Way, way back in 2004, Seth Godin said that we should beware the "CEO blog" because blogs work only when they are based on candor, urgency, timeliness, pithiness and controversy. "Does this sound like a CEO to you?" Godin asked rhetorically.
As usual, Godin was right.
Many CEO blogs quickly failed for the very reasons he outlined, although dozens, maybe hundreds, did discover the elements for success. For example, John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods, found a way to blog about the "realness" of running a business built on a "way of life." But for most corporate bloggers, success was just a flash in the pan, as the concept of being "real" became tired and ordinary.
This failure, however, wasn't because CEOs didn't want to succeed, but rather because marketers hijacked the concept. The very idea of a CEO blogging had become some sort of golden chalice-- the perfect story for their perfect company. And, as marketers often do, they loved the idea so much that they hugged the life right out of it.
The fall of the CEO blog began when marketers diverted corporate blogging responsibility to their senior executives-- not the CEO. In that light, even a strong dose of transparency can feel more like brochureware. A post intended to explore corporate culture inadvertently became a rah-rah cheer; a debate with an outsider morphed into a chance to show how level-headed the company could be. It's clear many companies began blogging out of obligation, not passion.
The start of a recent post from GM CEO Bob Lutz on the company's Fast Lane Blog tells it all: "I usually blog about cars and trucks, because that's my responsibility, but today I'll make an exception, to briefly point out something that we are very proud of at General Motors." He then went on to gush about his meeting with Condoleezza Rice. How real.
But all is not lost. Pretty soon, corporate blogs will become commonplace, and marketers will lose some of the fascination, as they get interested in some other shiny object [blogging a YouTube video in SecondLife?]. And this is where the opportunity arrives. For those of you thinking of starting your corporate blog -- or seeking to revamp yours into what it once was -- you can get ahead of the curve.
To start, begin thinking about your blog differently. It shouldn't be simply informative, but rather transformative. Instead of using your corporate blog to follow the business -- by regurgitating your very waking thoughts and feeding the good ol' CEO ego -- use it to lead your business. That's right, lead it. Transform it. Marketers won't like it, of course. (Hey, stop grinning.)
Ok, so how do we do this? Three simple steps:
Use an outsider, not an insider.
The rote, predictable, sometimes-ghostwritten corporate blog needs to be buried. Instead, you need a blog that does exactly what a blog should do: provide unfiltered, uninterpreted communication direct to the people who matter most-- customers, partners and employees. So instead of asking your CEO or senior executives to blog, find an outsider to spend time within the walls of the business and document what he sees and hears in real time. This will not only level the playing field so that CEOs and the public will be learning about elements of the organization at the same time, but it will provide a view into the things that most CEOs are actually unaware of [what exactly do the staff do after work anyway?].
Develop your blog for HR, not PR
Once you have an outsider writing your corporate blog, the information will have more value for the insiders as much as the outsiders. This innovation can actually change culture. Feed passion. Create a listening post and comment box that fits with the new way we communicate. Imagine your outsider spending 10 minutes with each employee a week, pencil in hand, pad of paper poised-- you can't imagine what juicy tidbits will rise to the surface. Who inside your walls wouldn't want to read that [note: it'll be good to have some rules about what's off limits. Like sex… or not.].
Give your blog an ending.
Ok, this is going to be the hardest for most, but structuring a blog so that it has a definable beginning, middle and end will give it an arc that makes others really want to follow. While the Da Vinci code is a great book, we're all glad Dan Brown chose to tie it up with the evil albino getting his fair due. The same should be said of how you think about your blog. Stop blogging and let your creative juices rest every once in a while. Give your readers a reason to want more. Blogs can have sequels, too, you know.
So go ahead. Kill your corporate blog today. Put it out of its misery. It's so Web 1.0 anyway. Find someone you can trust and believe in. Give them the keys to your kingdom, access to employees, your Board meetings, your off sites and your ideas. Set them in front of a computer and let them at it. Someday, your CMO might even get around to thanking you.
Dave Balter is the founder and CEO of BzzAgent, Inc., one of the advertising industry's most recognized word-of-mouth marketing and media firms. Read full bio.
