you good advice, then by all means, go ahead.
But remember that the utmost way to learn about blogging is to blog.
I’d love to see a survey showing how many (or how few) web agencies blog, by the way – I imagine they’d be the most popular alternative to PR agencies when shopping for social media.
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I feel I must add a couple of nuances to this. First of all, a web agency that doesn’t blog is, in my humble opinion, not like a car salesman, who does not drive. A closer analogy would be a truck salesman, who does not have a truck, but drives a sports car (or vice versa). Blogs, in my view, must be seen as part of the larger web concept, just like sports cars are part of a larger motorized vehicle concept.
I would rather receive writing advice from someone who has read a lot of books, than from someone who has written a single one.
Secondly, you should look for the number of individuals within the organization, who runs a blog instead of looking for company blogs. Otherwise, you are implicitly stating that companies who does not have a profile on i.e. Facebook, does not have knowledge of the platform, which would obviously be wrong, if all employees were actually using it daily. We are talking social media – it’s the people that matters here, not the organizations.
Lastly – you are implying that you can only “be in the know” by publishing your own blog. Again – isn’t that the same as saying that you must write a book to know anything about the medium? That reading books isn’t enough? I think that avid readers and book critics would disagree strongly
I think it is a very interesting debate, but sloppy quantitative analysis can be deceiving. Methods and rhetoric aside; I strongly agree on you main point
I forgot to mention that I intentionally signed my comment using my company name, Zupa, because it doesn’t hurt to know that I come from a web agency, that does NOT have a blog
Valid points – I know my post might be way too categorical – perhaps even to the point of the provocative. Especially your second pint is taken to heart. You are absolutely right.
I just have issues with (primarily) PR professionals that apply a certain logic to the communicative shift in paradigms that social media brought along, simply to avoid facing facts. There is a cavalier, almost arrogant attitude amongst many an old school communicator that I would love to see change in the near future.
When I mention web agencies I do so only because they are the natural alternative to PR agencies when you look for consultancy on entering the social media scene, but of course there are plenty of web professionals that can give good advice on blogging. But they could show potential customers this by blogging on their corporate site
I DO believe, however, that people who blog or at least read blogs on a regular basis, have a more intuitive understanding of the medium. Wouldn’t you agree?
Thanks for nuancing, though – it is much appreciated.
And when it comes to Zupa, I urge you to check out my own blog roll – quite a few of you are in there, and personally I would trust you to give good advice any day
Hi A. Give this man a shout maybe: http://www.unspun.dk/
And do blog about this on our own blog. It seems like a relevant discussion to be having in Danish as well.
Hi Jane
In fact, I went by Brian Woodward’s blog this morning – actually left a comment on this post: http://www.unspun.dk/?p=14 – I considered Posting in Danish on the Wemind blog, but I wanted to make sure this was seen as my personal opinion and not as an attempt to sell Wemind services
Yeah your right about not shunning PR-people in order to sell more
Where’s your comment?
It was there – then it was gone – now it’s back. Must be a glitch in the matrix. And I was just about to write and report the bug to Brian.
And now it’s gone again
I’m totally with David on this one. Furthermore, it’s pretty darn essential what kind of blog you are buying. Writing a web agency blog does not necessarily make you a good adviser on how to write on a car sales blog, a nursery blog or whatever you might come up with.
Knowing the audience and their ways of communication must be of utmost relevance – not so much the ability to proclaim that a asking a question gives you more answers and that only touching one topic makes the answers more focused. Those two pieces of non-advice are probably the most widely used by bloggers (at large, that is).
I’d rather be advised on how to write my content by a trained communications expert than by a blogger. I’d let the latter tell me what a trackback is, though
If I can’t choose the communications expert, but have to choose a(nother) web agency employee, yes I’d probably prefer the blogger over the non-blogger – no matter whether he writes a personal, techie og agency blog. Should the non-blogger have made a hundred blogs for other people earlier, then I’d be equally satisfied with his advises, though.
I suppose my point is that it shouldn’t have to be either or. That the PR / Web agencies that move first when it comes to showing their customers (as oposed to telling them) that they have in depth knowledge in the field of social software, have an edge compared to the ones that don’t.
Whether that be by pointing to employees’ personal blogs, using the internal blog as a refernce or actually writing a corporate blog I guess is a matter of nuance.
But given the choice between the communications expert that blogs and the one who doesn’t – who would you choose?
By the way, anyone who can only give you two pieces of non-advice shouldn’t even enter the equation
Also, remember, in my post, I did write:
“Now does this have to present a problem?
Well, I’m not quite sure, to be honest.”