Myth: Nothing is off limits on a corporate blog
It’s a bright and sunshiny day and you’re on your way to meet a prospect. You have your company’s portfolio, you’ve dressed the best way you know how, and you even brushed your teeth and combed your hair. You have so many butterflies you’re thinking about donating all of them to an arboretum. Then suddenly you’re there in the office waiting to get your meeting. You’re called in. You shake hands and sit down, and then suddenly you say, “I have my colonoscopy results here. Would you like to see them?”
This probably is not super likely to happen in the “real world,” and yet I see a lot of professional/corporate blogs that seem to operate in just this kind of scenario. The blog looks great, there’s a lot of helpful content, so I decide to check it out. Then all of a sudden I’m reading something that kind of makes me want to poke my eyes out. I was visiting you for business and now I’m reading something I wouldn’t necessarily want to know about my best friend.
So what’s the scoop here?
Forget about “professional brand” and “personal brand”
Often this conversation gets us into the “brand” jungle. If you want to “build your personal brand” you need to be really, well, personal. I’ve never really bought this line of thinking when it comes to people who are in the blogosphere for business, however.
It’s my opinion that when you are out here in the social media world, you ARE being the face of your brand. When someone thinks of your company, they now can say, “Oh yeah, so and so works there.” That does not mean that that person needs to think, “Ah yes…that company is where so and so works. Did you know that that person had a wart problem for the first 30 years of her life and that sometimes she really enjoys picking her nose?”
If you are blogging for business, logic states that your ultimate goal is to use your blog to somehow build or strengthen your business. That means your corporate blog should not be about you. It can be written in a personable tonality and it can include stories that help bring your posts to life, but over-sharing is not always a great way to bring people in. In fact, sometimes over-sharing can be a good way to keep people out.
For example, let’s say you decide to write a post, as a CEO, about how poor your health has been. You’ve been in and out of the hospital for the last 3 years, you’ve missed a ton of work, and it’s just wearing you down. As a blog post, this will probably drive a lot of traffic to your site and you’ll probably get a lot of comments, too. But what message does this send to a person considering doing business with you? No matter how hard we try to think otherwise, the message being sent here is, “Maybe I shouldn’t start building a business relationship with you right now.” That person may even leave a wonderful comment for you. But so far as your business is concerned, you may not be doing yourself any favors.
“I know who I want to attract”
A common argument in support of blogging about whatever you want to blog about is, “Well, I know what kinds of people I want to work with. If you’re offended by what I write, we probably wouldn’t have gotten along anyway.” That can most certainly work for some people, but during these trying economic times not everyone can afford to pick and choose. Money looks the same and spends the same no matter who you get it from, and I’d even go so far as to argue that part of the fun of business is learning how to get along with people who might be different from you. If you’re strongly religious, it might be good, as a business person, to learn how to function with those darned pagan types. If you’re a “liberal lefty” it might do you some good to learn how to operate efficiently with a far right Republican.
Why limit yourself to “who I like to work with”? This has never seemed entirely realistic to me. In fact, I might even go so far as to call it unrealistic or even bad advice.
Of course, I’m always open to hearing other opinions. I expect to in this case as this tends to be a hot button issue in bloggy world. So – voice away!
Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28481088@N00/5256837309/ via Creative Commons
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I’d like to think that corporate bloggers have a bit more common sense than this. They know not to post stuff that could be potentially embarrassing to the company or private info about certain employees. If they don’t, they clearly need some training in public relations.
That being said, some of the private stuff can be readjusted to work to the company’s advantage. If the above CEO had been sick for so long, yet still continued to show up for work and run the company, that would say wonders about that person’s dedication to the job. It just depends on the spin one puts on it.
@JTDabbagian Do bloggers have that common sense? Some may, but I tell you, I have encountered some blog posts that realllly make me wonder!
You do raise a good point however. If a person is successfully overcoming tough obstacles, it couldn’t hurt to highlight such things. I would just say it would need to be handled with care so that the positive, not the negative, is what gets accentuated.
The world would be a better place if corporate bloggers published intimate details. Imagine reading posts like these:
Walmart: “Last month, we sent Mexican officials nearly $24 million in bribes. Many quality people spent many hours figuring out how to move the money, but it was worth the effort. Soon we will be able to announce the grand openings of new stores in a dozen key Mexican markets.”
Bank of America: “We’re deeply committed to maximizing our profit margins, whether we provide value or not. That’s why we’re going to charge every customer $5 every month simply for having one of our a debit cards.”
General Services Administration: “We’re pleased to say our staff is a back and well rested after a week-long retreat. All we can say is, it’s a good thing that “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”
@robertfjames Hah! Well, that’s a fair point. I don’t see a lot of blog posts revealing business secrets. More along the lines of shocking personal revelations. But point taken 🙂
Cheers Margie.
I think it boils down to being the face of your face. Blogging from a personal point of view creates an impression of YOU, not your company. While there is nothing wrong with that, it seems that many bloggers have business expectations that may be somewhat unrealistic.
Thank you for your spot on perspective.
Marc
@MZazeela Thanks Mike. I think a lot of people who have turned to social media to develop their business or their career have forgotten that they are still networking with real people. Those real people, in an ideal situation, will be trusting said blogger with business advice or whatever else the blogger might be selling. Inherent in the sales relationship should be trust, or so I believe. Can you trust me if every word out of my mouth is an f-bomb. Maybe. But that might be a rarity.
There are boundaries in blogging but the lines can sometimes be quite blurry.
@TheJackB true that!
Welllll…. I am kinda thinking THIS one would have helped TONS (gasp), oh, say, about 16 months ago! LOL!! Thank you, though. Sigh. Better late than never! (yes?!) I miss you, but almost done on this end. GREAT series, Margie.
@girlygrizzly Thanks darlin. I think a lot of it is about what feels right in your gut, but sometimes we need to expand beyond ourselves to imagine how others might take what we are putting out there, right? 🙂
I agree that businesses should know “Who I like to work with” and “I know who I want to attract”, simply because that allows you to focus and really deliver value to that group of people you’re looking for. However, this definitely does not necessarily mean that “if you’re offended by what I write, we wouldn’t have gotten along anyway”, especially when it comes to being a little too personal on a corporate blog.
@janwong Right. I am not 100% sure a litmus test is the best way to build a business, especially in trying economic times like these. I think you need to establish your own brand and your quality of work. Once you’re working with people you can start to let your true colors show as you deem appropriate. But trying to test boundaries of potential customers by doing whatever you want? Eh. I’m just not a fan.