The Problem With Blogs: No Answers

The problem: Blogs and blogging are lacking in brand loyalty. The solution: Blog some answers.

Blogs are a brand. The act of blogging is participating in the brand of Blogs. One could say that since so many people are blogging then the Blog brand is strong. I contend that the brand is not as strong as one might think.

There are many positive brand attributes to Blogs. They are seen as great way to "be heard" and as a great conduit for sharing and learning information. However, all too often the Blog brand does not fulfill on its promise, leaving long term brand loyalty to be suspect. While many have rushed to blogging only a handful actually keep up with their blog updates for more than a couple of months and many more forsake their blogs altogether in just a short amount of time.

To me, one issue facing the Blog brand is one of substance. All too often the blogs themselves are just endless rants on extraneous topics written by people who are unqualified or unmotivated to offer up a real opinion or solution. Many are quick to offer a critique, but maybe blogging would inspire more loyalty if they would also offer SOLUTIONS, or even ideas that could lead to solutions.

I used to say to any and all of my bosses or clients, "I will never just identify a problem without offering you a solution to the problem." It's very easy to just flag an issue and offer a critique. It is much harder and yet much more productive to flag an issue and offer a solution. Any team member that can do the latter is a much more valuable player. If bloggers would do the same, offer up ideas and solutions rather than just critical rants, then maybe, just maybe, the Blog brand would develop a brand attribute that help would drive loyalty.

These new Blog brand attributes would include terms like "value add", "resource for ideas", "innovative solutions", and "time well spent". Obviously these attributes would compare favorably to current Blog brand attributes that I have seen in multiple studies which include, "waste of time", "lack of substance", and the worst one, "a bunch of complaining". With the new Blog brand attributes perhaps brand loyalty would increase, people would stick to blogging due to its value, and healthy and constructive debate on blogs would become the norm rather than the exception.