How-To: Creating Corporate Blogs
5 Tips from Hass MS&L's David Binkowski
"I don't think every company is ready to do a blog because of what's involved," says David Binkowski, director of online outreach for Hass MS&L. "But if a company really wants to know what their customers are thinking, there's no better way." Here, David shares five tips on creating corporate blogs.
Tip #1. Do your homework
It's important for companies to understand how the blogosphere works, what kinds of questions they can expect, and what's involved, so spend a couple of months reading all types of blogs.
You must be able to approve comments, watch for comment spam, and set up an editorial calendar to make sure it's moving forward. You also want the author to be someone who has an opinion and distinct voice.
Tip #2. Have 12+ ready-to-write ideas for posts
Suppose you put up your first post and then get caught up in other projects? Spend some time pulling together posts on new products, strategic initiatives, or something in the corporate community you want to write about. It's important to have a back-up arsenal.
Tip # 3. Cultivate a corporate champion to defend the blog
When the lawyers try to kill the blog idea, it's vital to have a well-placed champion to help, to fight for integrity and honesty in the blog, and who is determined to be sure that legal "gets it." It's a harder sell if the champion is also the author of the blog.
Tip #4. Define the blog's mission and stick to it
A good blog connects with readers and is honest, so that should be part of the mission. Beyond that, every company's mission is different, from trying to gather customer feedback to hoping to put a finger on the pulse of what's going on in the industry.
This may be less of an actual mission statement and more a statement to remain honest. That's the difference between a good corporate blog and one that's just a mouthpiece.
Tip #5. Encourage discussion, but don't be suicidal
The moderator should understand how to interject without bringing the conversation to a screeching halt. On the other hand, it's easy to be attacked in the blogosphere, so while being open and honest, you have to defend yourself. Learn to avoid killing the conversation, and avoid letting yourself be killed.
More about David:
Read David's WOMBAT presentation (PDF download)
Comments
We are pondering the idea of blogs in a very small way and we are not sure how blogs can help us to engage in dialogue with our respective audiences.
This article is helpful, but we also need to see how blogs could be part of our overal strategy.
Posted by Greg McGillis on 02/22/06