Insights

Creating a Corporate Blog People Want to Read

While many of the tips on blog resource sites concentrate on ?personal blogging?, many can be transferred to a more business-minded blog.

Yet what about corporate blogs, where many of the tips given might not apply, or come up against everyone?s favourite, the?Red Tape Roadblock?

Can generic tips apply to more organizational blogs?

Yes and no ? depending on the company in question, and their willingness to experiment. Here are some ideas for those that might be willing to look at how their organization could use a blog.

Work Around the Legal Blocks

One of the biggest complaints I hear about blogs for organizations and enterprise is that the number of legal hoops they have to go through, just to get a post approved, means it?s not worthwhile to pursue.

By the time the approval comes, it?s too late to miss a hot time for a particular story, or opportunity. Fair enough ? but if you?re missing out on a lead generation or business opportunity because legal is syphoning you, perhaps you have bigger company issues than jumping on a trend?

Organizations don?t always need to write things where legal minefields are visible. There are way more things to write about, that can receive instantaneous approval (if any is needed). These could include:

Loyal customer or preferred client showcase / thank-you.
Highlighting your great team.
How your company came into existence.
Cool innovations in your market that aren?t necessarily from you.

These are just some suggestions, but each offer a way to have continuous content without waiting for a dozen rounds of approval.

Use Video and Education

People are visual creatures. We like to see things, as opposed to just reading about them. So why do so many businesses not use video as part of their blogging strategy?

The great thing with video is that you don?t even need to have someone in front of the camera (although offering a face to the company is always a great way of humanizing it).

Video also makes it easy to offer an educational portion to your blog ? how to use your online purchasing system, for example, or how to put together one of your products, as opposed to a fifty page manual.

The opportunities with video blogging for businesses is huge, and it doesn?t even have to be top-notch production. You can get a great set-up ? camera, tripod, external mics, etc ? for under $1,000, which in the grand scheme of things isn?t that much.

Allow Honesty

The reason social media is so popular with customers is because it allows a greater connection between them and the brands they choose to connect with.

Connect well, and the potential for lead generation and sales ? as well as brand loyalty ? is palpable.

Another reason social media is so popular is one word ? honesty. There?s nowhere to hide online, and this is encouraging businesses to be better at how they deal with customer queries, issues and more.

Blogging?s just another facet of social media ? so use it as such, and try and be honest in your blogging.

Use it to admit to mistakes made by your company and how you aim to rectify.
Correct false news stories and present the facts to back your point(s) up.
Use everyday grammar as opposed to techy business talk, or creative talk (unless that?s specifically your audience).
Accept criticism of posts, and reply professionally and honestly, accepting the critiques if they?re valid.

Again, these are just some of the ways you can make your corporate blog more interesting.

You could also share examples of how you help in the community; or support local charities; or encourage guest posts from your customers about their experience with you (although this may come under legal, for obvious reasons).

The point is, there?s a lot you can do with a corporate blog to stop it being just another dull news site. And you might just be pleasantly surprised how well your customers ? existing and potential ? respond to a non-dull approach.

How about you? If you?re a corporate blogger, what have you found that works? Or, if you?re a reader, what would you like to see more of in a corporate blog?

image:?maxymedia

Something Old, Something New, Something Blue

Hey there! So I really wanted to add the Something Borrowed option too, but couldn’t think of anything, so the three in the title will have to do. So…

It’s been a little quiet here last week, since Kevin Green’s great guest post about LinkedIn (and if you haven’t read it yet, you’re missing a great ongoing discussion in the comments). But there’s a good reason for that, which is where the Something New and Something Old part comes in. And yes, I’m the something old part in the image at the start of this post…

Last Thursday, February 2nd at 11.52am, my wife Jacki gave birth to our second child, this time a daughter to join her brother Ewan, who showed his excitement at the news by offering back-up vocals to his favourite Thomas the Tank song.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1tLP0KKeu8[/youtube].

Salem McKellan Brown weighed in at 6lbs and 15oz, and both mama and daughter are well (they came home on Saturday morning). She’s a cute little tyke, and very wriggly – fun when it comes to diaper time!

So, obviously, my energies have been elsewhere. Normal service will be resumed shortly. In the meantime, you can hop over to Sarah Robinson’s blog where I guest as part of her 28 Days… series. This month, she’s looking at how you can encourage fierce loyalty from your community.

My post is titled If You Want Fierce Loyalty, You Need to Be Fiercely Loyal First. I kind of cuss a few times and talk about dog poo. Hence the Something Blue reference. Check it out if you have time, and make sure to check the rest of the series out too, there are some wicked smart people in it.

Cheers, have a great week and see you soon!

Collaborative Marketing and the Natural Progression to Real Customer Satisfaction

I?ve been thinking a lot about collaborative marketing lately, and how we can turn co-existing businesses?more into partners and less about missed opportunities. I think there?s a great untapped market for someone that really wants to grab collaborative marketing and run with it.

For example ? imagine you?re going on a trip. You have to fly to get there, so there are a few processes you need to go through before, during and after:

Buying your ticket.
Driving to the airport.
In-flight activities.
Hotel or accommodation when you land.
Rental car.

These are just the basics ? I?m sure there are a lot more depending on what your individual needs are.

Now.

Instead of doing this all separately, what if there was some form of collaborative marketing behind it to make your life easier? I don?t know about you, but I know when my own life is made easy, I?m inclined to use the same service or product again. So.

Imagine if, when you buy your ticket (online or offline), the airline has a deal with all the major car hire firms like Hertz, Enterprise, Avis, etc. So, you buy your ticket and you have an option to hire your car at the same time. The rental firm then comes out and drops your car off. Or, better still, the airliner has a deal with airport cab firms to pick you up and take you to your flight.

Now, let?s also say that when you?re buying your ticket, you have the option of logging onto the booking site via Facebook Connect. If you?ve filled out your Movies and Music preferences on Facebook, the airline sees this. They then load this information into the media options available to your flight using something like iTunes. You can then watch your type of movies (if there?s a screen on the back of the seat in front of you), or your favourite music via an iTunes console.

With regards the hotel or accommodation, if you have to look after it and your company isn?t paying for it, again the airline has a partnership with hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts and more, and not just the big ones but of all sizes. You fill out a short cheat sheet when buying your ticket and the three most suitable?accommodations pop up.

And the rental firm that started it all off?

They?re there (obviously) at the other end. But what they?ve done when you booked initially is ask what type of trip you?re having, and?the kind of things you like to do when relaxing. So, when you pick up your car at the other side, the GPS is loaded with some destinations you might enjoy. And they?re tied in with local businesses that are part of the collaborative marketing approach of all the above.

Now, this is a pretty simple take on basic marketing 101. Yet, as an example of true collaborative marketing, it?s a start.

But it’s got to be?better than a non-starter, no?

image: Ranjith Shenoy

The Only Thing That’s Dead Is Your Crappy “Everything Is Dead” Meme

I?m a little tired. Not physically. I could always do with a little more sleep, but then so can everyone.

No.

I?m more tired about the constant ?The End of PR?, ?The End of?Marketing?, ?The End of Print? and ?The End of Advertising? missives? that seem to be flying about at the minute.

I can?t open my email subscriptions without the latest link shouting?out ?The end of?. Where now for Industry X??.

I?m an avid blog reader?and use Alltop regularly?to find interesting stories from my industry and beyond. Yet it seems?that there?s an ?End of?? blog post for every *normal* one at the?minute.

Why?

Why do we have to bang the nails into the coffin of industries that?are still very much alive? Why do we have to look at an industry that?s been around for years as ?ending?, just because there are new tools?available? Is there really such a thing as an ending, anyway?

End or Mend?

Instead of saying an industry is ending, how about we say it?s?mending instead? If an industry is really viewed as being broken, should?we be closing the door on it or helping it back on its feet?

If your pet breaks its leg in an accident, do you immediately want to? put it to sleep or do you love it back to health? If you break the?point on your trusty pencil, do you sharpen it or throw it in the bin??Even when that pencil eventually writes its last word, you don?t stop using pencils ? you start afresh. But it?s still with the same type of?pencil.

When you?ve taken your last step on a particular journey, it doesn?t mean your travels are over ? it simply means there?s a new journey to? begin.

It?s easy to say something is finished ? you don?t have to worry?about it anymore as it heads for that big garbage bag of irrelevance.?The harder part?is making irrelevant into relevant.

It?s not easy, but if there are solid enough foundations already there, isn?t it better than starting again?

image: Black Glenn