Blogging about blogging

Corp-blog
Corporate blogging. It’s nothing new. Over 5% of the Fortune 500 have an external (public) corporate blog. Wikipedia has a short article on the subject, which states that “market research done in the first half of 2006 indicated that 34% of large companies had established weblogs. Another 35% planned to do so by the end of 2006, thus bringing the total to nearly 70%.”

A Google search provides quite a bit more information, including the VP of TechRepublic, Bob Artner, providing a short video with tips for professional blogging.

For ease of reference, his tips boil down to this…
Don’t make the mistakes of personal blogging:

• Bloviate (pompous)
• Loud
• Obnoxious
• Gabby

Instead, remember these principles to put your best face forward:

• Tone — keep a professional tone
• Audience — address a broad audience
• Focus — stay on topic
• Frequency — generate content frequently
• Yourself — be genuine

Sounds simple, right? A blog is a friendly and congenial PR channel to discuss your industry, products, clients and the topics that relate to them all. Your audience comes to you, unlike traditional marketing. Your company is your focus/topic. You can have nearly anyone at your company, or even your clients, do the writing. … but is it really that simple?

Even the casual blog needs to present ideas concisely, honestly and effectively. No reader wants to comb through pages of an article that reads like a stereo manual or a political ad. The effectiveness of a blog depends on several qualities, in addition to those described in Artner’s video. (Sorry, no cute acronyms here.)

1. Informative – the signal-to-noise ratio has got to be high enough to add value, or your article won’t be worth the effort to keep it bookmarked or linked
2. Engaging – enjoyable/witty writing style that hooks and keeps the reader’s attention
3. Accessible – easy to get to and subscribe to (Atom and RSS feeds having moved into the position of the Usenet newsgroups of the ’80s and ’90s), with an eye to simple and even cross-platform presentation to reach an increasingly mobile audience

Readership
In fact, if the goal is to generate an audience (and even a community), thereby increasing market traffic, these elements are absolutely ESSENTIAL. Granted, those Fortune 500 companies can simply rely on brand-recognition to generate traffic, even to their blogs, and they have a much larger pool of contributors. How does the ubiquitous “little guy” get and keep an audience? If your company is lucky enough to be part of a community-minded industry, such as “green” construction or vehicles, open-source software, or even certain pockets of consumer goods, your audience will usually form its own community (if it’s not already out there, waiting for you to tap in). Some research to identify your audience is well worth the time and effort.

Once you know who your readership will be, consider what kind of impression they already have of you. What does your corporate website already say? Do you already provide the public with press releases and other marketing information? Is a blog going to be redundant, or will it enhance your existing image? Think about the message(s) you want to send… and receive. Some experts even suggest that well-orchestrated blogs can substitute for the traditional one-way communication of websites or press-releases, creating a much more personal relationship with the dialog inherent in the medium.

A large software giant like Sun Microsystems certainly adds a “human” face with an entire network of employee-generated blogs. Microsoft (at least, their Automatic Update team) uses blogging as a means to announce and discuss support and product issues. It’s not just the big fish, though; small businesses can benefit by using blogs, if you understand the “blogosphere” and its residents.

Next Episode
Next time, we’ll address blog content. In the meantime, here’s some homework…
Blogging Beginner Mistakes and counterpoints
Writing Style for Blogging
Blogging Techniques
Usability Tips

oh, and re-read Chris Campbell’s Argument for Small Business Blogging