Why Should You Start a Corporate Blog?

Corporate blogging might seem to be a waste of time at times – afterall, collectively, you would have spent hours, if not days on this blog, and there is no real way to measure the return on investment.

… and so is having a fire department for your town.

Corporate Blogging Fire Truck
Photo Credit: vitalyzator

Imagine what it would be like if you were to start getting firemen trained only when there is already a blazing fire.

A well updated corporate blog helps you communicate with your key stakeholders, and this is especially important in times of crisis. 🙂 Build it now. Build it today, before you need it.

Should CEOs and Organizations Blog?

Ted from Blogging for Business has two great posts about CEO Blogging. As he says, “many organizations do NOT need to blog… although MANY organizations can benefit from blogging.”

Here are his five reasons why CEOs should not blog:

  1. CEOs are risk adverse.
  2. CEOs are normally not natural bloggers (in terms of skill sets and personality)
  3. CEOs have confidential information that can’t be made public.
  4. They may need to stop for legal reasons.
  5. Time — or lack of it.

And then he posted another three reasons why they should:

  1. Blogs add a personality and face to a company.
  2. Blogs influence the most important people.
  3. Blogs connect CEOs and senior executives to their most important people, their customers.

Sometimes you need just one reason to do something, despite 100 reasons why you shouldn’t, isn’t it? :mrgreen: Take Ted’s 3 points for example. If your blog can connect you with your customers and keep them loyal, would you think of the ways you can overcome or avoid the first 5 points why you shouldn’t blog?

So what do you think? Should CEOs blog? Which CEO should and which shouldn’t?

What is your take?

The fear of corporate blogging and the age of secret formulas

Fear of Corporate BloggingOver at Blogging for Profit (Part 3) in Yian’s Entrepreneur Daily, she told us that one of the reasons why people (particiularly Asians) sometimes fear business blogging is the fear of possibly letting secrets out of the bag, and the inability to innovate and be creative.

As Asians, we tend to be a little closeted in our thinking and afraid that someone might copy our idea and so on – a fear perhaps heighted by lack of insecurity and confidence in our ability to continue to innovate and continue to be creative.

Of course, this fear is justifiable – companies in the past have operated from an “I’ve got a secret formula to do XYZ, so pay me to do it” perspective.

The issue is … will this value proposition work today? With information readily available by using just your finger on your mouse and the ability to reach out to companies worldwide in a few keystrokes, will this “I’ve got a secret formula” proposition work?

I don’t know, I don’t think so.

The idea that the Internet is disintermediator is not new. Manufacturers now ship direct to their customers, they no longer need those distributors, or those retail shops. We all know how Dell does it, right?

Then so what happens to the distributors? Well, frankly, unless they innovate and be creative in providing value, they will go extinct! Isn’t it true? Its a sad fact, and its not something that everybody would want, but we all have to accept it.

In the Internet economy, there are no more keeping secrets formulas, only true value creation. Continuous innovation is no longer optional, but mandatory.

What is the value that your business creates? If you are confident of the value you create, you will know for sure you won’t fear corporate blogging. If not, its time for you to relook at your business.

Who should be the one blogging for a business?

CEO bloggingOne of the most common questions that come up whenever I talk to people about corporate blogging, is this – Who should be the one doing the blogging on the corporate blog?

My answer? The CEO, or at least, someone in the top management!

Why? Because no matter how “corporate” a corporate blog may sound, blogging is about social media, about YOU (the CEO) expressing your thoughts and YOU reaching out. Corporate blogging and social media marketing is like those traditional “networking parties” on Steroids.

If e-commerce is about the global reach, and the 24 by 7 ready shop, then your blog is the global, 24 by 7 networking party!

You won’t send someone else to make contacts on your behalf, would you?

A corporate blog can bring in customers

I was reading the posts on Marriot on the Move (Marriot’s corporate blog), and I can’t help but feel that “hey, this is a wonderful organization!”

For example, in one recent post, Mr Marriot started by sharing:

It was my father who coined the phrase, “Take care of the associates, and they’ll take good care of the guests, and the guests will come back.” Most people might think that only means customer service, but it really is the mindset of how we do business.

Corporate BloggingIn that post he goes on to share about the safety and security plan that were made for each of the hotels, and how it came into real use when hurricane Wilma struck Cancun.

Things like these safety plans will probably never ever make it to a press release or the mainstream media, simply because the mainstream media is primarily focused on reporting things that would interest the general public. On the other hand, it would also not be likely that Marriot is going to go around marketing themselves on the basis that they have detailed safety plans.

But now through the corporate blog, we know how much attention they pay to details. We know why the hotel rooms are worth every cent we pay for.

After following Mr Marriot’s blog for a while (even though I was reading passively most of the time, not contributing comments), I now feel I know this organization better, and yes, I do feel I want to stay in one of their hotels the next time I travel.

Have you followed any corporate blogs lately that influenced you?