USATODAY.com: Retailers are creating blogs to promote brand awareness and sales. A recent study by online market research firm ComScore Networks found that shoppers who visit blogs spend about 6% more than the average online shopper. “The people who spend time on our blog are the people who are … the very top customers that we have,” says a former CEO of fashion catalog Spiegel.

I’m of the opinion that EVERY company should be blogging. No one is interested in your static, boring “About Us” website. And, frankly, I’ve got a few of those up myself. If you’re gonna be online, talk to your customers. Listen to them. Blog.

But I have a hunch it’s going to be harder to find people to feed the blog beast than than we realize. It almost certainly won’t be the guy that writes your bullshit company news releases. I used to write radio commercials and I’m pretty sure that in no way prepares someone to blog. And a lot of news writers are terrible at the blog format. So I’m wondering, why is it so hard for some folks to write a decent blog post? I think it probably has something to do with honesty. Specifically, that “voice” thing.

Blogging is kind of like writing a letter to a friend…but letting the entire world read over your should. And if you’re faking it, people somehow know it. In much the same way the “America’s Funniest Home Videos” producers know when they’re watching a true candid moment or something staged.

I had lunch with Chuck this week. He’s been blogging for less than six months but picked it up quickly. We talked about where you would look to find people to hire to blog for a business or organzation. The first thing that popped into my head was, I would never hire someone to blog professionally if they were not already blogging. Frankly, there would be no way to know if they could do it…unless they WERE doing it.

I’m not sure I could get a job as a blogger. But the real acid test would be right here at smays.com. If you’re reading this, you probably know everything you need to know about me. No personality profile. No writing tests. You could probably skip the interview. If you couldn’t hire me based on what I’ve posted here, you wouldn’t want me. Blogging is about honesty and transparency and hanging it out there. Could someone scam me with a bogus blog? Could they fake it? Maybe for a few posts… but it would be hard work to keep up that kind of charade for weeks or months.

If I had to go looking for a new job tomorrow, I would not bother updating a resume. I’d just send them here. They could read for 3 minutes or three hours and know everything they need to know about me.