Ethical Corporate Blogging
Friday, November 10, 2006
Blogging ethically is pretty straightforward. Corporate blogging can be beneficial for companies and blog readers alike as long as it is done in a trustworthy fashion with information valuable to a target audience. If more businesses took this into consideration, the blogosphere would be better off.
Unfortunately some companies like McDonalds and Wal-Mart and their large agencies are creating high profile fake blogs (flogs) for shill marketing. Once again a great Internet creation has been tainted by big business, but there are better ways to utilize the power of blogs without being so misleading and disingenuous. Blogging has become an established means of communication and corporations can obviously see its benefit, but how does a company blog in a way that enhances the blog community instead of outraging it?
A blog needs to be started carefully and transparently. Corporate connections need to be mentioned and any biases need to be addressed. A key factor in creating a blog is realizing that this is first and foremost a resource for consumers and secondly a speaking platform for the company. It is an informal means of informing, creating a community, and offering opinions as an authority in a particular industry. If a post is written in the voice of a particular official in the company, the piece needs to be reviewed and edited by that individual so they are involved in the blogging process. Smart companies that do well by their customers have much to gain by joining in the discussion online, including search engine optimization benefits, reaching new markets, and a new platform to deliver company news.
If you think you're ready to start a blog but don't have the resources or aren't sure of the direction to take, give Connors a call. Our work is displayed proudly by our clients, not hidden in secrecy. We're a boutique PR firm that understands technology and the people behind it. We've been doing online outreach far before blogs -- in fact, even before the World Wide Web! What else would you expect from the firm that launched Amazon, Priceline, GoTo, Vonage, and RedRoller?Labels: blog, pr, Redroller
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