A sudden realisation hit me as I garbled my way through an email q&a related to business blogging for a West Virginia news publication: Would I still point people in the direction of The Tinbasher as an example of a good business blog?
The next thing you know, I’m suffering some kind of existential meltdown fearing it’d lost its mojo.
The very same evening after I’d spent most of the day wondering if I or this blog was still cutting it, I came across this post asking what had happened to all the great bloggers the blogger in question once knew (or read, to be more precise):
Three years ago there was some riveting writing going on in the blogosphere Hugh Macleod held my rapt attention for the length of even his longest posts and the Tin Basher made me giggle with his brash and bold writings on business.
So I suppose my point is what gives? 2 posts about The Global Microbrand in a year? And the Tin Basher hasn’t said anything… well most anything remotely interesting in weeks.
I think someone’s being rather generous about me not having said anything remotely interesting in weeks. 
There’s a single key element to quality business blogging in my not so humble opinion, and that is business blogs tend to be better the closer to the business the blogger is. You see, a business blog can only really differentiate itself by being able to get behind the scenes within a business. Think of a good business blog as the gateway to the soul of a business. It was far easier for me to do this when I was in constant contact with the Butler brothers and got to pop in to the office once or twice a week and go out on the brass razoo with John. While communications have moved on since the days of the Pony Express, an ocean is still a bit of a barrier. But, there’s no excuse not to pick up the phone or throw a few more emails about than we currently do.
Saying that, this blog has always had a rather peculiar focus. It’s never kept sheet metal workers happy all of the time and it’s never kept marketers happy all of the time. I don’t need to point out the obvious here do I? The bottom line is that this blog is part of a curiously pasted together online marketing strategy for a sheet metal firm and, as such, needs to meet the goals of that business – the major goal being to generate more business, which it seems to do admirably. Now another thing happened on the way to the bank in so much that this blog became something of a shining beacon for prospective bloggers to home in on. While I’m never going to complain in a million years about that side of things, it does mean that you feel you’ve got a reputation to live up to of sorts.
At the moment I’m probably mid-eighties Bowie.
I’d also hate to be living off past reputations alone.
I suppose I’m getting round to asking in my rather convoluted way for a bit of feedback as to what you think might be missing or what you’d like to see more of, if anything!
In the meantime, you’re always welcome to read what I’m now paid to do as part of my 8-5 at Direct Online Marketing on our company blog over there.
Maybe be that contains more along the lines some people might be missing. If not I’m buggered.
