This question just came up during a webinar that Chris Baggott hosted today (5 Compelling Reasons SMB's Should Blog. Slides coming soon), and I couldn't resist responding to it myself.So here is the question: Is allowing your employees to blog at work a bad use of their time?
Well, yes and no. (You thought I was going to give a firm no, but hear me out). Let me give you two scenarios to demonstrate the different ways this can play out.
Scenario A: Your employees are using the blogging platform of their choice (one geared toward citizen journalism like Wordpress or TypePad or whatever their heart desires). There is no consistency. The employees write about whatever they want. There is no administrator to review content before it is published.
Do I think this is a good use of time? No way. And you shouldn't either. Now how about this example...
Scenario B: Your employees are all using the same blogging tool (like Compendium). They understand that their content is the driving force behind the company's ability to acquire leads and customers through the search engines. The employees are encouraged to write about topics that are relevant to their position within the company, but can still add their personal touches and keep a genuine voice. An administrator can review the content before it's published
So do I think this kind of business blogging is worth the time? You bet.
With the right blogging software, end goals, and focus that you provide to those who will be writing the content, Scenario A can easily turn into Scenario B, which is hugely beneficial to every kind of organization.
And yes, the picture above are some of Compendium's favorite bloggers.
