What's a Business Blog Supposed To Accomplish?
Posted Tuesday, July 29, 2008 by Chris Baggott
There was some feedback from my interview on Blog Squad Radio last week about the Compendium Approach to Business Blogging was too Corporate.  

I posted this reply:
 
I wanted to thank you both for a great session last week. Your questions were insightful and I really appreciate your open-mindedness for some of these new concepts.

A successful relationship requires direct communication. To get the right to build a relationship with a customer or prospect you have to first be found, second build credibility that a relationship with you will add value to the prospect or customer.

Blogging is spectacular for this stage of the relationship. From that point however 99% of the time that relationship is going to evolve to leverage some other medium...which might include face-to-face, email, telephone or even paper based things like catalogs.

You guys are a perfect case to show that a successful blogging program shouldn't be measured by the number of comments...but from the amount of traffic and conversions.Thanks again,
Chris Baggott, CEO
Compendium Blogware

Advanced Business Blogging Strategy, requires that your employee and constituent content should be mostly about your business.  Blog about your solutions, your customers, your aspirations as it relates to your products & services.  This is what people are searching for...great blog information that helps them and builds trust
Comments (3)

Have Blogs Killed Websites?
Posted Thursday, June 5, 2008 by Kristen Hanschu
In my time working at Compendium Blogware, I continually see how blogs outperform traditional websites.  For some people this is easy to see, but with blogging being a fairly new idea, it can be more difficult for others to see the benefits.  So, what are the added values of blogging?

  1. Blogs are less expensive than websites.  Most website developers charge an arm and a leg to change or update the site.  Blogs are updated all the time which helps with search engine optimization and your pocket book.
  2. With websites, you have to wait for someone else to update your information.  By using blogs, you do this yourself so it saves you time and headaches. 
  3. It can take up to 6 months for the search engines to find your newly built website.  By using a subdomain, you can get ranked instantly and see results sooner.
  4. Just like websites, blogs now offer capabilities such as ordering online and collecting customer information.
  5. Finally, blogs allow you to connect with your audience in a way that websites have never been able to do. 
We do advise using a website, but also having a blog to take your business to a new level.  Blogs are the new way to gain customers and get them to remain your customer for life.
Comments (0)

People don't trust CEO's they Trust Employees
Posted Tuesday, April 22, 2008 by Chris Baggott
CEO and C-level blogging is not credible, post from Compendium BlogwareWow, great article the other day by Cheryl Hall of the Dallas Morning news.  In a story that references Richard Edelman she discusses Corporate Blogging and Trust.   As we discussed, AdAge reported that 20% of the Fortune 500 have blogs.   Almost every one of those blogs are the traditional C-level, Thought Leadership kind of blather.

Guess what?   The  people don't trust the C-level.   A Company blog strategy needs to include the employees:

"It's clear that when it comes to traditional authority figures – whether they're chief executives or heads of state – people trust them less," says Mr. Edelman. "Employees are the new credible source of information. We have data that shows an employee blog is five times more credible than a CEO blog – and I say this as a CEO blogger."


Great insight Richard!

If you are evaluating blog software for your business or enterprise you need to consider how to incorporate your employees as a whole into the effort.  That is a blogging best practice.   Blog information can't come from the top down, but rather the bottom up.

Compendium Blogware is a great enterprise blog software to on the one hand empower employee blogging and also put in controls and workflow so Corporations can manage blog posts without squeezing the life out of the content.
Comments (0)

Keeping the momentum up with your bloggers
Posted Friday, April 11, 2008 by Lynsey Rosencrans
While discussing content creation with a client the other day, an interesting point was brought up to me. The client asked, "How can I keep the bloggers motivated?" Great question! With that said I came up with these 5 tips to keep the content flowing.

1.) Incentive programs-Why not persuade your bloggers with free meals, gift cards, two hour lunches or a day off (Obviously try to stay within business guidelines).
2.)Setting time aside to blog-Recommend or suggest a time the entire company can sit down and blog. Place a time on their schedules for 15 minutes twice a week and have them shut off their email and put their phones on do not disturb.
3.) Help generate content-If your bloggers are experiencing writers block, pass along emails or URLs that surround the company's blog. Set up brainstorming sessions over lunch (or even happy hour) with your bloggers and come up with  catchy ideas.
4.) Get your clients involved-Have your bloggers ask clients to be guest bloggers, sharing their success stories or feedback. This will ultimately build a great rapport between business and client.
5.) Share results and impact of content-When content is being generated, you will see the impact of it in your rankings and quality traffic. Make sure you pass all of this information to your bloggers. They will be excited to see how their words are boosting the interest of readers.

Pass these ideas around and send me your feedback!
Comments (1)

It's Not All About Looks
Posted Tuesday, March 25, 2008 by Kristen Hanschu
That is right, you heard me.  Looks are not important.  I know this is something that we all learn in 2nd grade, but it is an essential rule in life.  Looks not only do not matter when it comes to people, but they definitely not important when it comes to your blog.  Don't get me wrong, of course you do want some color to keep the readers engaged, but you also need to focus all of your energy on the content.

Like I have said before, content rules in the world of blogging.  Especially when using a good blogging software like Compendium.  We focus on content creation.  This is because Google is looking for keywords and relevant information in your blog.  Google does not, and never will, care about what image you use at the top of your blog.  The search engine could care less if the blog has the exact look of your website.  Google is searching for keywords and updated postings. 

I continually have to remind people of this.  We always do our best to make the blog take on the look of your company, but in the grand scheme of things, it is not nearly as important as what you are posting.  If you are new to blogging, keep this in mind.  It could help you the #1 ranking on the first page on Google.








Comments (0)

Can Blogging Be Used For Business Marketing?
Posted Sunday, February 10, 2008 by Chris Baggott
John Conroy of CMS Wire had a great summary of the 2008 Top Trends in Corporate Blogging we produced last week.

John did a fantastic job of summarizing the trends as we see them and did exactly the  right thing in making the following statement:

"2008 will be the breakout year for corporate blogging? Spaghetti-ish, high-volume, keyword-focused content is still the way to go? Employees encouraged to contribute to the corporate blog, under editorial supervision?"
"Plenty to ponder in all that. I’m so vehemently opposed to some of Baggott’s views, and so much in agreement with others, that there’s a 50/50 chance I’ll burst before I get to hit ‘Publish’."
My posted comment is below:

Thank you for getting this dialog started John.  In the short history of blogging there has been almost a 'snobbery' of what the right way to blog is.

What's right for citizen journalism however is rarely right for organizations.  The real challenge will be whether Corporations can take a tool like blogging and adopt what's right and good about it (as well as unbelievably effective) without corrupting it into just another spamming tool.


Corporations and Journalists (citizen or not) have different goals don't they?  Does that mean they can't use the same tools in different ways?  Blogging for Business is a lot different than blogging for opinion.   There really is a lack of Blogging Information out there for business.  What's the research?  What's your opinion?
Comments (1)

Corporate Blogging Trends for 2008 Webinar
Posted Friday, February 1, 2008 by Chris Baggott
chris baggott of Compendium Blogware Corporate Blogging Software Solution with Seth Godin I wanted to thank everyone who attended our Top Corporate Blogging Trends for 2008 webinar yesterday.  Comments from folks like Michael Lombardi in his blog Marketer Synergy were typical.    If you missed it, we will be posting a whitepaper summary shortly and we are hosting another webinar at the end of February called:  How to Measure, Track, and Adjust Corporate Blogs.

So what role can webinars and whitepapers play in Corporate Blogging Best Practices.  One word....Content.

Over the next week or so I'll be leveraging not only the top trends content, but also this webinar generated over 100 submitted questions.  All of that becomes great blogging information and a basis for blogging research....in a word:  Content Ideas (ok that's two words)

By doing webinars you have a live interaction and can actually see and hear what your audience is thinking about as it relates to your industry or business.   That's a blogging best practice that leads to success.

All empowered by easy to use blogging software
Comments (1)

Is Live Blogging Relevant for Corporate Blogs?
Posted Monday, January 21, 2008 by Marty Bird
Have you noticed the proliferation of live blogging? Maybe I'm just paying more attention now and take more notice to the live blogs posted from the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) or the Detroit Auto Show, the keynote address at MacWorld 2008, and more than ever at sporting events like NFL playoff games.

How might this apply to corporate blogging? Maybe you're at an industry conference or trade-show as an attendee. If you were attending a conference and were assigned to post a synopsis from the back row or between sessions, wouldn't you pay much closer attention to the content? Would you pay attention in a different way? Live blogging would benefit your corporate bloggers, encouraging them to think as a journalist, sharpening their listening skills while determining how the session they are attending fits into your organization's needs or the needs of the industry. They might even ask questions and listen to other's questions and comments in a new way.

Live blogging in this sense then engages the blogger in a new way. Adding the responsibility of live blogging to their attendance at a conference also populates your organization's blog with relevant content, informs the blog's readers of the latest information coming out of the conference, and serves as a journal of notes for the employee to assemble for use in further decision making.

So, yes, live blogging can fit in to your organization, but don't try it from the board room!



Comments (0)

Is Facebook an evil empire? How does this relate to bloggging?
Posted Wednesday, November 28, 2007 by Jenni Edwards

So this is a pretty off topic post overall, so I will try to relate early here. 1. Our blogging platform allows your organization to control content --- social networks and forums generally do not. 2. These tools also DEPEND on interaction and content being contributed by your target market; blogs allow for the content and conversion without dependence on your potential clients. Okay --- so this is somehow related to the whole 'barrier' issues that brick & mortar stores saw with location...people only will go so far out of their way and do so much to buy from (if you are hard to find no one will come...just as if it takes someone a lot of clicks and sifting through forums or other social networking tools (wikis, niche social networking sites) to find out 'what your company is about').

Anyways --- I wanted to share this video I ran across today for the first time (it was originally posted in May on YouTube and I saw it here).


This video got me going and I had to find a way to relate this to our blogging platform. I love Facebook --- for some acquaintances this is the only way I communicate, I share and store all of my pictures here, I re-connect with old friends, network & find out about live music, events, etc. going on around my city. I understand there are risks (there are also risks of not plugging in and being a part of this), but with or without Facebook; data is and has been being collected on you by marketers for eons...get over it. Why does this bother people? It actually allows you to receive relevant ads and information; just as blogging with an SEO emphasis allows people to find relevant information (aka - your company) throught search. Remember, there is a HUGE difference between privacy and anonymity (which seems to be lost in the above video).

Comments (0)

Risks in Corporate Blogging
Posted Tuesday, July 24, 2007 by Chris Baggott
So here is an interesting paper presented by a company called Proofpoint that has done a study on organizations concern (justified) on the lack of control over employee blogs.

Although this study really focuses on outbound email some highlights are specifically relevant to business blogs:

More than 1 in 5 US companies surveyed (21.4%) investigated the exposure of confidential, sensitive or private information via a blog or message board posting. Nearly 1 in 5 (19.2%) US companies surveyed have disciplined an employee for violating blog or message board policies in the past 12 months. 9.1% reported terminating an employee for such a violation.

12.4% of US publicly-traded companies surveyed investigated the exposure of material fi nancial
information (such as unannounced quarterly results) via a blog or message board posting in the
past 12 months.

Blogs and message boards are also considered a signifi cant source of risk. 43.2% of compa-
nies surveyed expressed a high degree of concern about blog and message board postings
(43.7% for the largest companies surveyed).

The problem as I see it is twofold:

Most companies don’t give their employees the opportunity to blog within the Corporate environment. The reality in the world today is that many people are in fact passionate about where they work and what they do. This is a good thing!

But if these people don’t have a sanctioned outlet, then they naturally turn to one of the readily available blogging tools and express themselves on their own.

Without making this toooo commercial…..the answer is to incorporate an easy to use software system of corporate blogging that enables any one who wants to bog that outlet.

The second part of the problem is that the corporation needs a way to develop a workflow around this employee generated content. Look for systems that require approvals before any blog post goes live.

Given the right system of blogging control and compliance (along with Comment Control) having employees is a godsend. The more blogging an organization can solicit from their employees the better for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and exposing a more ‘human’ side of their organization.

Comments (0)