In a time where consumers — myself included — routinely fast forward commercials while watching T.V., quickly flip though ads in magazines and newspapers without more than a mere glance and barely notice billboards, companies are beginning to realize that they need to do more to get our attention, earn our trust and ultimately get our business.
In their book Naked Conversations, Robert Scoble and Shel Israel make a strong case for businesses to blog. But they also highlight some of the potential downfalls if businesses do it wrong.
So what makes a good business blog?
I think the first, and maybe most important thing, is that business blogs need to be real and honest. A blog should not be a soapbox, and it cannot be used in the same way as traditional marketing. If a company creates a blog just to promote how great their products are, people will stop reading. Think about it, if I fast forward commercials while watching television, why would I ever take the time to go to a company’s blog to get that same promotional material in text form? Transparency is key. Scoble and Israel refer to this as keeping your conversations “naked.”
Businesses should use blogs to create dialogue. I understand the fear surrounding this — you’re potentially opening yourself up to negative comments and might even lose message control. But in order to gain credibility and earn our trust, you need to be open and accessible. My professor, Monte Lutz, put it this way — take honest criticism as an opportunity, not a threat. He suggested that the comment section of blogs can serve as free focus groups.
It baffles me that some company blogs still do not have a comment section. I don’t care what their official excuse is, it comes off like the company is saying “we don’t care what you have to say.” In addition, they are missing a great opportunity to respond to and learn from their critics. Just because they can’t post a negative comment on your blog doesn’t mean they can’t think negatively about your company or make negative comments in other forums. I’d argue that it’s better to invite consumers to make negative comments on your blog where you can respond to them.
In Naked Conversations, Scoble and Israel criticize Randy Baseler, vice president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, for not allowing comments on his blog, Randy’s Journal. Scoble and Israel write, “When we asked a company representative why Randy doesn’t allow comments, we were told that ‘Randy is just too busy for that stuff’” (p. 163). They argue, “Randy’s Journal is an example of a blog that emulates a corporate brochure, and it’s actually pretty good as a brochure. But it is, and has remained for nearly tow years, a very bad blog, containing all the drama and personality of an out-of-date train schedule” (p. 163-164).
I am happy to report that in 2005, Randy’s Journal was revamped and now includes comments among other new features, such as RSS.
So besides being honest, transparent and creating dialogue — what else separates the good blogs from the bad blogs?
I think business blogs need to learn how to keep it interesting. Remember you are not going to attract readers by being dull and boring.
Lastly, I think it is essential the businesses understand the time involved in blogging. To be as effective as possible, business bloggers need to post regularly and respond to comments regularly. That might seem simple on the surface, but a running a blog can be a huge undertaking, especially on top of an already busy schedule.
I don’t think blogging is right for every business, but many companies are proving that the ROI of blogging can be quite significant.
Here are a couple (granted a little old) lists of the top CEO blogs:
http://mariosundar.wordpress.com/2007/03/14/top-10-ceo-blogs-redux-0307/
http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2007/07/12/the-ceo-blogs/
What are some of your favorite business blogs?
