Corporate Blogging: A Tiny Revolution for Managers

Wind surfing on Tel Aviv beach, another revolution that not many take seriously / © 2009

Blogging is not fully a corporate practice yet. It is not clear why precisely. Some think it's simply a matter of use, the shift to writing by corporate workers has not taken place yet. In the technology world (programming, project management) there are a few spots of strong blog use. Like other communication tools, blogs have a certain look but it takes time and some experimentation to get an idea on how to use them. In a recent visit to a financial services company I was told:

"we are too conservative for blogging, the management is not going to approve running articles in the open. Even newsletters to customers have to be approved by the managing director and a legal committee."
A sales director in a diamond wholesaler said: "you have to show me a really slick - high quality blog, we are selling diamonds here. What can I do with a blog I sell really well on the phone. I have a really great package, how do I show it off... oh, can you tell me how to make the web site a little better..."

These questions or "excuses" may sound disturbing some people, how can companies and managers ignore the whole WEB2.0 revolution? Well, they are not ignoring anything from their perspective. If you are in a mode of doing paper brochures and going to trade shows (diamond industry practice) you may feel that keeping that form of communication going is crucial. It may seems like a blog will not serve the traditional customer. Traditional business opinions feels a little like "we are having a revolution and nobody came" (an old saying from the 1960s). There is more to it. Once you dig deeper it turns out to be a matter of priority, strategy, tactics and a bit of ignorance. Not much ignorance I would add. But blogging is truly a revolution to some who just can't see how it works.

From seeing people who don't "get it" over and over again, ask yourself: "am I missing the revolution?" If you are, find out if you want to join or stay behind for now. In some cases where the markets are soft and you think that starting a new way of communication may harm your business, try to see examples in your own business sector. The stock brokers in the 1990s didn't think that Schawb and eTrade were going to change their work that much. Today we see how that world has changed completely. Discount broker or full service brokers on the phone simply lost most of their market (95% and more). This is just one example (book retailing and Amazon, recruiting and Monster.) If you do not use new communication tools like blogging you may be missing the most effective and sexy way to communicate today. The same goes for social networks (My Space, Twitter, Face Book, Linked In).

NEXT: how to find your audience? What is involved in EXPERIMENTATION