So says Josh Hallett of hyku blog, who reports:
I received a web brief for a project I have been asked to consult on. One line in particular sticks out (when discussing the attributes of the web site):
break through the clutter with a WOW and COOL web presence
That’s just the problem, WOW and COOL usually end up becoming Flash-based, lame and foster no long-term relationship with the user, just like every other ‘edgy’ site. Making your web site WOW and COOL means you are the clutter.
At least that’s the take of copywriter and consultant Bob Bly, who claims that business blogs are little more than rambling, self-indulgent, stream-of-consciousness flotsam that yield no return on investment. He writes, in part:
Blogs are, by virtue of being a form of online diary, like diaries: rambling, incoherent, and more suited for private thoughts than public consumption.
If you have something of value to share, there are many better formats for doing it online than by blogging, including white papers, e-zines, and Web sites. …
[M]ost blogs seem to be the private idiosyncratic musings of an individual, without censure or editing of any kind. And the result is like porridge: a gloppy mess, tasteless, and not very satisfying.
Until that changes, I can’t see starting and maintaining a blog of your own, unless you are bored and looking for something to do, or require an outlet for self-expression. And if the latter is the case, well … why not just buy and keep a diary instead?
So, blogs have no value.
Thomas Paine‘s pamphlets didn’t bring him much money, either. But they helped to stoke the embers of the American Revolution.
Needless to say, Bob doesn’t blog.
Link via Jim Symcox, who suggests we read Tinu Abayomi-Paul’s ebook (pdf) about why blogging can be worthwhile and profitable.
Andrew Careaga 