I recently did something I rarely do; I didn’t pull the trigger on a project.  It was a corporate blog, and even though it was up and the software was running fine, I decided against going live. 

My reasons were fairly simple.  I felt that the level of commitment to the project wasn’t there, that I was the only one really interested, and I don’t really speak for the company.  If you need to hear what I have to say, you already have a place to go.  So the blog sits, unlaunched, and I haven’t heard anything about the project for a while.  So it’s on the shelf.

Here is a random list of warning signs that you might not be served by blogging corporately:

• When the words “approval chain,” “ghost writers” and “outsourced blog contractor” are heard without generating laughter.
• When words like “transparency,” “open” and “commitment” aren’t heard at all.
• When you know in the pit of your stomach that posting to the blog twice a week is a pipe dream.
• When the question of how the blogs impact on revenue will be measured takes precidence over all other concerns.
• When the prime decision maker asks to have the pages printed out and handed to him/her because their preferred web browser is a sheet of paper.

Okay, a bit tongue and cheek on that, but indeed, all are relevant concerns, and frankly, I’ve seen them all in the wild.

The truth is that Blogging isn’t for everyone.  As marketing types, we tend to be writers, and we tend to think anyone can do it, but writing compelling copy isn’t a skill that everyone has.  Then there’s the problem of blog burnout.  How many times have we seen people start out blogging 5 times a day, then 5 times a week, then 5 times a month, then they drop off the face of the earth and are never heard from again.  As a company, when you commit to blogging, you need to blog! 

Ask your self this question: who is this blog supposed to serve, and can we serve them with something they really need to hear?

Another good point to keep in mind is that you’ve got to be careful you don’t shoot your company in the foot while blogging.  My experience is that they generally fire back…