Comments on: BtoB Magazine: Introducing the Chief Blogger

By: Early adopters look to grow and expand blogging efforts | Business Blogging Blog

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:41:05 +0000

[...] According to BtoB magazine early adopters are looking at different ways to expand their blogging efforts. BtoB recently interviewed several Blog Council members that they consider to be key bloggers and social media experts. One major focus of the early adopters is to take their blogging global. Bob Pearson, Dell VP-communities said, “Companies doing a really good job in global b-to-b [blogging] will be darn close to being in 10 languages.” Others, such as SAP’s Mike Prosceno, VP-social media relations, look more towards evangelist participation versus their original attempts at executive blogging. Annie Rodkins, Intel’s program manager for web marketing reports that they “are starting to see a gradual shift in the organization whereby blogging and other conversational marketing activities are called out as part of an employee’s job description, and participation in these activities is recognized as a contribution in the employee’s performance evaluation. The importance of this step cannot be underestimated if an organization is truly committed to blogging.” Thanks to Todd Cabral. [...]

By: Todd Cabral

Todd Cabral — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:20:28 +0000

No worries Mike. Yeah, big brother blogging is no good. One of the things we see with clients is an abundance of raw content, but no time or resource to package random thoughts and data points into well articulated positions or well written posts. Part of that may be the market we’re in (high tech), where much of the good content originates with highly technical staff. That is one place I think a point person for the blog is very useful- turning quality raw content into compelling blog entries.

Thanks for reading.

By: Mike Marn

Mike Marn — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:02:26 +0000

Oh, sorry, Todd. I guess in my A-D-D I managed to assume Jeff was virtually “sole proprietor” on this blog, and didn’t check the top. I now know better.

And I agree with your point. You may not want a chief blogger but maybe some point of supervision is a good idea. (As long as it doesn’t become “Big Brother Blogger” enforcing too much discipline!)

By: Todd Cabral

Todd Cabral — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:30:13 +0000

Good stuff Mike. I think you’re definitely right that watered down white paper type content will drive readers away pretty quickly and multiple bloggers with multiple viewpoints is far more interesting than a solo act. I’d only suggest that one person be in charge of reviewing each post to keep things focused and make sure there is some level of consistency between what the blog is saying and what the company is doing.

By: Jeff Gwynne

Jeff Gwynne — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:55:22 +0000

Mike-

Thanks for reading. Todd wrote this blog post so I’ll let him reply with real meat.

-Jeff

By: MIKE MARN

MIKE MARN — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:18:06 +0000

Jeff,

It’s really an intriguing question. I like the B2B Magazine post just because it raises interesting issues. I think from a “housekeeping” perspective, there is logic in assigning the job; long gaps, irregular posts, etc., get old fast. In terms of content and “voice” I’m less sure. I like “eclectic” and that keeps me tuned in to most of my favorite blogs. I’d get bored with sober “white paper” level stuff all the time, but wouldn’t stick to a blog that was completely “lightweight” either. We use variety in ours; some bloggers are more intellectual, and some are more, well, like me! I guess, in short, it’s okay to designate a person to be “official blogger” — but it ought to be a person comfortable with writing on different topics and at different levels. This is one remaining area where I think you can still make the mistake of being TOO specialized. Blog readers are people, first, not job titles, and I think people like variety. (IMHO, I guess I should add…)