As a blogging newcomer, I am starting to look around and see the many ways blogs are used. From providing a space for family updates, to offering a conduit for politicians to promote their ideas, blogs give everyone a sort of freedom from the press.
If I want to write and publish a story about my weekend, I don’t have to shop that story around to different publishers. I can just post it online.
Similarly, if I am the head of a company and I feel like messages about my company’s products, policies or practices are becoming misconstrued by the media, or if I want a direct line of communication to my customers, I can start blogging. Many CEOs are doing just that. According to a Detroit Free Press article, which actually cited www.thenewpr.com, there were 277 CEO blogs as of February of this year.
Blogs are quite the powerful tool, but as anyone who has seen Spiderman knows, “with great power comes great responsibility.” While I wish my favorite companies had blogs (I’m looking at you Costco, Petsmart and Target), there are certainly precautions companies should take.
For one, a great CEO does not a great writer make. Every piece of writing that comes out of a company should be edited by someone with a public relations, journalism or English degree. Someone who has experience with the written word can catch quite a few errors. Unfortunately, some errors change the meaning of a sentence, which is not what a company wants at all.
More important, someone from the legal department should take a look at the copy as well. If there is no legal department, any pair of attorney eyes will work.
For my part, I’m glad blogs are available and that companies are using them. However, as they jump on the blogging bandwagon, I hope CEOs will locate a few trusted staffers and/or consultants to take a look at everything before hitting the “publish” button.
What do you think of the CEO blog trend and how companies are handling brand and crisis management online?
