How personal should my company’s blogs be?

How personal should my company’s blogs be? I want to make our business appear human and interesting, but I don’t want to divulge anything that puts off potential clients. Is there a line that shouldn’t be crossed?

Your basic premise should be that anything you say on the web will be taken as evidence and used against you.

So it’s a fine-line between the honesty and openness that customers desire and giving way too much information to competitors.

Needless to say, don’t post anything defamatory, bigoted, racist, sexist, anti-religious and anything else that reasonable people might find offensive.

The answer to your question also depends on the kind of business you’re in. Remember, you’re trying to maximise value for your readers.

If they are giving you 90 seconds of attention, you want to give them a x3 return on their investment of attention.

Often, things that are interesting to you personally might hold no value for your customers. You might love motorcross, but if you are a florist then your blog doesn’t need to involve your personal interests.

Make sure you update the blog at least twice a month. Let anyone in your organisation with a good story to tell share their perspective.

Share the load to get buy-in across the organisation and to spread the work evenly. Make it prominent in proportion to its value to your customers. This can change over time.

Blogs invite casualness, but they demand extra care.

The bottom line is: always err on the side of caution and always put yourself in the shoes of your customers. Is this relevant, personal and anticipated?