Energy finance may seem very specific, but for the writers of the Energy Finance Report it’s their every day.

1826_thumbElias Hinckley, partner at Sullivan & Worcester and lead of their energy group, has his own long-running energy finance column with Energy Trends Insider. But for the rest of the team there was no good outlet to display their knowledge.

“My stuff tends to be a little more of a broad appeal, as opposed to the nuts and bolts stuff, [but] we thought it was useful to have that information out in the marketplace to refer people back to us,” said Hinckley. “[The blog] was a way we could leverage our presence, but make it a platform for everyone on our team to write across a range of subjects.”

Given the skill of their team, the blog could’ve been on a much wider range of subjects. With a core team of eight bloggers that can fluctuate as large 16-20, it’s clear the blog has the know-how behind it. But the Energy Finance team was trying to be part of the conversation.

1832_thumb“We view our role in this field as being ahead of where things are, and anticipating trends and developments our clients are going to benefit from. We tell people what to look forward to, or—if it’s an obstacle—how to meet it productively and gain something from it,” said James Wrathall, another author on the blog. “Always look to add value; that seems to me the core of what we do. We really want to ask ourselves, ‘how can we provide important insights that are valuable to the audience?’”

But what the guidepost is for “added value” varies. Only just past their first birthday, the Energy Finance Report doesn’t think there’s one quantifiable piece of work they’ve received that’s been a direct result of the blog. But to them it’s still a major asset.

“Our posts have been reposted, picked up, and talked about. There’s definitely some momentum around the content, and the content being part of the conversation. Whether or not we can measure what the value add to the work base at this point is irrelevant if we can take a longer view, because I do think it provides a little bit of credible depth in terms of knowledge and breadth in the industry,” said Hinckley, who adds that in his experience, the blog’s lessons go both ways.

“You can’t make something easy to read without really understanding the issues. You really have to do the work to write well.”

That may be one of the biggest challenges the blog team faces: avoiding getting too technical when talking about their subject matter. To ensure it doesn’t get too complex, any post that makes it to the site tends to pass by a few pairs of eyes, in an “ad hoc” editing process. Editors will read for not just content itself but things like readability and engagement.

Of course this is not anybody’s full time job, and all that editing can add to the workload. But Hinckley and Wrathall agree that trying to do something right takes a little more work. Plus over time they’ve grown better at fitting their blog work into their routine.

“The pace of adaptation and adoption of new technology is steering away from the old set methods of ‘set things on fire to make energy’ is definitely transitioning towards technology. And it won’t be linear, but it will be steep and accelerating,” said Hinckley. “And we’re going to keep the blog going and participate in that transition, and help people have tools to understand that transition.”

Most likely a major chunk of that is readers can turn to the blog for more than just reporting on rules and regulations as they come down. The Energy Finance Report manages to stay on top of those things, while also pointing out new technology and trends in the field. And when it comes to it, their writers aren’t bashful about taking a position and arguing for it—which is clearly resonating with readers.

“We get requests—‘I saw your blog about X, we’re doing a transaction that involves that topic. Would you be willing to have a call?’ We also get leads on technologies or entities that are in the space that we hadn’t been aware of,” said Wrathall of just some of the feedback they get. “I think the combination of the blog format and our reposting and interactive emails with our client lists allow it to become a more interactive back and forth process. The posts come back to us with notes, requests, and comments, and that allows us to really engage as opposed to just sending things out as a one-way street.”

Given all that, it’s not hard to see why the blog is still such a valuable tool to the energy team at Sullivan & Worcester.

“It’s an incredibly competitive marketplace and being able to differentiate yourself and getting credibility is hard to do using only traditional tools,” said Hinckley. “With a different way to get out and get our message out there in a way that people can hear and appreciate us and get our message on. It makes us better at what we do…[and] it’s a good way to keep us a little bit honest.”