An Open Assessment
Jan here, with Chuck.
One year ago, we at Finney Media were contemplating an upgraded website, one that provided for blogging. I say contemplate, because by no means did we feel 100% certain that we could pull off regular blogging with excellence. In meetings we bounced around a number of ideas: we should “share the load and blog five days a week—or maybe even seven.” Another perspective called for two days a week, Monday and Thursday. Chuck and I were tasked with making “whatever” happen.
We choose neither of the suggestions. Just one day. One day per week we’d work toward cogent, thoughtful, helpful and conversational blog posts. Blog posts that circled around our core beliefs, but highlighting them from different angles. We’d include some tactical, promotional, and holiday oriented material—but overall, we would work to stick with our strategic brand goals. Fifty-some posts later, we’ve got a few observations.
- It is possible to stick with your content strategy. It’s called intentionality, and by regular self-examination, it happens. A huge percentage of our posts center on something core, strategic or part of our approach to communication. The rest are seasonal, housekeeping or driven by events. How did this happen? It’s one word: organization. Just as we reboot our computer regularly to clear confusion, a monthly reset by planning a schedule keeps us within our guardrails. But before we get too carried away with back-patting, this caveat.
- It’s not a piece of cake to commit to and produce one strong post a week. I’m glad that’s what we chose. I think about Seth Godin sending out posts seven days a week and the hair on my neck stands up. You know how it is. Folks on the contribution schedule run behind. An event gets postponed. An interview didn’t make the calendar. Office help gives notice. So glad we chose one per week to dive into this pool. For getting started, for staying with a schedule, for sticking with it and always posting, one day has been perfect. Think about the number of sites you’ve seen that have a few posts…that peter out after a month or so. It’s about planning your commitment.
- It’s better to have more than one person writing. Yeah, writers do need to keep the brand direction, and that can be honed with editing. But it calls out the creativity in the team.
- And better to have more than one person reviewing, too. Don’t we want a screen before hitting “Update”? Don’t we want to ask ourselves if this concept is really part of our core and our brand? Or is it’s just “nice” writing? Wouldn’t we prefer “snappy”, “powerful” or “moving”? And what about those typos?
- Finally, people actually read what you write. This is a communication method for our day. So when someone turns to you and says, “I read all the posts,” that can either be a burst of fulfillment, a shot of adrenaline or a reminder to focus more energy on what you say.
Next time, we’ll consider year two. Where do we go from here?
Find out, one week from today.
