It seems like everyone and their brother has a blog these days. Most small business owners are encouraged to blog as a way to get exposure and share their expertise. The age of information marketing certainly has its pros – anyone can find information about pretty much anything with just a click of a “search” button. But it also has its cons – mainly, information overload, and the need to sort through a lot of junk in order to find something valuable.

If you are on social media for business at all, you will notice how the abundance of bloggers has changed the way businesses use social media. Instead of real conversations on social media, many are just posting links to blogs and articles, in an effort to share content. Unfortunately, when I do decide to click through to a post with an enticing title, I am often disappointed by what’s inside, which prompted me to write this post.

Not everyone should be a blogger. There are many other ways for you to promote your business and demonstrate your value. Below are my personal tips on how to know when you should blog, and when you shouldn’t:

You Should Not Write Blogs If:

1. You suck at writing. Let’s face it, if you got D’s in English class, you probably are not cut out to be a writer. If you can’t string a coherent sentence together, you don’t know how to use spell check and you don’t understand basic grammatical rules, then you shouldn’t be putting content on the web. If you suck at writing but you have a burning desire to have a blog or promote your ideas in writing, then hire a ghost writer or editor to make sure that your poor writing doesn’t undermine any valuable information you are trying to get across. Or, if you are a natural in front of the camera and a great talker, try a video blog instead!

2. You have nothing original to say. If you are just rehashing what has already been said by others over and over again, spare us all and don’t write about it. Unless you have a unique spin or angle on the topic, nobody will be impressed with old news.

3. You have no expertise. If you don’t really know what you are talking about, it will show. It will make you look worse than if you say nothing at all.

Conversely….

Blogging Is For You If:

1. You love to write and you’re good at it. If you are great at getting your point across in writing in a way that increases understanding, then you have the makings of a blogger.

2. You have something valuable and original to say. If you have information, thought provoking insights and solutions that will create value for your reader, then you should be sharing it in a blog. If you believe that your reader will walk away with a new perspective on your topic, or that they might be inspired to take action, or use your information to their benefit, then by all means, please share it!

3. You have expertise to share, or you are willing to do your homework to acquire that expertise. If you are an expert on a topic, then chances are you have insights and information that will be valuable to others. Or perhaps there is a topic that you don’t know a lot about but you want to. If you research it well, and provide supporting information and points of view, you will have done a service for your reader who has an interest in your topic by researching it for them.

Here’s the bottom line, if you want to write a blog that establishes your reputation as an expert and leader in your industry, then please, I beg you, make sure it’s worth reading!