Friends have asked me what it was like not to have a blog for the last eight days. It was interesting. First, I felt like I was without a voice. Sure, I had Twitter, but I didn’t have any place to really stretch out and share my thoughts. Yes, I could utter or make media in other forms, but I felt like my main voice was completely taken away.
I felt deaf, too, because the conversation that I’m used to hosting here at [chrisbrogan.com] was somewhere else. It was on other blogs, all over the place, and sometimes, I’d participate, but other times, I felt like I missed everyone else’s opinions and feedback. I felt like I couldn’t hear you as well, because you weren’t able to simply connect through here.
I felt blind, because I use my website as a way to know whether or not what I’m saying matters. I watch for the impact, and try to improve my message when it feels like I’m faltering. With eight days fewer subscriptions to my site, I felt like all my momentum was gone, or at least, I couldn’t see it.
Blogs Aren’t Everything, But They Make a Good Home Base
Several people were looking for more information about me over the last week, and they found very little when swinging by my crippled site. If you click through and look at the website itself, there’s a picture of me, contact info, and all kinds of information on what matters to me. Without my website, you had to guess based on the other places where I make media.
This all made me wonder about companies who don’t use blogs. Maybe you don’t know because you haven’t felt it, but there’s a huge (HUGE!) difference between a static website where you try to collect leads, inform people, and take orders versus a site that builds into a conversation, a voice, a listening post, and a way to see your impact on the marketplace you care about. If you work for a company that doesn’t have a blog, can you share with us why your organization doesn’t blog?
Should all companies blog? Not sure. But boy, I sure felt wrapped in gauze by NOT having some kind of sounding board back and forth.
What’s your take? What do you think?
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Photo credit, JMurawski