Comments on: Corporate Blogs: the Realities and Purpose http://www.davidhenderson.com/2008/06/19/corporate-blogs-the-realities-and-purpose/ author, journalist, media strategist Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:26:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: David Henderson http://www.davidhenderson.com/2008/06/19/corporate-blogs-the-realities-and-purpose/#comment-1261 David Henderson Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:40:20 +0000 http://www.davidhenderson.com/blog/?p=247#comment-1261 Chris, Excellent perspective! You Edelman-blog example is right on the money. Thank you. David Chris,
Excellent perspective! You Edelman-blog example is right on the money. Thank you.
David

]]> By: Chris Baggott http://www.davidhenderson.com/2008/06/19/corporate-blogs-the-realities-and-purpose/#comment-1259 Chris Baggott Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:44:24 +0000 http://www.davidhenderson.com/blog/?p=247#comment-1259 I think one needs to consider the overall realistic goals of Corporate Blogging. It's one thing to be a giant brand, but what are the right strategies for the other 20 million U.S. Businesses that are not in the fortune 500. Business need to have measurable and achievable goals for every activity they engage in. We encourage our clients to focus first on search engine optimization, new visitors and engagement. Blogs (yes for the most part it's never a good idea to only have one) should have the same responsibility as any other web page. Pull visitors and hopefully convert them to the next step in the relationship. Blogs are perfect in this role when you engage your employees and focus blog topics on the keywords that drive your business. Richard Edelman says that employee bloggers are 5 times more credible than C-level bloggers. And don't use 'traction' as a benchmark. Most Corporate Blog visitors will never be back. With all due respect to Dell...why would I 'follow' a Dell blog as a normal person? I have a problem or a need, I make my search using any of thousands of possible keyword phrases. hopefully I hit a blog post that matches my search intent, written by a great, passionate and smart employee that compels me to take the next step in the relationship. But I'm not subscribing...like any page, you have one shot to get me to the next step. Best, Chris Baggott CEO Compendium Blogware www.compendiumblogware.com I think one needs to consider the overall realistic goals of Corporate Blogging. It’s one thing to be a giant brand, but what are the right strategies for the other 20 million U.S. Businesses that are not in the fortune 500.

Business need to have measurable and achievable goals for every activity they engage in. We encourage our clients to focus first on search engine optimization, new visitors and engagement.

Blogs (yes for the most part it’s never a good idea to only have one) should have the same responsibility as any other web page. Pull visitors and hopefully convert them to the next step in the relationship.

Blogs are perfect in this role when you engage your employees and focus blog topics on the keywords that drive your business.

Richard Edelman says that employee bloggers are 5 times more credible than C-level bloggers.

And don’t use ‘traction’ as a benchmark. Most Corporate Blog visitors will never be back. With all due respect to Dell…why would I ‘follow’ a Dell blog as a normal person? I have a problem or a need, I make my search using any of thousands of possible keyword phrases.

hopefully I hit a blog post that matches my search intent, written by a great, passionate and smart employee that compels me to take the next step in the relationship. But I’m not subscribing…like any page, you have one shot to get me to the next step.

Best,

Chris Baggott
CEO
Compendium Blogware
http://www.compendiumblogware.com

]]> By: David Henderson http://www.davidhenderson.com/2008/06/19/corporate-blogs-the-realities-and-purpose/#comment-1252 David Henderson Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:01:02 +0000 http://www.davidhenderson.com/blog/?p=247#comment-1252 Lionel, Sincerest thanks for your comments. Much appreciated. I applaud what Dell is doing with its blog but I would disagree with you about digger deeper. Quite the contrary, the company’s work at candor and transparency should immediately shine forth to any visitor. That said … keep up the good work. The fact that you are working on these issues says a lot. David Lionel,
Sincerest thanks for your comments. Much appreciated. I applaud what Dell is doing with its blog but I would disagree with you about digger deeper. Quite the contrary, the company’s work at candor and transparency should immediately shine forth to any visitor.
That said … keep up the good work. The fact that you are working on these issues says a lot.
David

]]> By: Lionel Menchaca http://www.davidhenderson.com/2008/06/19/corporate-blogs-the-realities-and-purpose/#comment-1250 Lionel Menchaca Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:52:54 +0000 http://www.davidhenderson.com/blog/?p=247#comment-1250 David: I appreciate your perspective and will spend some time looking at Outpost Worldwide to learn how we can improve overall. I also couldn't agree more about the # of comments being a key indicator since good blogs should be about conversations. That said, I would encourage you to dig a little deeper. While I know we can continue to improve, our candor and transparency is part of the reason we've received recognition overall. We've used the blog to have some tough discussions about product issues that affect our customers. And lots of those posts have many comments. Some, even thousands. For examples of the kind of posts I'm talking about, take a look at the What You Need to Know category: http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/tags/What+You+Need+To+Know/default.aspx As far as content, I try to balance it between three things 1) Content ideas from Dell bloggers 2) Blog posts dictated by comments from Direct2Dell readers and 3) Content that is driven by the what we're hearing from our customers online outside of Dell. No question #2 and #3 should be the emphasis, and that sometimes I'm off on that balance. Thanks, Lionel Menchaca Chief Blogger, Dell Inc. David: I appreciate your perspective and will spend some time looking at Outpost Worldwide to learn how we can improve overall.

I also couldn’t agree more about the # of comments being a key indicator since good blogs should be about conversations.

That said, I would encourage you to dig a little deeper. While I know we can continue to improve, our candor and transparency is part of the reason we’ve received recognition overall. We’ve used the blog to have some tough discussions about product issues that affect our customers. And lots of those posts have many comments. Some, even thousands. For examples of the kind of posts I’m talking about, take a look at the What You Need to Know category: http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/tags/What+You+Need+To+Know/default.aspx

As far as content, I try to balance it between three things 1) Content ideas from Dell bloggers 2) Blog posts dictated by comments from Direct2Dell readers and 3) Content that is driven by the what we’re hearing from our customers online outside of Dell. No question #2 and #3 should be the emphasis, and that sometimes I’m off on that balance.

Thanks,

Lionel Menchaca
Chief Blogger, Dell Inc.

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