How do I make people in my organization blog?

October 26th, 2009

How do I make blogging important to sales people who can’t write and don’t care?
- sales training

It’s a common problem to have people in your organization who aren’t particularly interested in writing blog posts, even when their knowledge and role in the company makes them seem like a natural fit for blogging. I can think of two big objections that may be going through their mind:

1.) I don’t have time.

Of course this might be 100% true. It seems like most of us already have more than enough tasks to fill up our week and then some. There’s no getting around the fact that writing blog posts takes time. Here are some suggestions for dealing with this:

  • Allow them to write a one-time post. Instead of trying to get the CEO to commit to writing a post three times a week, just try to get a single post on some topic that’s important to him/her.
  • Repurpose existing content. Use something that’s already written. Maybe the introduction to the company’s printed newsletter or annual report would be a good post. How about the transcript from a speech someone in the organization gave?
  • Use multimedia instead of text. Although search engines really prefer the text on your site, the real people that visit your blog may love to see a video. So record a presentation that your reluctant blogger gives.

2.) I don’t write good.

This objection might also be completely justified – especially if they use good in place of well. You can offer to edit the article for them before it is published, but that may not be much comfort. You might find you’re talking to someone who is just as embarrassed to have you see their underdeveloped writing skills as they would be to have the general public see them. So what can you do?

  • Write the post for them. Take a conversation or email that you’ve had with this person and write it up from their perspective. Now you’ve given them the power to take a look at it and make edits/changes where necessary.
  • Go multimedia. The video route is also a great way of getting the wisdom of someone who isn’t a natural born wordsmith onto your blog.

Those are the first two that came to mind. Have you come across other obstacles? Are you constantly hounded by someone on your team to write a blog post? What are the roadblocks for you? Sound off in the comments.

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Why Should Big Business Care About Twitter?

June 16th, 2009

I just don’t see the value of Twitter to big business. Why would those of us in corporate America care or see value in using Twitter?
- CPA

Good question.  We’ve talked before about measuring your return on the time you spend on Twitter, and it’s important to make sure you’re getting value.  A lot of the media attention about Twitter right now seems to be focusing on how an individual can easily connect with a large network.  In fact that was the rallying cry of Ashton Kutcher as he raced CNN to 1 million Twitter followers.  He won that race.  The corporate Goliath fell, and Twitter was the new slingshot.  It’s a compelling story, and not completely baseless.

Twitter had it’s first big break through in the realm of big business, though.  Computer manufacturer Dell created a big stir when they announced at the end of 2008 that they had earned $1 million in revenue through posting discount offers on their Twitter account.  While Twitter can certainly help small business owners who are looking to make personal connections, there’s no reason corporate America can’t leverage this social media platform.

1. ) Create a culture – Twitter is an opportunity to develop a loyal following.  Just creating a Twitter account and sending out headlines isn’t enough, though.  You need to give them something through Twitter that they can’t find anywhere else.  Maybe it’s special discount offers.  It could be links to resources that you only share through Twitter.  How about a channel to get a quick personal response when they’re afraid they’ll need to wade through red tape?  Which leads to…

2.) Give your organization a face - We could blame Hollywood.  There’s a perception among the general public that big businesses are often evil, soulless entities that are only interested in profit.  Individuals are good and corporations are bad.  So give them an individual to connect with.  Ever eat at a restaurant where the chef comes out and asks you how your meal is?  That’s the feeling you should be striving to recreate. 

3.) Brand monitoring – Even if you aren’t personally using Twitter, millions of other people are.  When someone talks about your business or your product, that’s going to be seen by a lot of people.  If the comments are critical, you need to know about it and respond.  When someone complains about you on Twitter, you need to be watching for mentions of your name and immediately jump into the conversation to help find a resolution.

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