Monday 20th July 2009 by Lawrence Clarke

For many blogging is a bit passé – the new blogging is Twitter with all the attraction of immediacy and connection with others that a ‘classic’ blog would struggle to provide. So what’s the point of a blog?

Define a blog as a piece of personal publishing, then one thing a blog stands for is the opportunity to expand on something and be listened to by anyone in the world without the need for an expensive intermediary (the publisher) and cumbersome and costly distribution channels. In that sense it does represent a genuine revolution in publishing.

Technorati has been tracking over 133 million blog records worldwide since 2002. A blog is, usually, a personal website and as such can merge with what is seen as a mainstream site. Four of the top ten entertainment sites are blogs (e.g. TMZ). Ninety-five percent of the top 100 US newspapers have reporter blogs – in the UK it’s closer to 100 per cent.

What characterises the right blog for your business?

It’s important to appreciate the different persona we each have depending on who we are talking to – what we say and do with our parents is different to what we say and do with our friends, which is different again with our colleagues or with our suppliers and different again with the customers of the business we work in. Sounds obvious but in an online world where it’s so easy to forget who could actually be reading your contribution it really matters. You only need to look at the wife of the future head of MI6 Sir John Sawers posting intimate details of her husband on Facebook for all to read to see just how easy it is.

There is therefore a distinct difference between a personal, professional and corporate blog. An employee or professional blog is characterised by that individual and their work context. Here the individual is very much ‘themselves’, but with his/her professional hat on. In other words these blogs have half-an-eye on current management and half-an-eye on prospective employers. Some employers such as Microsoft host a blog for each of their employees. The most high profile professional blog is the CEO’s. Everyone can benefit from advice on the do’s and don’ts of blogging but no one more than the CEO. At SiftGroups we have advised a number of CEOs but ultimately what makes a successful CEO blog is the right CEO – someone who is direct and engaging and as open as governance will allow. Take a look at Sun Microsystems CEO or the CEO of the publisher Thomas Nelson.

A corporate blog is a single blog with multiple authors, each posting on a topic that reflects their professional experience and where possible references the business. By definition it is the corporation’s blog and therefore is characterised by the company’s character and ethos – a character and ethos designed to appeal specifically to prospects and clients/customers. It should enhance the company's brand awareness to those who are or are thinking about spending money (or time) with it. Dell is the retailers’ benchmark and Accenture the consultants’. This blog post is part of SiftGroups' corporate blog.

So what can a blog do for your business?

To answer this each business needs to consider a blogging strategy from the outset. It’s very easy to start because everyone else is and for the lead blogger to end up dominating the corporate airwaves. Strategically it might make sense for someone other than the CEO to be seen as the voice of the organisation – but that decision needs to be taken in advance of starting, not justified retrospectively. In the ‘blogosphere’ it’s very easy for the professional to be disconnected from his/her employer to the potential benefit of the blogger (many top bloggers have made career changes based on their blogging ability), but not to the employer.

Usually the best reason for taking the lid of the blogging box is to increase your organisation’s visibility. Good content will enhance search engine optimisation and good authors will enhance the credibility of the organisation. Thought leadership pieces or practical tips are obvious starting points. With this type of content success is usually measured by initially the number of reads and then ideally the number of links or references from appropriate sites. Don’t expect too many comments on your site. People will be happy to take your ideas and tips and reference you but few will expect to engage in a dialogue.

The first audience for such blogs will always be the business’s own staff. Here’s a captive audience that can be alerted to the latest posts and if the bloggers are canny they will be blogging about initiatives that are in development. In this way the blog becomes a focus for knowledge sharing within the business as well as a marker for those outside.

The three key attributes of a good blog

Whether corporate or professional a good blog needs:

• Relevance – to the intended audience
• Consistency – of quality
• Commitment – to regularly contributing

If all three cannot be sustained then that is the moment to bow out gracefully and re-group for another day.

 

Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/298710453/