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+ A Guide to Blogging for CEOs By Erin Champion

Midterm Assignment

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A Guide to Bloggingfor CEOsBy Erin Champion

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+People will be talking about you and your company whether you like it or not, why not get in on the conversation and increase your company’s authenticity.

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What to blog aboutI think CEO of the Huffington Post, a sort of consortium of bloggers, gave some great advice when she spoke with John Stewart on the Daily Show:

“Blogging is not about perfectionism. Blogging is about intimacy, immediacy, transparency and sharing your thoughts the way you share them with a friend.”

People are interested in your thoughts and spur of the moment ideas. Do not overthink your blog posts. Posting entries about a great vacation spot, a new favorite product or personal thoughts on the state of the economy will transform you from a faceless figurehead, void of personality into a person with unique thoughts and feelings.

But obviously you should not just be blogging about miniscule day-to-day events, the main purpose is to be open and forthright about things going on in the company, both good and bad. By being the first person to post things about happenings within the company you will be able to shape the conversation and get it headed in the direction you want it to go.

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+How to create a blog…It’s easy!

There are plenty user-friendly sites that provide blog hosting on the internet. If your company has a website and you have a designer you could ask if she could get you started. Or you could simply provide a link from your company’s page to the blog using and outside hosting site like:

Wordpress

Blogger

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Make time for the blog..

Blogging shouldn’t be a burden but it should be on your checklist. It’s understandable that you won’t be making hourly or even daily posts, nor should you be expected to. Figure out what makes sense for your company. It’s better to go for quality over quantity. Your posts should add something to the conversation about your company, not just regurgitate bland information that’s readily available elsewhere. Try to keep up with a quota that works for you. And most importantly you want to make sure to blog when important events are unfolding at your company in order to keep people informed.

How often Do I have to post?

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+Keep It Authentic

If your blog says it’s written by you then you should be the only one writing it. The whole idea of writing a blog is to increase the company’s overall authenticity, when someone else writes entries for you it contradicts the whole point of maintaining a blog. If for some reason you feel the need to post something written by another person inside or outside of the company make sure that it is made clear to readers.

Do not mislead readers

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+ This is about conversations

Your blog provides a great opportunity to get in on conversations that are going on about your brand. Your biggest fans and critics alike will probably be checking in regularly to see what you have to say and commenting about your posts. While you may not be able to personally respond to the posts the blog provides a great place for people from your human resource and customer service divisions to follow up.

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+In times of crisis DO SOMETHING!

The public does not scrutinize companies when all is well. Companies are put under the magnifying glass during times of challenge and extreme pressure. It is during these times in which companies need to do all they can to shape the discussion of the events that are unfolding. And when would be a better time to get the 411 straight from the horse’s mouth than in a time of trouble?

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+ Don’t let someone steal your voice

In the case of Gannett Company, the largest newspaper chain in the US, someone else broke the story of their plan to cut 10% of the workforce before the company could get a word in. The culprit’s name is Jim Hopkins, a former employee of the company, Hopkins got the scoop and went public with it. There were lots of anonymous comments written in response to the post from employees who stated that this was the first they had heard of the layoffs and that they would have been “blindsided” without the blog. He still maintains his blog and asks for donations of $5 a person because he asks, “How else will you learn about your layoff?”

“Today, whatever you say inside of a company will end up on a blog,” said Rusty Rueff, a former human resources executive at Electronic Arts and PepsiCo. “So you have a choice as a company — you can either be proactive and take the offensive and say, ‘Here’s what’s going on,’ or you can let someone else write the story for you.” – New York Times, Nov. 4 2008

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+The CEO Strikes First

Companies are blogging about their layoffs so that they can control the message before and external source or angry employee puts their own spin on things. When Seesmic, a video conversation site, had to layoff employees CEO Loic Le Meur posted a video on the site letting people know about the layoffs. The move was a preventative measure because Le Meur knew that if he did not post a video addressing the cuts someone would beat him to it. In the end his vlog post was well received and most of the comments he got were positive.

The case of Seesmic.com

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Say something…Even if there’s nothing to sayIn November 2008 CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban was in a legal bind. The SEC was charging Cuban with insider trading in 2004. Instead of staying quiet Cuban decided to do what he legally could to keep his blog readers informed and be as transparent as possible. While it was not it Cuban’s best legal interest to comment on the case he released a letter from his attorney on the blog that stated his situation and plan of action. A total of 797 comments were written in response to Cubans post; comments ranged from supportive to highly critical. Either way Cuban was not in any way hiding the fact that he was being prosecuted and made it clear to the public what was going on. There will always be critics, but giving the public as much information as possible will ultimately increase authenticity.

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+ Is it all up to you?

The answer put simply is No. By maintaining a blog you set a great example for your company to follow but in order to maximize your online potential you need to integrate other aspects of your company into the online world. Depending on what type of company you run people from human resources all the way to clerical staff should at least have the opportunity to maintain a blog or some sort of online presence. By fully integrating your company online not only are you being transparent and authentic but you are going to be able to provide better assistance to the people who use your products and/or services. The online presence needs to be a team effort and setting the tone for your company’s web presence and supporting the overall online strategy both internal and external views of the company are likely to be quite positive.

lead by example

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+Top CEO BlogsIf you’re a little hesitant about diving right into the blogosphere and still unsure of just how to start look at some of the best CEO blogs for ideas and guidelines.

Blogs that consistently top the lists are:

CEO of Sun Microsystems, Jonathan Schwartz:Jonathan's Blog

CEO of Craigslist, Craig Newmark:Craig’s Blog

Chief Software Architect at Adobe, Kevin Lynch:Kevin’s Blog

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+Sources

http://mariosundar.wordpress.com/2006/07/09/top-10-ceo-blogs/

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/technology/start-ups/05blog.html?_r=1&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/technology/start-ups/05blog.html?_r=1&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

http://www.zillow.com/blog/difficult-times-difficult-decisions/2008/10/

http://www.debbieweil.com/blog/arianna-huffington-explains-blogging-to-jon-stewart-more-fun-than-sex/

http://www.debbieweil.com/blog/

Photo credits:hands typing: image courtesy of : baronsquirrel, dad-in-training's photostream, flickr, cc licensePic with pogo stick: keamysparadise's photostream, flickr, CC licenseConversation pic: ed Yourdon, flickr, cc license