Alex Cristache Blogsessive.com (Blog) QBKL.net (Design Studio) Corporate Blogging Guide About the author This is me I guess, Alex Cristache, a 29 year old fellow with more than 10 years of online experience gathered working for top Romanian web design, development and consultancy companies or as a freelancer, currently being the Managing Partner of the QBKL Media design studio. Looking back into my past, I’ve started as a junior web designer and worked my way up in ranks through senior web, print & logo designer, occasional copywriter, web & SEO consultant and project manager. While my main job was focused on design, I couldn't stay away from web development, and so, I’ve started working with PHP & MySQL. When WordPress was first released, I’ve instantly connected with this application, amazed with what can be accomplished by using it, how customizable it can get and the ease of use. So, here I am, a few years later, sharing my thoughts, experience and findings with you, friends and readers of my blog: Blogsessive.com. Special thanks... Go to Alina Popescu for her invaluable help with the translation and editing of this eBook. You can follow her PR blog over at http://WordsofaBrokenMirror.com or check out the website of her PR & Marketing agency: Mirror Communications. I would also like to thank Blogsessive’s readers who by supporting me in my blogging adventure made the publishing of this eBook possible. Last but not least, I thank you - the one who reads this guide - for your interest in learning, evolving and thus making the blogosphere a much more interesting place for all of us. Blogsessive.com’s Corporate Blogging Guide (by Alex Cristache) 1 Blogsessive.com - QBKL Media Contents 1. Introduction to Blogging 4 - 5 1.1. Blog, Blogging, Blogosphere 1.2. Corporate Blogging 2. Critical Questions Before Launching a Corporate Blog 7 - 9 2.1. Is the blog a necessity or just a whim? 2.2. Do you have the needed resources to launch and maintain a blog? 2.3 How does the online audience feel about your company? 2.3.1. Reactions in the blogosphere: Technorati 2.3.2. Reactions in the blogosphere: Google Blog Search 2.3.3. Reactions in the online press from your field 2.3.4. Quantifying the risk factor 2.4. Interpreting the answers 3. Setting up Goals and Blog Positioning 11 4. Types of Corporate Blogs 13 - 14 4.1. CEO blog 4.2. Entrepreneur blog 4.3. Multi-author company blog 4.4. Department blog 4.5. Employee’s blog 4.6. Product/Service blog 4.7. Human Resources blogs 5. Blog Editors & Editorial Policy 16 - 17 5.1. Criteria to help build the editorial team 5.2. PR department involvement 5.3. The blog’s tone 5.4. Content generation 6. Blogging Tips to Get You Started 19 - 20 7. Blog Performance Tracking Tools 22 - 23 8. Technical Aspects and Words of Advice 25 - 27 8.1. Choosing the blogging platform 8.2. Words of Advice Blogsessive.com’s Corporate Blogging Guide (by Alex Cristache) 2 Blogsessive.com - QBKL Media “With the abundance of information hitting our brains each minute, we have to filter everything right from the first contact. The first impression is vital. Take your time to rethink and possibly rewrite your headlines, maybe even reconsider your blog’s design & structure, the placement of different sections that could generate further traffic and more reading time.” Excerpt from “How to Improve Your Readers’ Perception” Blogsessive.com’s Corporate Blogging Guide (by Alex Cristache) 3 Blogsessive.com - QBKL Media 1. Introduction to Blogging When starting out, new bloggers often do one of these two major mistakes: they either consider blogging too easy and mostly an automated process, or think of it as a burden that most times doesn’t pay off. Well, my dear friends, blogging is neither too hard, nor too easy. Blogging is an exercise of your skills and talents, a process of constant learning and improvement. It may seem a tough process at first, but with dedicated attention it will become easier with each post you publish and promote. That being said, I offer you this guide to help you start your new blogging adventure with an ace in your sleeve. Let’s take it back to the basics! 1.1 Blog, Blogging, Blogosphere The term blog, contracted form of weblog, defines a certain type of website where texts, photos, audio or video content are published in chronological order, much like an online diary. The first blogs date back to 1993 when the term was first introduced, but they only started to be used more frequently in 1998 when the first blog community, Open Diary, appeared. The true hit of the online mainstream happened around 2002-2003, when the first blog reactions regarding the Iraq war were published and when Google acquired the Blogger.com platform, which allows any person with Internet access to create and maintain their own blog. The Blogosphere comprises all public blogs and is defined as a community based on the theory that all existing blogs are somehow interconnected, often through blogrolls or links inserted in their content. A blogroll is a list of links, commonly displayed in a blog’s sidebar. The links usually point to blogs the author deems relevant to the content of their own blog or simply wants to recommend to their readers. Therefore, through blogrolls, it is believed that any two blogs can be connected through one or more intermediary links. Blogs allow publishing content in a wide range of types and formats, and these types of content lead to a first classification of blogs: a. Classic blog – text content b. Photoblog – publishes photo content c. Videoblog – publishes video content d. Audioblog (podcast) – publishes audio content Blogsessive.com’s Corporate Blogging Guide (by Alex Cristache) 4 Blogsessive.com - QBKL Media Microblogs and tumbleblogs, both defined as blogs with extremely short entries, are two other blog formats gaining more and more popularity in the past few years. Regardless of information format, the online publishing of content through blog platforms is called blogging, and the author of a blog is called blogger. 1.2 Corporate blogging Once they have hit the spotlights, the blogs’ potential to communicate effectively was immediately noticed by companies. Initially seen as a mere tool to promote products and services, blogs gradually became part of a company’s brand. Aside from placing a name and a logo on them, blogs granted companies a persona they could be associated with. In short, they made them human. The corporate blog managed to break the barrier between the “inaccessible company” and its customers. The true value of a company is undoubtedly fueled by its employees’ individual values. But how exactly can these values be expressed? How can they be best presented to the world? Blogs allow companies to position their employees as industry leaders through the opinions they publish, through the breakthroughs shared on the blog, all in a human, personal form that eases communication with customers. A few companies that have successfully adopted the concept of blogs are: Adobe – http://blogs.adobe.com/ Microsoft – http://www.microsoft.com/communities/blogs/ and http://blogs.msdn.com/ Google – http://googleblog.blogspot.com/ The benefits of a well crafted and maintained blog are plenty, but is it the right tool for companies? Find out in the next chapters. Blogsessive.com’s Corporate Blogging Guide (by Alex Cristache) 5 Blogsessive.com - QBKL Media “Many bloggers fail when it comes to building a better blog. Making your blog stand out of the crowd requires a strategy, just like a business. Even if you’re not part of an affiliate program of selling your own products through your blog, think of it this way: You’re selling yourself, your knowledge, your writings.” Excerpt from “My blog, my business” Blogsessive.com’s Corporate Blogging Guide (by Alex Cristache) 6 Blogsessive.com - QBKL Media 2. Critical Questions Before Launching a Corporate Blog Not all promoting and marketing techniques yield results in any given situation and likewise blogs aren’t always the best solution. In certain cases, a blog can become a useless investment, or worse, a way to boost the already negative view the audience has on a company. Before launching a blog, each company needs to ask the following questions: 2.1. Is the blog a necessity or just a whim? A company’s decision to launch a blog may be based on obvious advantages generated by the freedom of communication and by its being given a human touch. Considering these advantages or failing to do so, we still run into situations where a company chooses to launch a blog because of reasons such as: a. Our competitor X has launched a blog; b. It’s trendy, any teen has one. Why can’t we have one? c. We want to look high-tech / tech savvy. In theory, none of the reasons above is a real obstacle, given it’s associated with and supported by other factors such as having the necessary resources to create and maintain a blog or a positive or neutral image in the market. 2.2 Do you have the needed resources to launch and maintain a blog? Unlike classic company websites, blogs keep consuming resources. Blogs imply costs. Be it the technical side – design, development, hosting, be it hiring an experienced blogger to maintain it and publish fresh content, a blog needs financial resources. Blogs take time. It takes time to create and publish content; it takes time to research, write posts, update them and maintain the blog.