A new book by Debbie Weil, entitled The Corporate Blogging Book, has been doing the rounds at the office. Luckily for us, Ms Weil expended far more creative capital on the book’s content than its title, as it really is the complete package for anyone looking to learn more about corporations’ role in the blogosphere, whether actual or potential.
Via a series of suggestions and practical examples, she demonstrates that whatever your objectives may be (internal or external communications, short-term or long-term, selling your services or influencing opinions etc) blogging can help you achieve them. How? Obviously, millions of people read blogs every day. Sure, but millions of people walk past billboards every day too. More importantly, blogs are being read by people who are interested in YOU, plus corporate blogging closes the gap between the corporation and its customers (or employees!) – invaluable in the age of 2.0 where web-users (i.e. pretty much everyone) want to be part of a conversation, not the target of condescending promises and tag-lines. In addition, blogs will help increase your search engine ranking and thus drive traffic to your site, as blog material is more likely to figure high up in a Google search.
Ms Weil does urge caution. Content needs to be good and updated frequently, plus you need to be aware of some legal pitfalls (Ms Weil has excellent pointers on all – most of all, she shows us that it’s EASY!) If you’re still not convinced, think of this. Not having a blog at all is just plain silly: your employees will be blogging anyway; you’re not part of the conversation and might be less well-placed to respond to criticism; and plus, surely a cheap, rapidly developing, super-effective way of reaching customers (who will in turn even think you’re cool for speaking directly to them, even if they disagree with you), as well as media, investors etc is a no-brainer!
Convinced? Then check out Debbie Weil’s site at www.debbieweil.com to buy the book, read her own blog or subscribe to her RSS feeds.