I have been running this blog since early 2008 now. It started as a collection of personal thoughts and events but ever since I started to write a little more about CSR / Sustainability I also had to make sure I am listing to my readers enough to get an interesting discussion going.

fp blog My lessons learned: What to expect from a good CSR / Sustainability blog The topic of this post is to provide you with some of the these lessons I learned over the past years when it comes to my blog design, the content and what my readers are looking for:

  • Post on a regular basis: At least once a week but not each day. There is a fine balance in my view. And when it comes to CSR / Sustainability a lower frequency of posts each week gives you as the writer the possibility to focus on a topic or theme and not have to worry about swamping your readers inbox or RSS feed.
  • Keep your blog design simple and accessible: I am not someone that is very inclined to read a blog post that is looking to ‘busy’ and is over -designed. In my view the content needs to be the focus. My blog is simple in terms of design and my experience over the past years has shown that this is the best way forward when you write about CSR / Sustainability.
  • Try to write about something you know more than others about: Sounds obvious but you will not believe how many people are writing about something they do not really know much about. And these are not blogs that will attract lots of readers and create an interesting discussion in my view.
  • Write about best practice: CSR / Sustainability reporting for example is always an interesting topic to write about. Reporting is not on the top of my agenda but a post every now and then is always received well. Other popular best practice topics include social media, CSR / Sustainability strategy and stakeholder engagement. Try to mix these up a little over the course of the month as well. A good variety always makes interesting reading.
  • Try to be challenging: I am not the fiercest and challenging CSR / Sustainability blogger around but I found that challenging the overall CSR / Sustainability best practice on occassion is an interesting topic for posts. You need to find a balance here as well of course but I believe that being critical and constructive at the same time is usually a good combination.

These are some of the lessons learned for me. What are yours?