Regular readers know that I am currently working with The Kauffman Foundation. They are gearing up to re-launch their portal for high-growth entrepreneurs later this fall. Laura Paglione is posing several questions on the Kauffman blog about blogging. Rather than advising her in private, I am going to try something different - counseling her in public and then seeing what others have to say.
Laura asks:
“What should be in a blog? Links to other content on the web? discussion / community between entrepreneurs? Special postings by ”celebrity guest entrepreneurs“? Something else?”
Steve responds:
The wonderful thing about blogs is that you can make them whatever you want, but the best blogs fill a void that no other site is filling. You're smart to be asking the community for advice (and I am not just saying that because you pay us!). Dan Gillmor always says “my readers know more than me.”
As an employee for a high-growth small business, I would say that I personally would love to see an “ask the expert”/storytelling type of approach. Invite successful high-growth entrepreneurs who have made it to guest blog alongside a moderator. Each week you can choose a different theme - financing, HR, marketing, etc. Think Larry King gone blog - facilitated interviews with “call-ins” from readers.
I want to hear first hand how Howard Schultz reinvented a commodity or how Michael Dell was able cut the fat out of everyone's margins and succeed. Now I can find this on Inc.com, but what I can't do there is participate in a transparent conversation with these folks. I would love to see some guest blogging by these leaders that we can all engage in - at least for a short while - before we move on to the next one.
Laura asks:
What about the blogging process? Who should be writing? How important is it to have a consistent voice - core group of bloggers? Should their be guest bloggers? How long (how many months) should bloggers blog? How often should they post?
Steve responds:
We went back and forth on the phone about this today. Both approaches have worked. On the one hand, I like it when a blog has a regular beat - a consistent voice or voices. I want to see the world from that person's perspective. On the other hand, rotating group blogs like Channel 9 work beautifully as well.
In your case, I think you can achieve consistency by building a conversational mosaic of stories (as described above) that over time become “a high-growth handbook.” Perhaps these guest posts can be punctuated by some writing from lesser known domain experts. This will also give us a lot to work with as we market the site. We can brand these experts as go-to media sources and even put them in your marketing campaigns.
Laura asks:
What should be the central focus? Should posts be subject-matter focused? Story-based? Free-form? Structured?
Steve responds:
I would suggest a structured, a rotating, subject-matter approach that is supported by interviews/stories from successful entrepreneurs who really will engage with the site's community.
This is just my two cents. Who else has ideas to offer?
Technorati Tags: Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Entreworld, Kauffman
