Much as I respect B2B copywriter Bob Bly (I consider him a friend and colleague) he’s off the mark… waaaay off the mark when it comes to his column about business blogs in today’s issue of DMNews. He writes: “(blogs are) a complete waste of time — a pure vanity publication that won’t pay you back even one thin dime for your effort.” He quotes from my Business Blogging Starter Kit report to make some of his points. Taken out of context, the quotes sound OK (and I appreciate the exposure), but… they’re just that. Out of context. Bly blunders on several key points…
1. You can’t subscribe to a blog. Wrong.
He omits any mention of RSS. He writes: “With a blog, the reader has to go out and proactively look for (updates). And since your contributions to your blog may be irregular and unscheduled, he has no way of knowing when something new of interest has been added.”
This is simply incorrect. RSS is a marvelously elegant and simple way to subscribe to both blogs and news feeds and have every update pushed to your desktop without having to navigate the email / spam jungle of overstuffed inboxes and filters.
2. A business blog has no proven ROI. Wrong.
That’s like saying that a B2B Web site has no proven return on investment. A well-designed and organized site is often your company’s most powerful, widely-distributed face… and voice. It’s your brand. It’s a lead generator. And sometimes, if you’re selling digital information products or subscriptions, for example, a site is a channel for direct sales.
Often as not, a business Web site is a vehicle to collect sign ups, record downloads, enable members to access paid content, etc. It takes some work and effort to track and measure a precise ROI from your site, but it can be done.
Oh, and BTW a business blog (Weblog) is nothing more than a Web page. In fact, blogs are really just next-generation Web sites. Bob, I challenge you to report the exact ROI of your content-filled site about B2B copywriting!
3. As for that “one thin dime,” thousands of blogs are making hundreds or thousands of dollars a month by running Google AdWords. This is one of them. Another advertising vehicle for blogs is Blogads.
I’d love to hear your reaction to Bly’s DMNews column. Yes, you’ll have to “register” with TypeKey in order to leave a comment. But you only have to do it once. Apologies for the inconvenience but I had to install a hurdle in order to protect this blog from the thousands of spam comments it was getting. Go for it… what do you think about Bob’s blog column?
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Debbie,
I respect Bob Bly too. The poor guy is getting rebuffed by tons of marketing blogs this morning. I hope he’ll go back and research his stance further.
It is clear to that he hasn’t read any of the great marketing blogs out there like yours. Perhaps he should have read your post on e-newsletters vs. blogs.
On a positive note, his article started a great conversation that non-bloggers may notice.
Brian
Hello, Debbie, fellow partner-in-crime!
Bob took us both a little by surprise, using our comments to fortify a negative spin on business blogs. When he asked if he could quote me, I didn’t realize my comments would be used in exactly that manner.
However, I must say, the article has come back to haunt Bob apparently. But, from what I hear, he’s being a good sport about it. If it translates into him changing his viewpoint, then all’s well that ends well.
Debbie,
The great respect I have always had for Robert Bly is exceeded only by how surprised I was to learn how little he thinks of — and knows about — blogs.
Of all people, such a successful, prolific copywriter and author as he would be one of the first I would expect to run into out here in the blogosphere.
I have an idea for turning this brouhaha into something positive: Who among us could set Robert up with his own blog template? I’m serious! The Bob Bly Blog would be a mega-hit from the get-go. He has the content and the following. And if he would go along with it, he would have the publicity, too.
I can feel the reverberations now.
Bob Cargill
Senior Creative Director
Yellowfin Direct Marketing
Boston, MA
Debbie,
I hope that Bob is able to change his viewpoint before it does him great harm professionally. Your post says it all. He is way off the mark.
Bob,
As far as offering to set up a blog for him, I think he needs to pull himself out of this hole on his own. If he is as big a person as he seems to be, he will come through this and will regain the respect of his peers. If he continues to be a know-best, he will end up as a talented, but irrelevant figure from the past.
I see a lot of valid points in Bob’s article.
The only mistake he made was questioning the economics of blogging, which is always a sure way to draw the wrath of self-righteous bloggers.
How many marketers are making significant money from blogs, or at least enough to make it worthwhile? Not many.
This is the age-old clash between direct marketing (measurable) vs. branding (very tough to measure). When compared to established DM benchmarks (where Bob has an accomplished career), blogging pales in contrast to other tools we marketers have, such as email, direct mail and keyword buys.
Yes, blogging does serves a purpose in the marketing mix – pushing content and sidestepping spam filters via RSS, thought leadership (as Debbie has shown), and boosting rankings – but if your CEO asked you to increase revenue 20% by next Friday, any marketer who says “gee, let’s start a blog!” would get laughed out of the room (or worse).
And calling Bob a relic of the past misses the point: he uses proven DM methods to increase revenue for his clients. He looked at blogging and decided it wasn’t for him, nothing wrong with that.
One thing he didn’t mention, but should have, is the practice of bloggers linking other blogger posts. Take this posting: if you follow the comments and trackbacks, they’re from the same small group of people. Not a tremendous diversity of viewpoints, unfortunately.
I’ve made a lot of money since the 1990s reading Bob Bly’s teachings. He’s usally on the mark. Although I don’t personally know Bob, he has been a silent mentor to me. I have to disagree with Bob on this one. Except in rare circumstances, a blog in and of itself will not help a person make major money. But a blog combined with RSS technology is a fantabulous combination that can be used in so many ways to augment a person’s income, with very little effort. There’s an excellent article about this technology at http://iTechSpeak.blogspot.com