Making Corporate Blogging Credible

Most blogs are personal. Blogging’s beginnings are closely
associated with personal sites such as livejournal. Thus, blogs
have tended to center around a single personality, and that
person's emphases and interests. But as more and more people
come to understand the power of a blog for leveraging client
interest, that trend is changing. Corporations in particular now
are taking part in the blogging scene, given that in many cases
companies with blogs tend to attract half again as much traffic
as sites without them.

Still, there is a sense of cynicism about corporations in the
world. The greedy advertisers, the soulless profiteers — these
images tend to stick with people even when they aren't
necessarily appropriate. Corporate blogs need to stop catering to
this mindset, as well. Blogging is about communication. It is a
dynamic medium. (That’s why blogging software comes with a
comments function.) Yet so many corporations just use it as
another type of newsletter or circular, not really taking
advantage of the chance to break out and take advantage of the
blogging ethos the way it was intended. So what are some ways a
corporation can make its blog more credible?

First, Do No Advertising

Specifically, a blog should avoid the trap of trying to directly
market things. Announcements must be limited to the main site,
and advertisements are for the marketing department. The blog is
about communication with the readers — readers who are tired of
constantly being marketed to. Keep the direct marketing out of
the blog.

This isn't to say you must be silent about big projects. If your
company gets a hot new app or is able to offer a really big new
consumer service, it would make no sense to go utterly quiet
about it. However, a blog is a tool for commentary as much as it
is a presentation. Provide analysis, not advertisements. Explain
a specific thing you find worthwhile about the new tool rather
than regurgitating promotional materials. Share a story about
last year's corporate retreat and the effect it had. As a rule
of thumb, give your readers something to discuss rather than
something that reads like an announcement.

Stay on Message

Personal blogs can sometimes get away with scattered topics, but
a corporate blog needs to establish some editorial guidelines.
People come to a corporate blog for messages and discussion about
the products and services the corporation is providing. A
computer programming blog shouldn't diverge too far afield, and
a blog focusing on luxury lifestyles should always have content
about high-class homes and parties.

Be Personal

This might seem like it clashes with the previous point, but in
reality the two work together quite well. Once you have a message
to stay on topic about, then you can focus on developing a
distinct personality within that message. This is a large part of
developing the conversation with your readers, for a number of
reasons.

Let's take our luxury lifestyles blog. We’ll assume it has two
regular contributors and one monthly correspondent. The content
is very clearly defined; contributors Allan and Becca must
consistently talk about fine living from the perspective of
luxury homes, and the correspondent covers social events. Within
these guidelines, however, is room aplenty for specialization.
Allan might have a passion for kitchen design and the ways it can
make fine living so enjoyable, while Becca could have an abiding
interest in architectural layout and the way it affects people's
quality of life. The social events writer probably has a passion
as well, like a desire to focus on parties more than fundraisers.
These areas of specialty allow them to let their own
personalities shine through while still adhering to the editorial
mandate of the blog.

Prepare to Talk

As mentioned repeatedly, blogging is about eliciting commentary,
and this will include comments of every stripe. You'll receive
enthusiastic praise, well-reasoned criticism, insightful asides
and more than your fair share of trolls, spam bots and the like.

This is why it is important to make an actual policy for comments
that will be published on your blog. Having a policy in place
ahead of time is a good way to avoid the criticisms and missteps
that often plague bloggers unused to the, shall we say, frank
commentary that the web can provide.

The best default is toward free speech. Allow people to comment
mostly freely, within some clearly defined guidelines. Patent
“trolling,” such as posts that say genuinely hateful or bigoted
things or are intended simply to start an argument can be safely
moderated away. However, allow people to post disagreements and
disputes, and make it a point to respond directly to these. In
fact, give disputes higher priority for comment, since responding
to your detractors politely and clearly can give you a measure of
credibility that simply sharing information with your admirers
will not. That said, do not neglect your fan base either — show
them you care about their interests by responding to their
thoughts, as well.

Some Final Thoughts

Blogging is not a science — it is much more of an art. Sometimes
it works, sometimes it does not, and all too often it goes off
into strange places we weren't prepared for. Give some thought
to this, and accept that a little oddness is the price of working
on the web. Be willing to relax and let your personality shine
through, and you should be fine.