I work for a small IT company as a printer technician and aspiring marketing director. I would love to sit down and write daily or even weekly blogs on all of the ins and outs of the IT world but I my knowledge and depth in the field is lacking. Obviously, I know enough about what we do to convey it to the customers, but when it comes to something more in depth and interesting, I’m lost. We have two highly experienced IT guys in the office that I’m sure could write some interesting articles (with maybe a little touch up from me) but I can’t get them to take the time to give me something to work with. I have either two options: Find a way to make them give me some content or start writing who knows what by myself. Any suggestions?

I noticed you didn’t get too much response to your question. I think it deserves response because it is a common problem.

I have had this same challenge. People within organizations see the company blog as somebody else’s job. I was delighted once when someone came to me with an article. It seemed like it was part of the corporate mission but it ended up that it was her own private endeavor and she was fired.

In addition to Kristi’s comments, you might play to their vanity — since self-interest rules. Ask to interview them about a problem “only they can solve.” Use video or at least take a picture. Make sure you play them up. When they see that the blog is an opportunity for them to be noticed, they might be inspired.

On one of the training webinars—I can’t remember the source—a company engaged employees by giving out a fun award each week to an employee that contributed that week. They were pretty creative about how they gave the award so that it wasn’t just volume of contributions that was noted. One person, an engineer, was congratulated for just one post that had a very important impact to the overall corporate mission — which I believe was selling refurbished medical equipment. They were weaving the blog into the corporate culture and I suspect that the answer to this dilemma lies therein.

@judithgotwald You’re absolutely right about needing a response- nothing worse than “crickets” when one is looking for support! @jesse-hyde, in addition to interviewing others, as @kristi-hines, and @tami-demayo mentioned, another technique you can use that has worked well for many of us, is to blog about what you’re learning about your field. Read as much as you can of what the experts in your field are publishing, either in print or in their own blogs.  Write about an “Aha!” moment when you learn something interesting to you- others will find it of interest too.
For example, @glenandrews posted an article the other day in his blog that sparked three new posts for me- his way of stating a concept about personal productivity was so appropriate for dealing with a business issue I was thinking about, it just got me started.  I wrote about an “aha!” moment for business strategy based on the expertise of a specialist.
Keep learning, and writing about what you’re learning, and two things will happen- you will learn a lot about your field (IT) and you will learn a lot about marketing, which could lead to your other goal as well.
Take Glen Andrews’ words of guidance;“If you manage the right activities that walk you towards your goals each day, you’ve had a successful day.”  @jesse-hyde Hope that helps!(And to give credit where credit is due, http://glen-andrews.com/time-management/-  Thanks for the inspiration Glen!)
@tami-demayo

Thanks you guys! Everyone’s ideas have been very helpful! I can’t wait to give them a try.