If you’ve been hearing a lot about the corporate blogging trend and wondering how you can make it work for your company, there are specific reasons that having a blog is very important. It really is worth the extra effort that goes into the creation and management of the blog, and you will have a whole new means of reaching out to consumers. Let’s take a look at just a few reasons why most companies need to have a corporate blog.

1. Provide the public with a human face for your company.

Most consumers view corporate entities as faceless behemoths that don’t care about the little guy. One of the easiest ways to dispel this myth is to reach out to the public via a blog. Personable posts and interaction with the public go a long way towards building your brand and attaching an image that your company really does care. Just make sure that you always use this feature to your credit and not against your company. It is as vital to learn how NOT to blog as it is to learn how to blog.

2. Open up the horizon for new customers.

In today’s internet world, it is all about discoverability. Whether you are looking for local or global business, blogging is a powerful platform that can make this happen. Most of the time, the discovery process is organic, through searching and through social networking avenues. This means that you don’t have to do any extra work to achieve discoverability, beyond posting and the proper promotion of those posts.

3. Build a stronger brand.

The key to brand recognition is getting your brand out there in the public eye as often as possible. The old fashioned method of doing this was quite expensive and it was difficult for smaller companies to play on the same field as their larger competitors. The blogging trend has changed this completely and allows for companies of any size the ability to get their name out there every single day.

You can look at each post you make as getting one step closer to becoming a household name. Readers rely on bloggers like never before and this is an incredible opportunity that your company should be taking advantage of.

4. Increase overall visits to your site.

As your blog readership expands, you’ll find that your site traffic will increase as well. If you’re hosting your blog on your site, this is natural, but you’ll also notice that your regular pages are getting more attention. As your blog gets indexed by search engines, it will be much easier for new customers to find you and you will notice an increase in overall visits. These are targeted visits as well, which means that they are worth a lot more than the average ad campaign can bring in.

These are just four simple reasons that blogging can work for any company. To get help with your blog to make sure it is a success, consider working with a professional management company that already knows the ins and outs of successful corporate blogging.

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Originally posted 2008-08-11 05:22:29. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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This book claims to be the definitive guide to corporate blogging, so we were pretty interested to see what it had to offer. Right off the bat, the forward, which was written by Bob Lutz of GM (a corporate blogger) got our attention. It’s always nice to see books written by and for the intended audience, since this tends to produce a book that gets right to the point and manages to hit all the right notes.

Weil’s writing style is very conversational, which is very well suited for smaller companies that may not be all that up to date on the technical jargon or for those that are simply looking for a quick explanation that cuts through the hype. Readers expecting a highly technical tome would probably be disappointed, since the intended audience is really those who are not already into blogging, but looking for ways to help their company.

The author has been quite a celebrity in the corporate blogging world and has been credited with really explaining to the masses what this is all about. Her numerous television appearances and her own site have served as great education and the book really takes it to that next step. Inside, she answers all of the questions that a beginning corporate blogger may have, making it seem quite easy to get started.

By breaking down the entry barriers, Weil is making it much easier for anyone to start their own corporate blog. We appreciated the up-beat tone of the book and the way that she really presented her information without talking down to the reader. As the experts that got advance copies of the book stated, this can easily save you five to six months of heartache and get you started off on the right foot.

That is what really matters in the world of corporate blogging and for that, we give Weil high praise. She could have gone a little more in depth on a few topics, but overall, we found that the book was an easy read that got the job done. It isn’t probably a good book for those that already have a pretty good grasp of the technicalities of running their own blog, but it is very useful for those just starting out.

By getting through all of the stuff that can doom a corporate blog to failure and showing small and big companies how to go about corporate blogging the right way, Weil has performed a very important service. We highly recommend this book to anyone that is just starting out, especially if they are completely new to corporate blogging as a concept and as a means of reaching out to your customers. It was a quick read, and did exactly what it said it would. Anymore, that is a rare combination, especially when it comes to business advice books. It is well worth the time and is certainly a good reference book that you can go back to time and time again.

Originally posted 2008-08-15 05:47:50. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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It has been widely recognized that blogging is an excellent way to publish content to a website, and many corporations and other businesses are beginning to embrace this idea with a great amount of enthusiasm. Not only are companies creating corporate blogs, but sometimes a single employee blogs as well, such as the marketing manager or CEO of the company. Some large corporations like Google and Microsoft actually support their employees in their blogging efforts. Unfortunately, there are some major pitfalls that need to be considered when it comes to corporate blogging, including the need to address a conflict that exists between the openness expected of bloggers, and the confidentiality expected of many companies.

There are some big questions that need to be answered here, leading to corporate blogging pitfalls. How much should an employee be allowed to say about the inner workings of the company in their blog? It is obvious that secret formulas and insider information are off the table, but what else should not be said? Should employees be allowed to criticize the company for which they work? Should they be allowed to criticize the products they sell or the services that they offer? How much time should employees be allowed to spend on their blogging projects in general? Is this a part of their job description, or is it something they should be doing on their own time?

The best way to avoid these corporate blogging pitfalls is to address the answers to these questions before employees are allowed to keep up with blogs focusing on the company. It is clear that when smaller companies decide to venture into this arena, that they should follow the examples and guidelines set by the larger corporations that have been blogging for a lot longer. One of the best solutions is simply to draw up a set of blogging guidelines that everyone within the company must follow in order to maintain a blog. By doing this before any blogging projects are created, certain activities can be nipped in the bud before they ever become a problem. By establishing a list of suitable topics and unsuitable topics, a corporation or company can better dictate which corporate blogging practices are encouraged and which are not.

Here are some of the corporate blogging guidelines that would help companies large and small avoid corporate blogging pitfalls regarding confidentiality and bad press.

- Refrain from being critical of other products or other competing companies.
- Make it clear that you are stating your very own opinion, and not the opinion of the company as a whole.
- If you are unsure of a specific topic or subject, discuss it with a manager or colleague before posting.
- Do not share secrets belonging to the company, such as secret formulas or processes, or information relating to mergers, takeovers or other confidential information.
- Do not use the blog as a means for selling products overtly, but be authentic and informative instead.
- Do not mention customers or partners by name without express permission.

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Originally posted 2008-12-02 05:08:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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