Blogging 101 Resources

Been collecting these for a week or so.

• Ran across this nifty page on Robert's Echo blog. Includes everything from the "origin" of blogs, stats on blog readership, recommended PR blogs, link to a Forrester Research executive summary, lists of internal and external corporate blogs and more.

• Another page with all things blog (including links to RSS tutorials and basic blog definitions) penned by the Singapore-based Rambling Librarian.

• Comprehensive list from Dave Taylor's Intuitive Life blog with links to other articles.

• 101 writing tips from Kari Chisholm on writing a thought leadership blog. (He writes a grassroots advocacy blog.)

Update on IABC blogging panel

I'm delighted to report that Gary Grates, VP Corporate Communications, North America for General Motors has accepted my invite to be the third panelist on IABC's corporate blogging panel on June 27, 2005. (Here is the description of the session, part of IABC's international annual conference in Washington DC.) Gary, who is known as a "thought leader" on change management and effective employee-management relations, is a regular contributor to GM's Fastlane blog. The other two panelists are Paul Rosenfeld, GM of Intuit's QuickBooks Online Edition and Kevin Holland, VP Communications of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America and the force behind ACCABuzz.

BlogWrite as a career resource

Just found this blog listed on the WashingtonPost.com in a section on News & Advice for Careers. Cool, huh?! Reinforces my assertion that good blogging is good writing. And a way to make yourself stand out, either in your current job or if you're on the prowl for a new opportunity.

Moderating IABC blog panel on June 27, 2005

Cool news. I've been asked to moderate a panel on corporate blogging for IABC's annual conference in Washington D.C. on June 27, 2005. I've invited Paul Rosenfeld, GM of Intuit's QuickBooks Online Edition and the force behind QuickBooks Online blog, along with Kevin Holland, VP Communications of Air Conditioning Contractors of America and creator of the ACCABuzz blog to join me. To round out the panel I've invited one of the top-dog bloggers for GM's Fastlane blog (not Bob Lutz but someone who should be even better because of his inside perspective). Waiting to hear back.

Here's what IABC chairman Warren Bickford says  about our event in his new blog. He mentions it in the same breath as the announcement that Mark Hurd,  HP's new CEO, will be the plenary speaker. Hey, business blogging is going big time! More TK...

Blogs as big as the printing press, according to BusinessWeek

Blogs Will Change Your Business says the lastest issue of BusinessWeek. A great read (written in chronological blog format) with good  resources and links. Don't miss the sidebars: 6 Tips for Corporate Bloggers, Blogging: A Primer, and Stonyfield Farm's Blog Culture.

Intuit Case Study: All Action, No Talk for QuickBooks Online blog

Paul Rosenfeld, General Manager of Intuit’s QuickBooks Online, and his team had a great idea: why not start a blog to communicate with – and learn from - their 35,000 customers?

Paul is an informal kind of guy. A staff member suggested the blog one sunny Friday in Mountain View, CA. Paul said, "Why not." When he came in on Monday, lo and behold, the staffer had created a QuickBooks Online blog using TypePad. It was customized with the green header of the QuickBooks Online product page but wasn’t an exact replica.

“Hey,” Paul said. “This is great. Let’s go with it!”  Or something to that effect. The point, as he puts it, was to just start. (And by hosting the blog externally, he didn't have to get on corporate IT's lengthy action list.)

More Action / Less Talk
”Everyone (in big companies) thinks in terms of PowerPoint and big projects and lots of money. Our blog is an example of a lot of action and very little talking,” he said in an interview. “We’re very proud of it. It’s the first blog at Intuit.” (One other exists, for TurboTax, but it’s only open to registered users.)

Here’s a look at how Rosenfeld has developed the QuickBooks Online blog with the help of a handful of staffers, what they write about and lessons learned for other corporate managers harboring secret thoughts of blogging…

Bob Lutz veers close to earnings drop in his Fastlane blog

Well I'd say Bob Lutz is veering pretty darn close to mentioning GM's earnings drop in his latest post on  a re-shuffling of GM's product plans. So ha... to those of you who say he can't talk about the "real news" at GM because the focus of his Fastlane blog is solely cars. Click this link and then scroll down to read the comments in response to my earlier post: GM & Boeing: Corporate Tell-It-Not Blogs.  Looks like Lutz is pretty skillfully discussing both cars and GM's bottom line in his latest post. Go, Bob...

Sensible template for Corporate Blogging Guidelines

Looking for a template you can copy or use as a starting point to create guidelines for employee blogs? You might start with Michael Hyatt's Corporate Blogging Rules. He created them for employees of  Thomas Nelson Publishers. (Michael is COO.) They sound sensible and lawyerly. Of note, Thomas Nelson has created a BOC (blog oversight committee) and is encouraging employees to blog. The rules underlie the launch of the company's blog aggregator site. Note that Microsoft has an aggregator page featuring the latest postings from 1,443 employee blogs. I suppose aggregating blogs, even within your own company, is a bit like herding cats. But it does send a clear signal that an employee's blog, however independent in voice and spirit, represents your company at some level.

GM & Boeing: Corporate "Tell-It-Not" Blogs

See update: Bob Lutz veers close to mentioning earnings drop

Two of the CEO Thought Leadership blogs I feature on this blog (see right-hand column) have neglected to mention the real dirt at their companies recently. Bottom line in blogging... if you don't "tell it like it is" then effectively you're stonewalling and "telling it not." You just can't leave high profile news about your company out of a corporate blog. New Boeing blogger Randy Baseler (VP Marketing) gets a demerit for skipping right over the recent scandal involving Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher who stepped down March 7, 2005 after admitting an affair with a subordinate. High profile GM blogger Bob Lutz doesn't say a word about his company's big news this week: an 80% cut in GM's earnings forecast for this year. Guys, if you want to play in the blogosphere you gotta play by the rules! Speak the truth or something close to it. As in: "Yeah, I'm down about our earnings forecast but let me tell you what brightens my day: the 93 comments on my post about our new Chevy Cobalt... " At least say something!! An article on the front page of today's Washington Post comments on this evasive tendency: More PR Than No-Holds-Barred on Bosses' Corporate Blogs.

Should you take down a blog post?

Over at Robert Scoble and Shel Israel's The Red Couch they're talking about whether you should remove a blog post once it's up. I usually think in terms of "self censorship" (i.e. I don't like something after I've written it and want to change it). But they're referring to a company asking an employee to remove a post deemed "inappropriate" in some way. Which begs the question of developing Corporate Blogging Guidelines. Interesting discussion. Waddya think?? When I say "click that comment" link below I mean it.

Note the string of posts about this topic on The Red Couch. See here and here.

Microsoft's Employee Guidelines for Successful Blogging

Microsoft's Lenn Pryor (Robert Scoble's boss) is on stage right now at the BBS 2005 and speaking on "Corporate Blogging: Strategy and Policy." I was really struck by several things... Lenn comes across as super smart but not stuck up; he's relaxed and engaging; he's marvelously articulate. And so is Robert Scoble. Is this some personality profile they breed at Microsoft? Anyway, read my more-or-less verbatim transcription below of what Lenn said about employee guidelines for blogging. They sound simple... but they're the result of a lot of thought. Oh, and if you haven't already read it, here's a related resource: Robert Scoble's Corporate Weblog Manifesto.

Lenn: "Microsoft has 1,200 bloggers out of 55,000 employees. So there’s bound to be a 'transgression' or a mistake in those words. But Microsoft has a way of dealing with that. We've developed a set of guidelines, working with our legal department."

BUT, he emphasizes, although they're not in Microsoft's official Employee Handbook, the rules are "manageable and understandable... They are just guidelines for being a successful blogger."

Microsoft's Guidelines for Successful Blogging

1. In short… be smart

Interjects Robert Scoble: "This means... don't piss off your boss!"

"We hire adults," says Pryor. "And we expect them to behave that way."

2. Respect existing confidentiality agreements

3. Don’t break news when you’re not supposed to (i.e. reveal confidential info)

Lenn: "Don’t leak something about a new product using your blog. If it causes a 10-point drop in the share price then you’ve made a big goof." (Read: you're fired!)

"Make friends with your corporate communications department and learn how to work with them. It’s their job to break news; not yours."

How often is often enough?

After the question, "Er, what is a blog?" the 2nd most-oft asked question I get is, "I barely have time as it is to a) publish an e-newsletter or ezine b) maintain my Web site c) write anything coherent... how in heck will I find time to blog and often would I have to do it?" The answer... not that often. But several times a month at a minimum. If you've launched a blog and are not posting new entries once a week or so, you're not blogging enough. The name of the game is fresh. Fresh content, fresh ideas, fresh ways of thinking, fresh links. So, regretfully, I've de-listed David Allen from my list (see right) of Thought Leadership Blogs. Allen is author of Getting Things Done and a sought-after productivity consultant. He gives workshops to Fortune 500 companies as well as individual professionals. Yeah, I actually check my own listings to make sure my "picks" are good examples. If you're not, you're off the list. Sorry...  Here's Allen's blog, which  he hasn't updated since Oct. 31st.

Don't blog like this

PRWeb is a nifty service for distributing your press releases online. But the good folks behind it need a blogging lesson. I'm going to hold up their latest post (it's old too... nothing new since Nov. 4, 2004) as an example of how & what not to write in a business blog:

"PRWeb Founder David McInnis and Director of Stategic Channels Mick Jolly will host a booth at the WebmasterWorld’s World Search Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event will take place on November 16th through the 18th and will be held at the beautiful Las Vegas Convention Center.

If you are in Las Vegas for business and fun come by and say hello. We would love to meet you.

If you are like us you will enjoy all that is taking place during the show as well as the after hours get togethers and other local entertainment.

P.S. If you can’t meet us there, stay tuned for future events."

Here's what's wrong with this blog entry:

• it's stiff
• not compelling
• prompts the "Who cares?" question
• it's a mini press release ("Hey, we'll be at a conference; come to our booth!")
• not believable (is the Las Vegas convention center really "beautiful"? If so, show us a photo)
• doesn't reveal anything "behind the scenes" (trade show booths are a dime a dozen; tell us what's special or different about yours. Do you have an interesting theme? Cool giveaways??
• yawn

You get the picture. Be specific, tell a story, give your readers the scoop, make us want to learn more about PRWeb...