If you believe the media reports, just about everyone is either reading or writing a blog at any given moment. You don't have to join them. Here are the top 10 reasons not to start...


...a company blog.
10.
You can't control every message on a blog. (But message control has always been an illusion.)
9.
You'll have to decide when to respond and when to ignore comments
8.
It's hard to build an audience. It takes time, effort, and skillful promotion to build an audience for a blog.
7.
Dozens of other blogs probably cover the same information. To be successful today, you need to define a narrow niche for your blog and become an expert in it.
6.
Everyone and her dog already has a blog. Even whores have blogs these days.
5.
You need approval from legal before you can publish anything. Don't bother blogging if every word has to be vetted by legal or PR. You need an authentic voice.
4.
It's hard to decide who in the company should blog. It's not always the CEO, who may not have the time or specialized knowledge, or the ability to be jargon-free that a blog requires.
3.
Blogging is addictive. You might not be able to stop. It's also lots of fun.
2.
Researching and writing is a complex and extremely time-consuming task. A blog that isn't kept up to date quickly loses its luster and its audience.
1.
Writing something interesting every day is hard. Most people would rather have root canal than write something coherent, pithy and provocative every day. It takes talent, skill and training to write down ideas clearly and make them interesting to read.
Before you get swept away by blog mania, remember that a blog is nothing more than a database driven website. It's the content that sets one apart from another.