Paving the Cowpath in Blogging for Business

Using “enhanced electronic aids” for performance management is one of the latest trends in human resource management, but David Arella of Performance Xpress isn’t happy about that. “Does anyone else see the oxymoron here?” Arella asks, referring to “automatically personalized” written employee reviews. “We have paved the cow path and upped the speed limit, but we have not improved the journey or the destination,” he says.

Arella recalls those old meetings managers used to hold with employees to discuss their strengths and weaknesses and to develop targets for the coming year.” The performance review was seen as a way to either justify a salary increase or, in cases where there were problems, to begin a documentation trail to move an employee out of the company without legal ramifications,” he explains.

The new automated tools, in his opinion, have been directed primarily at speeding up the process, not improving it. As a blog content writing trainer, I loved reading  Arella’s reasoning about why speeding up the writing process actually reduces the effectiveness of the communication:

The process of writing requires applying a thinking process. Managers
who take the time to compose their own original paragraphs are likely to be
more specific and grounded in their feedback than those who click on
generalized “coaching tips.”

Blogging requires applying a thinking process. When business owners or professional practitioners blog, they are verbalizing the positive aspects of their enterprises in a way that people can understand, putting recent accomplishments down in words, and reviewing the benefits of their products and services. The very process provides self-training in how to talk effectively about their business or practice.

For those very reasons, company executives and business owners often make great bloggers.  After all, they understand their companies and are passionate about them, two important requisites for great blogging for business. There are three main reasons, though, that almost never happens: no time, no motivation, dislike of writing.

So, are all “training benefits” lost to business owners or professionals who hire freelance blog content writers to be their “voice”? Really, the answer is “no”, at least not if things are done right. “Outsourcing is not the same as abdication,” says John Janistch. “You need to maintain tight control on themes, voice, message, and specific topic needs”. That process of choosing themes, sharing strategies, and planning for content creation requires a thinking process.

Go ahead and pave the blogging “cowpath”, but keep the training benefits of blogging for business!