Two articles caught our eye on the subject – one at ZD Net and one over at the NY Times. Firstly, Mike Thompson of the Butler Group provides thoughtful advice for brands considering the idea of running a blog:
The blog should be created with a purpose in mind, and delivered with that aim as a priority throughout its life. If it is to serve as an information vehicle, then it should promote the values and ethos of the organisation in a customer-friendly and accessible manner; if it is a point of contact for business and/or trading partners, then the style and content should reflect this as well. Often, an organisation will select senior employees to spearhead the blog – examples can be seen in the vendor community, where Microsoft and Sun Microsystems can point to blogs written by thought leaders in the developmental and managerial divisions of each company. If the organisation has recognised thought leaders, then it is a good idea to encourage those individuals to take a stand on this virtual soapbox, and to give them reasonably free rein in the expression of their opinions – this is a confident image to present to the world, and gives a good chance of improving the corporate profile.
However, one important point to recall is that, like any other literary endeavour, writing a blog entry takes time. Does the potential value of the blog justify a loss in productivity from senior executives, however small this may be? Each organisation will have to determine the answer to this question for itself, as there are no hard and fast rules. Having said that, the blog author should have discretion in what is to be said; before the blog is launched, decisions must be made…
Blog it and they will come – or will they? – ZDNet UK Insight
The New York Times also looks at how the Huffington Post blog has become so successful:
The Huffington Post has succeeded by failing. The promised missives from stars never much materialized, but the site is booming, fueled by rapid-fire news postings and more than 700 bloggers, most of whom you have never heard of.
The Huffington Post had more than 1.3 million unique visitors last month, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, and more than 2 million in February.
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