What story does your content tell about you?

You can learn a lot about someone and how they use social media by the content they create.  Pick a blog, any blog, and look at the last 10 posts.  Is the content instructional?  Inspirational?  Self-promotional?  Educational?  All of the above?

The same thing applies to companies, and that will be the topic of the LIVE #Blogchat on Tuesday at Content Marketing World (Did I mention it’s at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame?).  We’ll be talking about companies can tell their story via the content they create on their blog.

One company that I think does a fabulous job of telling its story via the content it creates on its blog is Patagonia:

With The Cleanest Line, Patagonia does a fabulous job of creating content that isn’t focused on the company and its products, but rather the ideals and beliefs that are core to it, and its customers.  It’s a wonderful example of focusing on The Bigger Idea.

From The Cleanest Line’s About Page:

Build the best product, do no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
– Patagonia’s Mission Statement

The goal of The Cleanest Line is to further Patagonia’s mission by encouraging dialogue about the products we build, the sports we love and the environmental issues we’re concerned about. By talking openly about the products we build, Patagonia users can help us achieve ever greater standards of quality and functionality. By spreading the word about specific environmental issues, we can increase awareness and take action as quickly as possible. By sharing field reports, we can inspire one another to keep experiencing the natural wonders of our precious planet. And like any good conversation, there’s always the possibility for pranksters and poets to direct the conversation towards territories lacking any seriousness whatsoever.

Patagonia is clear to let the readers know that the content it creates will be focused on issues larger than simply its products.  In fact, most of the content is focused on environmental and wildlife stories and issues that are important to the company, and its customers.  And by taking this approach, I think it also makes the content being created far more interesting.

Look at your company blog; what story are you telling?  Which company blogs create posts that you actually ENJOY reading?