One of the questions we are often asked is what makes a good blog and what will keep readers coming back and joining the debate.

It's a great question and to provide some answers we have taken some thoughts from Robert Scoble (the original blogger from Microsoft and co-author of the book Naked Conversations (see our recommended reading list).

Some of the key points he makes are:

- Tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. If your competitor has a product that's better than yours, link to it. You might as well. We'll find it anyway.

- Use a human voice. Don't get corporate lawyers and PR professionals to modify your speech. We can tell, believe us. Plus, you'll be too slow.

- Have a thick skin. Even if you are behind the world favourite product, people will say bad things about it. That's part of the process. Don't try to write a corporate weblog unless you can answer all questions - good and bad - professionally nicely and quickly

- Be transparent. Show you have nothing to hide. Blogging is a great way to build strong relationships with other people and nothing builds trust and confidence like people who demonstrate they aren't hiding anything.

- Demonstrate passion. Post frequently.

There are actually 34 points on Scoble's updated Corporate Weblog Manifesto (in Naked Conversations), so this is just a select group of points which struck us as particularly pertinent.

In the same book, the authors give some fantastic examples of companies (large and small) who have followed the path of blogging and have produced some amazing results for their businesses.

If you would like us to share some of these examples from the book please let us know and we will find some of the most interesting extracts to share.

We think that blogging is such an important area that we will keep updating on thoughts on this and would welcome you all to join the dialogue and say what it is you find interesting...

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