An article in the March issue of Entrepreneur magazine, as well as a recent “Dilbert” cartoon, addressed the inadvisability of tippling and tweeting (today’s answer to drinking and dialing). That said, the article – subtitled Engaging Customers on Social Media Without Sounding Like a Moron – had a proviso.

A company’s social media personality, it said, should be its corporate personality after exactly one beer. In other words, loosen up a little but stay in control of your message.

I like it.

Last year, I started a (hopefully) humorous blog about my misadventures in genealogy. For me, it serves many purposes. First, it’s another outlet for someone who loves to write. Next, only those friends, family and others interested in my background (or writing) have to be bothered with it. And, finally, it keeps me from slacking off in the tracing of my family tree, as I constantly need new material.

That last point is a biggie – so big, in fact, that it has kept some businesses from starting something they’re not sure they can maintain. Thus, for those on or near the edge of a blog launch, I offer a few suggestions.

Find someone who not only can write but enjoys writing. No one needs another “chore” on his or her list.

Don’t be afraid to have multiple bloggers, so long as what they write equals out to a cohesive message.

Know your audience(s) and what they like/want to know.

Don’t start without a stock of “evergreen” items that can go in any time, creating a backlog to take the pressure off.

Don’t feel you have to stick to a specific format or length, just share what you think your audience(s) need or want to know.

Periodically, take a look back at the body of what you wrote and see what it tells you about your company and organization.

Later, we’ll talk about the back-end benefits of blogging. Today was about creating a comfort zone in which you could get started. If you decide you need help, let us know. In the meantime, I’ll be around, either at blimbach@next-mark.com or, of course, blgblog.relatingtome.com.

I have a confession:  I have never been good at cattle-call business networking. I mean, I’ve met some very nice people, just none that had the means or a reason to contract for my skills. Give me 10 minutes in any jammed room, and I’ll have met every unemployed person and herbal supplement distributor in it. And, though I’m not particularly shy, I know I could never match the chutzpah of an attorney who handed me her card, advising me to call her if I ever went into foreclosure. (Hopefully, that was her usual spiel and not an appraisal on my future.)

So, while I admire those who can wring worth from designated networking events, for me such meetings are a waste of time. That said, I HAVE had networking success in smaller groups and chance meetings at restaurants, theaters, etc., when the relationship is created more organically. So I concentrate on this path.

When it comes to marketing, what’s wasting your time? What are you doing just because you thought you should, not because it works? Is it a blog you set up and struggle to keep updated? A web site that provides information but doesn’t push it out? Outdated materials with high printing costs that actually do more harm than good? Tons of tactics applied separately, with no cohesive plan?

It’s still early enough in the year to take stock, assess what works and change gears with a plan that is both efficient and effective. Let us know if we can help.

Heard about “inbound marketing”? If not, you will.

Inbound marketing is about customers finding businesses, rather than businesses finding customers. It’s the same basic goal, but with a completely different strategy that is based on how consumers act today.

Think about it. How many commercials do you fast-forward past? How many on-line ads do you ignore? Most likely, the answer is most or all. That’s because they’re interruptions. As viewers/users, we don’t like interruptions. We like getting on with what we want to see and do – and when WE want to see and do it.

Thus, the theory goes, many of us basically tune out traditional “outbound” marketing.

Instead, we do our own research and search when we want information, plugging in a few key words and seeing what comes up. Or we go the modern version of old school: getting the opinions of friends and others we trust on-line. That’s where content marketing, search engine optimization and social media marketing/blogging come in, serving as magnets that draw customers to business.

There’s more to it, of course, and there’s definitely still a place for traditional marketing. Rest assured, we’ll be talking about it all again in future posts.

In the meantime, think about how you make your own buying decisions and how that fits in your company’s marketing strategy.