Top 5 Elements of a Successful Corporate Blog

I've been looking around online and researching everything. It's a pretty broad statement but if you've had some experience with a start up, you know what I mean. I am no different than everyone when it comes to looking online to find the most relevant information for me to either keep track of as it's updated, or info that I need to find immediately. Put that into a corporate blog context and you have success.

5. Don't make it look like your website
If your website visitor decides to take a stroll over to your blog to see the latest happenings on your company or any type of information that is relevant to them that CAN'T be found on your actual website, this is good. When someone looks at your website, that should actually be step 2 after visiting your blog. Your corporate blog is your entrance, your "Hello world", your bridge to build trust with that prospect or potential partner. Not something for posting something about what you typically charge, on XYZ, etc. See what I mean?

4. Update your blog on a regular basis
In the Information Age, web content becomes critical with the speed of any average person being able to post new content to be viewed by the world. This one is a no brainer but it's still important enough to be included and is still not practiced by many organizations. 5 posts a day? Um..NO. But something reasonable that serves the interests and desires of a loyal following. If you're a company and you don't know what those interests and desires are? You have other things to worry about than reading this blog to get connected better with your readers. Just my opinion :).

3. Get down and dirty with the data
This can be viewed in 2 ways: (1)Using statistics and data to prove a point and (2) Research what other successful blogs are doing. With point (1), it's simple and boils to numbers - people like facts. They like to sound smart. They like to walk in that meeting room and back a statement with facts and data. Too often postings are made and the writer is more worried about selling that product then backing up their statements with the real meat and potatoes.

2. Give people a reason to come back
This is mentioned in a link I previously commented on and I wanted to highlight this key point. This stems from the conventional school of thought that if you leave the ending of a movie or show unexplained or unsolved, the viewer will most likely want to see more (like sequel to a movie or next week's show). Same thing with corporate blogs or really, blogs in general. Leave them on the edge of their seats and give them just enough info to the point where you HAVE to either elaborate on your last posting or meet their expectations with your next one.

AND THE DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....

1. Be personable
This is your reader saying: "Hey, I like you; I feel like I know you even though I'm behinds walls of code and you are too. Will you be my friend please :(?" Not to that extent, but you get the idea. This somewhat goes back to point 5 about how not to make your blog look like your website. If there is a real human being behind your postings to either mention something that happened that day at work which was funny, or something relevant to that--you just reached out and touched your blog reader. Welcome to that connection. There is no price tag on that nor will there ever be.