The Benefits

Blogs add a personal flare and dare I say, brand, to your business that is much more difficult to fake than some rehearsed marketing spiel.  Construction still remains a business of relationships and what some like to call, good ‘ol boy networks.  The reality is that the good ‘ol boys are having a seat on the barstool of cyberspace and building a virtual network of construction buddies to call when they have a job to do.  Construction is an industry that is notoriously resistant to change, but I think even the ol’ timers are realizing the benefit of internet networking and marketing.

We are in an economic climate at the moment, where not much construction is going on, but when when things start roaring back, companies are going to start looking for any way to reach out to new contractors, subcontractors and consultants.  They will be in a position where they may have dumped some of their old colleagues due to lack of work and now they aren’t sure if they want to go back to them.  Blogs get you in front of people who may be interested in your service, but aren’t quite ready to make that phone call.  Remember, people buy from other people they like, and people like blogs.

Blogs can provide value to readers as well as distinguish the writer as an expert in their field.  For example, if a construction professional writes a blog about a new method of project delivery that saves time and money, the readers gain knowledge about this particular method and may be a bit more likely to hire this company to provide these services.  They feel like they know you before they really do.

This can be some very valuable marketing and there is a whole world of consulting popping up that focuses almost entirely on helping companies leverage their online presence.

The Downside

While it can be very beneficial to have a blog about yourself, your company, or your services, the blogosphere is a grassroots and sometimes cruel world of wannabes who may be looking to get their name out there (no comments please).  However, these internet hack-writers may also be doing a benefit in calling attention to BS that is going on.  Either way, you have to keep an eye on what the blogs are saying about you and your company.  And of course, the best way to combat bad publicity from someone else’s blog is to have one yourself and provide credible, genuine, and valuable content.  However, without this online voice, potential customers are left to make their own judgement.

For centuries companies, especially private companies, have had the luxury of carefully strategizing the image they want to portray.  To the public eye, organizations can look squeaky clean while behind closed doors, there is more dirt flying around than a Tiger Woods press conference.  Now what happens behind closed doors can, and most likely will, reach the blogosphere.  People are probably going to have to clean up their act.

Of course you have to be careful with your blog.  As easy as it is to start ranting in what you think is the safety of you and your computer screen, what you say can and will be used against used against you.  Back in 2005 when blogs were first starting to stake their claim on the internet, a newly hired Google employee named Mark Jen started blogging about his first few days of work on the Google compound.  He mentioned that the Google health plan was less generous than that of his former employer, Microsoft.  Jen also contended that the free food that we’ve all heard about at Google is really just a ploy to get you to work past dinner time.  Jen was fired two weeks later.

While you can gripe and moan about all these go**amn bloggers foiling the plans of marketers and publicists, the reality is that you are not going to beat them; you must join them.  Like in any good blog, I’m going to make a prediction with little or no substance to back up the claim.  My prediction is that blogs and other forms of online “amateur” media will fundamentally change how businesses are run, and yes, this change will eventually make it’s way to our lovely construction industry.  And if it isn’t a “fundamental” change it will in the least be significant, so you might as well join the party.  Trust me, it’s fun.