4. BUSINESS ISSUES
Blogs & Business
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- Start-ups, Fortune 500 Companies, Non-profits (such as college admissions offices)
- Both internal (via the Company’s intranet) and external
- CEO and executive blogs
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Why should a business blog?
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- Allows you to communicate in a more open and casual tone to connect with your target audience
- Gets your message out there - there are many newsworthy events that don’t warrant a press release
- Highlight the positive, such as community service events
- Increased interest in company events - timeliness of information
- Increased customer service - gives a faceless corporation a more “human” feel and provides an active dialogue with quicker feedback times
- Can be a tool for your company to attract new recruits, clients, customers
Successful business blogs:
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- Direct2Dell, Microsoft Employee blogs, Oracle Executive blogs
- Monster, Johnson & Johnson, Walmart, Nike Basketball
While there has been a increase in corporate blogging, there is still a great deal of room for growth (less than 10% of fortune 500 companies have official blogs)
Concerns:
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- Don’t understand the current technology/structure
- How do you represent the voice of the entire company, not just the computer savvy?
- Don’t believe that it fits the corporate culture
- Nature of the communications is too open - does the blog need to be policed, etc.?