Blogging For Specific Audiences

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Blogging For Specific Audiences
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Why Corporations Should Blog

• Blogs are humanizing factors
• Being a part of the blogosphere helps you keep a
  finger on the pulse of the industry, and that
  adds credibility
• Because consumers themselves are blogging. Its a
  way to connect
• Because corporate speak doesnt work anymore
• Because it means you can communicate with your
  customers, colleagues and constituents in an
  unfiltered, unfettered way
• Because it builds a network
• Google
• Because it helps you both become and expert and
  be seen as an expert

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Corporate ExecutivesInfluence, Impact
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HughHewitt.com
Every CEO should have a blog so that employees,
customers, partners, investors--everyone--can
hear directly from the CEO in his/her own voice
about what is happening in the company.
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Bob Lutz
To blog or not to blog? For a lot of senior
executives these days, that is the question. The
answer, simply enough, is to blog. No better
opportunity exists to engage in an open dialogue
and exchange of ideas with customers and
potential customers.
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Influence, Impact
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Michael Hyatt, CEO, Thomas Nelson Publishers
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Other Corporations with Blogs
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CEO Bloggers Club http//prplanet.typepad.com/ceob
loggers/ CEO Blogs List http//www.thenewpr.com/
wiki/pmwiki.php/Resources/CEOBlogsList
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Corporate Board MembersAccessibility
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Advantages to boards using blogs as means of
Communicating with shareholders

• Inexpensive and technically very simple.
• Highly honest way to engage in dialogue
• Allows shareholders the opportunity to comment on
  postings.
• Demonstrates accountability and transparency to
  shareholders
• Open forum for airing out differences.

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What would board blog about?

• Updates to investors on the board and its
  committee activities
• Board policies and procedures
• Director nominations
• Director selection and evaluation
• Discussions on major corporate events, such as
  mergers and acquisitions.

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Public Relations PersonnelTrust
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Why should PR pros blog?
Understand the mindset of the blogger Become a
trusted member of the blogosphere
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Steve Rubel PR blogger poster child
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IT PersonnelEfficiency
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Why should PR pros blog?

• Internal
• project management
• knowledge management
• personnel changes
• External

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Qumana

• Desktop blog publishing
• software that allows you
• to write your post
• offline, then go online
• and publish.
• Potential customers
• Investors
• Expertise
• Version updates, new versions

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Robert Scoble Microsoft Geek Blogger
The god of the blogosphere
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Marketing PersonnelRelationships
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Bob Cargill, Senior Creative Director, Yellowfin
Marketing
Blogs are a cheap, convenient and enjoyable form
of PR and marketing that should be part of every
business plan in 2005.
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• Blogs are interactive
• Blogs are humanizing
• Blogs are inexpensive
• Blogs are immediate
• Blogs are infectious
• Blogs are empowering
• Blogs are enjoyable
• Blogs are authoritative
• Blogs are popular
• Blogs are valuable

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Jeremy Wright, popular blogger, Ensight.org
"Anything which can get the right info to the
right people at the right time, empower your
company to become a thought leader, and let you
know what your customers and the industry are
thinking about you in real time is something that
has massive value."
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Company EmployeesEvangelism
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Thomas Nelson bloggers
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Macromedia bloggers
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Industry Thought LeadersExpertise
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Tom Peters
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Elise Bauer, advisor to technology companies
What differentiates a thought leader from any
other knowledgeable company or individual is
the recognition from the outside world that the
company deeply understands its business, the
needs of its customers, and the broader
marketplace in which it operates. 
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How PR Professionals Are Using Blogs
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Blogs in the Age of Participatory Journalism
Blogs are the instrument through which PR and
communications professionals can transform
themselves from an impersonal and increasingly
inefficient business practices to outstandingly
effective means of ethical promotion, extended
exposure and ability to engage the company,
organization, and yourself in important topics
that synergize and contribute to the realization
of your mission.
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The old public relations

• Senior management, with a lot of input from
  marketing people, would work out a companys
  message and talking points.
• Internal marketing people, working with PR
  consultants, would try to burn the message into
  the retinas of the trade press and analysts.
• The journalists and analysts would do what they
  do, broadcasting the message to the masses.

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The new public relations

• Senior management works out a companys goals and
  messages.
• Management works hard to make sure that the
  employees understand them.
• The people who are really doing the work tell the
  story to the world, directly.

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OhMyNews.com
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NorthwestVoice.com
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Old way New way

• Old way PR writes press release, pitches to
  journalists, journalist syndicate that to the
  masses
• New way Every citizen is a reporter PR must
  target every citizen
• Trust, word-of-mouth, transparency
• OhMyPR

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Developing Effective Communication Strategies for
the Blogosphere
Responding to Blogs Having your say after the
fact
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Kryptonite bike lock
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Blog Monitoring

• Intelliseek (www.intelliseek.com) - BlogPulse
• Umbria (www.umbriacom.com)
• Blog Squirrel (www.blogsquirrel.com)
• Do-it-yourself
• Bloglines (www.bloglines.com)
• PubSub (www.pubsub.com)
• Technorati (www.technorati.com)
• Feedster (www.feedster.com)
• Yahoo! News (http//news.yahoo.com)
• Google News (http//news.google.com)
• IceRocket (www.icerocket.com
• Goggle blog search (http//blogsearch.google.com)

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Developing Effective Communication Strategies for
the Blogosphere

• Responding to Blogs Having your say after the
  fact (Blog Monitoring very important)
• Blog Outreach Actively pursuing bloggers
• Becoming Your Own Blogger Getting in on the
  action

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Ways PR pros are using blogs

• Branding

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Apple iPod
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Jeff Jarvis Dells least favorite customer!
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Ways PR pros are using blogs

• Branding
• Crisis communication
• Employee communications
• Corporate public relations

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David Meerman Scott, author of Cashing in with
Content
The corporate weblog is now used by savvy
marketing and public relations professionals as a
way to communicate directly with journalists and
influence their storiesblogs allow organizations
of all kinds to tell authentic stories directly
to the market. Journalists increasingly rely on
blog content when they are researching stories."
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Euro RSCG Magnet report
28 of journalists rely on blogs for day-to-day
reporting. Of those who use blogs in their work,
53 use them to find story ideas, 43 for
research and referencing facts and 36 for
finding sources. And about a third of the
journalists who use blogs say it is a way of
uncovering breaking news or scandals.
Blogs are playing a more significant role in the
way information is transmitted to readers and
journalists alike, and may profoundly alter the
media and communications landscapes. - Aaron
Kwittken, CEO of Euro RSCG Magnet
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PR blogging principles and best practices

• Post with maximum immediacy breaking news and
  news releases
• Filter and select relevant news from other
  sources
• Engage with customers and potential partners
• Link to other sources online
• Tell your stories
• Never pitch, personalize
• Respect a bloggers time and intelligence
• Never, ever use the words, "I think your readers
  would be interested in this story."
• Quality, not quantity
• Keep learning

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How NOT to use blogs MWW Group
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How NOT to use blogs Ketchem
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How NOT to use blogs iFulfill.com
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PR Bloggers
B.L. Ochman, President, Whats Next
Online http//www.whatsnextblog.com Elizabeth
Albrycht, Co-founder, New Communications
Forum http//ringblog.typepad.com/corporatepr/ Sh
el Holtz, President, Holtz Communications http//w
ww.holtz.com/ Steve Rubel, VP of Client
Services, Cooper-Katz http//www.micropersuasion.c
om Extensive List of PR bloggers http//www.thene
wpr.com/wiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DraftOnlinePRWeekProg
ram Bloglines List of PR Bloggers RSS
feeds http//www.bloglines.com/public/prblogs
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The CEO Blogger How CEOs Are Using Blogs
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Paul Allen Managing Partner, Infobase Ventures
Blogging helps CEOs communicate their vision and
their ideas to people who matter to them. It's
definitely a short-cut way to getting some
constant PR and buzz around you. I believe those
who do will find a following and a tremendous
increase in trust and confidence, as well as some
interesting "talk back" from people who would
otherwise never communicate with them
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Reasons CEOs should blog

• A good blog tells more of the organization's
  story than the traditional media.
• Good brands truly reflect the day-to-day
  operations of an organization.
• Internal audiences also want to hear from the top
  brass
• The investment is minimal.

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Michael Hyatt, CEO, Thomas Nelson Publishers
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Michael Hyatt, CEO, Thomas Nelson Publishers
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Z. Christopher Mercer, CEO, Mercer Capital
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Buzz Bruggeman, CEO, Activewords
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Buzz Bruggeman, CEO, Activewords
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Jonathan Schwartz, COO, Sun Microsystems
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Zane Safrit, CEO, Conference Calls Unlimited
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Bob Lutz, Vice-chairman, General Motors
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Bob Parsons, CEO, GoDaddy
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Tips for CEO bloggers

• The CEO should be the blogger, not a ghostwriter
• Keep writing
• Write in a personal, informal style, but make it
  your style
• Spark new ideas or comment on others insights

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CEO blogger resources
CEO Bloggers List http//www.thenewpr.com/wiki/pm
wiki.php/Resources/CEOBlogsList BlogWrite for
CEOs http//blogwrite.blogs.com/ Corporate
Blogging Survey http//www.backbonemedia.com/blogs
urvey/ Corporate Blogging Primer http//www.corpo
rateblogging.info/2004/11/free-corporate-blogging-
primer.asp The Executive Bloggers Guide to
Building a Nest of Blogs, Wikis
RSS http//www.ogilvypr.com/pdf/bloggers-guide.pdf