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Introduction to blogging

An introduction to corporate blogging

In these days of instant communication, your customers can talk to each other a million times quicker than you can get a press release together. Because of this, it's vital that any business sets up a corporate blog.

Just like any other kind of blog, a corporate blog will be a regularly updated feed of news and interesting stories from a particular company. Whether it's announcing new client wins, excellent sales figures or a conference you'll be attending, a corporate blog is a great way to ensure your customers and clients are kept aware of what you can offer them and how they can benefit from your services.

Microsoft employee Robert Scoble was one of the first corporate bloggers to come to the world's attention. His frank and honest reportings of the dealings inside the company have helped break down many of the stereotypes people had of Microsoft as being an uncaring arrogant goliath of a corporation, despite not being officially sanctioned by Bill Gates.

One of the biggest corporate blogs in the world is the Google blog. This not only reports new developments, but responds to criticism of the search giant and gives the Google side of things instantly, days quicker than if they relied on press releases or journalist reporting of developments.

Corporate bloggers need to be careful, however. The blog can't be misused as another advertising platform, or the blogosphere (the blogging community) won't take too kindly to it. Leave the sales pitch at home, and let your real personality shine through.

If you post hundreds of responses to your announcement of a new microwave saying how great it is, when actually most of the first batch are faulty, your readers will notice this and spread bad word of mouth about your company far quicker than you can stem it.

On the other hand, if you go online to announce you have a great product but unfortunately the first batch has a fault, there is a good chance users will respect your honesty and be more likely to believe you when you tell them a product is great in the future.

A corporate blog is a great way to handle crisis management. It allows you to set the record straight on any problem issues and immediately get your side of the story into the public domain.

Finally, a great reason to set up a corporate blog is that it can provide effective PR at a fraction of traditional agency costs. Bloggers and their readers talk to each other, and if a great product or idea is posted on your blog, you can be sure the blogosphere will be talking about it soon and linking their blog to yours. If referrals from word of mouth are the most profitable form of customer acquisition, then a corporate blog that provides more than just advertising could be the best PR investment you can make.

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