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Advantages of Social Networking for Corporate Blogs

One of the first things that a new blogger learns when he or she joins the online world of blogging is to network, network, network. This mantra is heavily engrained into his business through other blogs, blogging manuals and books and by studying other highly successful blogs. It is a widely held belief that a blog (or any business for that matter) cannot be successful without deliberate and calculated formulas in marketing and connecting with customers. Corporate blogs, often by their very own definition, are maintained by senior levelers or any other upper level manager within the company who has a vested company interest and wholly understand the integral importance of effective networking. Since they are ultimately responsible for the content and tone of the blog, it would stand to reason that the blog’s writer or author must have some degree of maturity and responsibility.

If your company maintains a corporate blog, no doubt you’ve also joined or participated on social networking sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, StartUpNation, YouNoodle and a host of others. Social networking is an invaluable tool for existing businesses and new startups alike. The benefit that a business or entrepreneur can gain from being an active part of social networking sites can create phenomenal ROI (return on investment) of your time, talents and creativity that you place in your blog.

Seasoned bloggers understand the benefits of networking with their sites and visiting and commenting on other sites. They know that in order to ramp up their blog traffic and connect with other power-bloggers who aspire to high-profile status, they must find and network with other bloggers in their niche industries in business. And in addition to networking with other sites in your field of specialisation, providing solid, valuable content is even more important while networking. It would be very bad business for your blog if your readers found the content on your blog unsuitable or worst, boring.

New bloggers are often jaded by all the hype and buzz that abounds on the internet concerning social networking. Often as loners, new bloggers make the mistake of thinking that they can make a go of it alone and increase their own blog traffic. This most often happens with new bloggers who are new to internet marketing, social networking or the online world altogether. However they fail to realize that nothing could be farther from the truth.

Corporate blogs need traffic to thrive. They need readers in order to have a purpose and an audience with which to share their information. Therefore, if a corporate blog has aspirations of taking their blogs to the next level, they must first realize the inherent benefits of consistently maintaining a valuable, enriched blog that readers refer to over and over again. Hence, the need for social marketing. Here are some advantages of social networking for blogs:

1.) Join sites that complement your business’ purpose. If you sell a specialized product or service, find the social networking site that responds well to it. You don’t want to make the mistake of selling or advertising (perceived) useless products to a third party.

2.) Visit other blogs in your niche area on a daily basis. Read and comment on their blog. This is a sure-fire way to drive traffic to your blog.

3.) Write compelling, crafty content on your blog and website. People want not just content but valuable content. Be sure to update the blog daily (if it is of that compelling nature), but no less than three times a week.

What other reasons can you offer that are advantages for network blogs? Does your organization employ any of these strategies?

Lehman Brothers: Why Real Business Leaders Do CSR

The blogs are buzzing and the papers burning: not since Diana has some many column inches been created by so many journalists and commentators. In fact (whisper it quietly) it may even surpass Diana’s death.

Of course, I’m talking about Lehman Brothers collapsing into bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch (where I once gave seminars on Desktop Publishing!) being sold to Bank of America and … who knows what about to happen to AIG.

Bad days, everyone one agrees. There’s no more ostrich-head sticking in the sand, no more “Nah .. it’s just a bad squall, it’ll pass.” No, this time it’s serious.

“A seismic event” which is “testing where the failure point lies”, according to commentators on Radio Four’s flagship “Today” programme. Note that word: FAILURE. Not often spoken even by financial pessimists. [Read more…] about Lehman Brothers: Why Real Business Leaders Do CSR

5 Blogging Mistakes Made By Corporate Media Blogs

Corporate blogs are all the rage these days. Major corporations are finding that maintaining corporate blogs are a valuable and effective marketing tool for corporations. However, even in the frenzy and flurry of escalating their blogs to the top of the list, corporate media blogs can often fail to tweak areas that need attention or perhaps even elimination. The mechanics of blogging require an observance of many nuances, a few to include a connection with readers, substantive content and being on point in the content. With a myriad of factors for a corporate media blog to consider, which can often be even worrisome, it is imperative that the blog establishes itself firmly in its respective business industry and sets the tone for it to be perceived as authorities on their blog topic. With that, why then do some blogs struggle to maintain an effective corporate blog presence? Following is a list of 5 major mistakes that corporate media blogs make that could potentially hinder and almost halt their growth:

1. No clear idea of what the blog is about.

Blogs that have topics, ideas and subjects that are all across the board are confusing and discouraging to its readers, if they manage to keep any. Although the About Us page of the blog should be sufficient enough for readers to understand what the blog’s topic is about, more often corporate blogs may find themselves touching on a myriad of topics that relate to the corporation, but no clear cut angle on what the blog itself is focusing on. More than simply filling out the About Us page, corporate blogs should make a point to convey their mission and objective to their readers in a way that dismisses any fog on what their focus is.

2. Failure to really “connect” with the readers.

Corporate blogs have a reputation sometimes for being “stale” or “dry.” This can happen with corporate blogs when they have a talk at them approach rather than a talk to them approach. Readers know the difference and can take offense to it, rightfully so. Connecting with your blog audience is defined by really listening to and interacting with the blog readers.

3. Not inviting or encouraging comments from readers.

Media blogs give opinions and slants on news and information from their perspective. But, the corporate’s opinion is not the only one there is. The reader’s have a very lively opinion on particular topics, and many of them very passionate in their opinions. When you invite readers to share their thoughts in a professional, non-threatening matter, you are encouraging readers subscriptions through participation. This can turn into referrals, RSS feeds subscribers, forum activity and repeat readers.

4. Being “stuck” in a topic or subject.

Like #1 states, yes, a blog should be focused on a particular subject or topic. However, a blog can pigeon-hole itself and become mundane if it failes to excite or motivate the readers. It can motivate readers by periodically straying from the main topic of discussion. In other words, it is sometimes beneficial and highly encouraged for blogs to shake things up a bit by blogging on topics outside or parallel to its main focus. This doesn’t mean that your blog has dual personalities, but that it is in fact attuned to changes outside of its own world and has the ability to draw in readers based on this.

5. Having a “one blog” voice.

The CEO is quite special, but there are others within the corporation who have a voice as well. Many corporate blogs make this mistake of only letting the executive team blog and overlooking the everyday employee who has something to share. This is where there is a plethora of good information. Consider allowing senior team leaders or stellar employees have a guest blogging spot or even a feature page (perhaps) on the blog. Then, sit back and watch the blog develop a life of its own…

What are some things that your corporate blog does that you’d like to change? What can you do to make your media blog more effective for your company?

Other blogs on blogging mistakes:

Top Rank Blog

Corporate Blogging Essentials

Krishnade

Verizon Diversifies Its Market Presence To Latina and Hispanic Communities

Cultural diversification in the workplace community is an exciting issue for businesses as it helps the business in developing a more personal touch. Businesses that have a strong cultural diversification department and systems in place to ensure fairness are more apt to enjoy long-term business success. Many companies who reach out to its customer base are offering products or services to enhance their existing revenue base. However, companies like Verizon make measureable goals to reach customers through their human resources by employing people of varying cultures, backgrounds and racial groups.

Just recently, Verizon made headline news because of their commitment to racial and ethnic diversity in their hiring practices. Because of this, Verizon has been listed as one of several businesses who stand out in making a difference in ethnic and diverse corporate communities.

Hispanic Business Magazine, for the fourth consecutive year, has named Verizon to the Top 15 of its Diversity Elite 60, an annual list determined by more than 30 variables that measure companies’ commitments to Hispanic hiring, promotion, marketing, philanthropy and supplier diversity.

What is notable about Verizon is their commitment to corporate diversity and their focus in hiring varying racial and gender specific people, in an effort to show that they are in fact culturally aware.

At Verizon, women and people of color constitute nearly 60 percent of the workforce and 44 percent of the company’s top management team. Partnerships with colleges and universities, as well as with professional and community-based organizations, serve as the cornerstone of Verizon’s recruitment strategy.

Companies who are naturally focused on diversity within their business are noticed almost immediately by consumers who want to do business with companies that are considered “politically correct.” In other words, companies that take an interest in subjects that are perhaps not as mainstream as other topics are more likely to affect certain segments of the population and garner a share of that business. In Verizon’s case, because they are culturally diversified in their hiring practices, consumers notice and take note of this and often choose to do business with them based solely on that reason.

What else besides increased business can companies gain by being culturally sensitive? How does being diverse in hiring practices affect the mainstream? Do you think people automatically support diverse hiring practices or lean favorably towards those that do?

 Press Releases:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080911/nyth070.html?.v=101

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/verizon-ranked-among-best-companies/story.aspx?guid=%7B8A2A06C6-83BA-40D1-B22B-953FC65D247F%7D&dist=hppr 

http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-releases/verizon/2008/verizon-ranked-among-best.html

How To Get Your Corporate Blog On “The List”

Blogging is a sort of weird animal. You either get it or you don’t. New blogs on new subjects and topics are being added to a growing list of blogs every single day. With so much information to share in each individual blog, it can be hard for the average reader to decide which blog to visit, why and what is it that is valuable to him or her. A blog’s purpose is to share, entertain, inform or educate. A blogger has about 20 seconds to convince the reader to stay, read the entire article through and perhaps even visit again. If the blog writer loses them, he may have to work two to three times as hard next time to win them back. Add corporate blogging to the equation and the likelihood of visitor’s returning decreases dramatically. That’s because corporate blogs usually don’t give readers a good enough reason to come back.

Corporate blogging is often thought of to be “dry” or “boring” and its readers somewhat staunch with no sense of humor. Corporate blogs often share information of course, about its own self, what the corporation’s accomplishments are, what direction the corporation is going and how the corporation is going to achieve those goals. They may on occasion throw in a few humor lines or a story or two to lighten things up, but they stay on the side of caution and keep things narrowly focused on the business at hand, not giving in too often to personalities, politics or current events. In doing this, they can often be pegged as boring and dry. Is that really fair or accurate of all corporate blogs? Does your corporate blog fall into that trap?

There are some corporate blogs that get it and there are some, unfortunately, that do not. Those that get it are the ones who go beyond what their actual purpose is and provide more enlightenment, more information and more entertainment that what is called for. In other words, they are not boxed in to whatever the general thinking of them should be. Just because a corporate blog is spouting news about developments, technical issues and company information is no reason that the blog should lack luster, life and brightness. Every corporation that employs the use of blogs to act as a media relations source should consider using a myriad of bloggers to act as their voice. In other words, let the corporation’s personality shine through, illuminating their message through those that know the company best and can articulate it in their own words and personality. It’s like having company evangelists that can share your branding message in multiple ways.

Corporations should also not be afraid to let their company bloggers speak and blog on the company’s developments. Sure, corporations don’t want their employees loosely blogging and sharing private information, but corporations do want to get their message out in as many ways as possible and blogging is that way. When bloggers are allowed expression of speech and freedom of that expression, they can work wonders for your company. The only time to give pause to allowing bloggers freedom is when there are stifling management practices (that gives disgruntled bloggers fodder) and if there are any inexperienced employees who may not have the seasoned ability to write succinctly and accurately to your reader base. In this case, offsetting it with further training can prove to be the remedy.

Identify employees within your corporation that can blog professionally about what it is that your company does. Allow them the freedom to express themselves, your company and their developments openly, in a fun manner and on a routine basis. Don’t be afraid to let go of the reigns and relax a little. Your corporate blog will be better for as will your company’s blog for having a medium and an outlet to do so.

Later This Week: Part 2 On Getting On “The List” in Corporate Blogging

Hollywood Politics: Don’t Let Your Business Get “Hyped”

After a somewhat shocking political announcement on Friday morning of John McCain’s pick as his Vice-Presidential running mate, there was a flurry of blog posts and comments on the Internet with folks wondering what could Mr. McCain perhaps have been thinking when he selected Mrs. Palin. When Mr. McCain made his history-changing announcement, there were mixed reactions among the audience members. Perhaps what was most shocking was that his candidate was a female and a very young female for the political crowd. Although the announcement was to a group that consisted of Republicans, one could not help but notice that the crowd seemed ambivalent as McCain introduced Sarah Palin. There have been mixed, debatable commentaries online and offline about the young, Caucasian female who walked onto the stage, planked with her husband and four of her five children, one of which is a four month old infant with Down’s syndrome. Can she really help run the country?

When the Republican party made this announcement the other morning, some speculated whether or not it was a ploy to split the vote for the Democrats, attract displaced voters from Hillary Clinton’s campaign or just simply a political move to win a race. An announcement shocking at best, but when announcements like these are made, what are the intentions or the motives of the person making them? Are they interested simply in shock value or are they really trying to make a statement? Do they care what fallout results from their decisions or are they thinking about what effects this will have on their image in the short-term sphere of circumstances?

Companies who aim for shock value in their media relations campaign are only interested in short-term effects and immediate results. This type of media relations only attract and hold the attention of consumers and citizens who want instant gratification. Often, they don’t realize that a situation may be magnified for only their benefit and in an attempt to “wow” them, and the company will often go to great lengths to do so. However, after the energy has subsided and the facts are analyzed, most often what remains is an unflattering disappointment involving shaded, questionable facts and a few buzz words. Such was the case with John McCain’s announcement with Sarah Palin. John McCain made a decision involving a questionable candidate and shrouded it in the fact of his candidate being an anti-abortion, female mother of five who has experience in energy-subsidizing and whose son just joined the military. Per Mr. McCain, these are all good reasons why we should vote Republican on November 4th.

Avoiding political issues that cause eyebrows to raise are like avoiding getting caught in the rain; sometimes, it just happens. But for companies to successfully minimize issues that speak to their ability to make sound decisions, they must carefully analyze reasons for making certain decisions. They must also look the results that these decisions will have on their media image and if it will remain a part of their image for the future. If an organization doesn’t handle their image relations carefully from the onset, they are in danger of narrowly placing themselves into an image that can be detrimental to their company and ultimately to their bottom line. Consumers want to have a type of ‘buying faith’ in companies that they spend their money with and base their loyalties on. They want confidence in the product and in the corporation. It’s advantageous for these organizations to convince consumers that they are worthy of their loyalties and their business. It takes a while for businesses to establish this with customers, so steady wins the race. Success will come after a while and small periods of customer satisfaction. Don’t just tell the customer what you think they want to hear. Make promises believable and something the company can actually accomplish. Customers are watching and tabs are being taken. It’s best to save save the shock value for the Hollywood crowd.