Potential pitfalls:

While blogging can be rewarding in a number of ways, there are potential pitfalls to avoid.

Authenticity is a big buzzword around blogs. Flogs, or fake blogs are a big risk. If you are having your blog ghost written by a pro, be careful. A lack of transparency can hurt your credibility, just look at Walmart:

It all started last month, when a folksy blog called Wal-Marting Across America was set up. The site featured the musings of a couple known only as Jim and Laura as they drove cross country in an RV, and included regular interviews with Wal-Mart workers, who were dependably happy about the company and their working conditions. BusinessWeek.com wrote the first exposé about the blog. The story shot down speculation that Jim and Laura weren’t real people, identifying the woman as Laura St. Claire, a freelance writer and an employee at the U.S. Treasury department. But it also disclosed that Wal-Mart was paying plenty for the couple’s support, including money for renting the RV, gas, and fees for writing the blog.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/1531992

Dead Air can be problematic. A blog needs to be updated on a regular basis, but not daily. Focus on the quality of the blog posts, not the quantity.

Eric Kintz of HP writes:

Why blog post frequency does not matter anymore

“Thou shall post every day” is the most fundamental and most well known principle of blogging. Every new blogger is warned about “the” ultimate rule and is confronted with the pressure of a day going by with no new post. Every one has in mind the examples of successful bloggers, like Robert Scoble at Microsoft, who post several times a day. Daily posting shows that you are serious about blogging, generates traffic and drives reader loyalty, as readers come back daily to check your new posts. You cannot be successful if you do not go by the rule, right? RIGHT?

Wrong. Daily posts are a legacy of a web 1.0 mindset and early web 2.0 days (meaning 12 months ago!). The pressure around posting frequency will ultimately become a significant barrier to the maturity of blogging. Here are 10 reasons why.

Read them here: http://h20325.www2.hp.com/blogs/kintz/archive/2006/06/05/1120.html

Comments can be a blessing or a curse. This is a forum where people can gripe, it can also be a place where you address and fix that gripe:

Rusty Williams has 10 tips on iMediaconnection:

Tip 6: Address criticism head on.
You’re going to read things about your products or services that make you uncomfortable. Just like any customer complaint, the best thing to do is turn the negative into a positive. Show that you’ve taken some action to address the problem, or if it’s misperception, explain why. It’s also OK to explain the business reasons behind decisions that may upset some of your customers. People’s initial reactions are emotional, but they will almost always understand that businesses exist to earn money and cover costs.

http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/11390.asp

Now, hopefully I have not scared you away with the potential pitfalls.