Advice To Companies With A Blog
By Rob Safuto on Mar 4, 2007 in Advice, Blogging, Social Media | Tags: Advice , Blogging , Corporate , JetBlue
Shel Holtz points out that the CEO blog for JetBlue is lightly updated and doesn’t allow comments. Not good. To make matters worse there isn’t even an RSS feed for their blog, which they happen to call a ‘flight log’.
I think this type of situation speaks to a larger problem in the world of social media. Instead of implementing ’social’ technologies as part of a real strategy, there are many companies who are just checking the box and moving on. What’s happening is that some hired PR hack or member of their communications department thinks, “Blog. Check! Next.” Bad news.
This is not only bad news for the company, but it’s also bad news for their customers and partners. I think that creating a weak presence anywhere is bad news. Why do something if you can’t do it well? Putting up a blog and not updating it regularly is not doing it well. Especially not if you want the blog to be respected as a legitimate channel to the outside world. The lack of comments really makes the effort seem like a throw away. After all, moderating comments would take some time and effort. And no RSS feed? “Fugedaboutit!” as we used to say back in Queens.
The lesson to be learned here is a simple one. Don’t bother starting a blog unless you want to use it as a legitimate channel. Checking the box on a blog, podcast, MySpace page or some other social effort is a waste of time. You may get a little bit of press when you launch but you’ll get hammered when people take a close look and see that there’s nothing behind door number three. You’re better off waiting til you have the wherewithal to start the effort in earnest.
Companies that want to see an example of creating a meaningful channel should head over to Bill Marriott’s blog. Content is posted regularly and also provided in audio format. They have a commenting system. And they have an RSS feed. So they’ve done more over their then just check the blog box. They’ve made a conscious decision to open a channel to the public.
[tags]Social Media, Blogging, Corporate, Advice, JetBlue[/tags]
Kare Anderson | Mar 6, 2007 | Reply
Yes, and Bill’s is an interesting blog, too, yet appears to screen some comments - even when they relate to the post, we discovered
http://sayitbetter.typepad.com/say_it_better/2007/03/the_attention_e.html
Rob Safuto | Mar 6, 2007 | Reply
I think that screening comments is okay as long as their sword isn’t too harsh. Sometimes there can be a fine line between criticism and angry rant. Those are decisions that need to be made when running a corporate blog that gets a lot of eyes.
Peter O'Connell | Mar 8, 2007 | Reply
I agree, anything worth doing is worth doing right. For major companies, it should be a no brainer.
For smaller companies it is more frustrating. I’ll use my company as an example. In November 2006, I completely redesigned my web site with my internet designer and provider. One of the things I wanted was a blog and the ability to have podcasts; my local designer said his software provider had that module with all the requisite features.
Uh, no, they didn’t. They had a page where you could scroll down and read entries and make comments, No RSS, no trackback. WTF?
I said “guys, blogger and wordpress have this software for FREE! How can you say your software does these things and then clearly be so far behind the curve?!” They say their updates will be ready in June….JUNE?!
The fast answer would be to just switch over to one of the free sites and direct the blog there but that screws up my SEO and that’s a huge part of my business. So I made a good faith decision in updating my site that has turned into a frustrating…pain in the ass. That’s business!
Well, that’s my rant.
Rob Safuto | Mar 11, 2007 | Reply
Peter,
Your situation is not an unusual one. I’m finding that there is a large gap between traditional web design / webmaster skills and the skills needed to address the tools companies need today. I outlined the situation in a post from a couple of weeks ago called Skills Of The Social Webmaster.
http://blog.awakenedvoice.com/2007/02/13/skills-of-the-social-webmaster/
I definitely don’t expect companies with limited means to be able to get all of this done. For small businesses the focus really needs to be on their core business. What’s a business owner to do?
The answer is not a simple one. These web design firms need to improve their skills vis-a-vis social technologies. And they need to offer simple solutions for small businesses. And the solutions need to work!
And on some level I believe that all business owners should do what they can to learn new technologies themselves, so that they can at least be informed enough to spell out what they want and make sure it gets done right.
The tools are improving and are starting to make this state more of a possibility. That may not help the majority of businesses suffering today, but I think more businesses will be able to have more control soon.