Should Executives Blog?

I been asked to post this recent article from demop.com/Articles.html - Since I'm literally in Siberia now with limited Internet access, this is a good time.

Many executives should considering blogging. It helps publicize company news as well as executive viewpoints and opinions, and adds to a company’s personality. Executives can blog extremely effectively as their thoughts are usually well regarded and trusted, and their blogs tend to get an instant large readership. Executives who blog include Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman of General Motors, Randey Baseler, VP of Marketing, Boeing, and many others.

Not everyone is suited to blogging. Some executives may also not be comfortable publicly expressing their views on a regular basis. Blogs also need to be in a written in a personal and conversational style in order to be seen as authentic, and many executives have difficulty writing in such an informal style.

Executives often have time constraints and an executive blog that is rarely updated will quickly lose its popularity and readers. A "group blog" with several authors and an occasional insightful blog post by an executive can successfully retain interested readers and popularity. This allows an executive to contribute as time permits.

Some executives default to having their blogs ghostwritten or "produced" by PR. "Light" ghost writing and editing can be useful but a blog entirely produced and scripted is not going to be effective; the thoughts and opinions in the blog must be authentic.

Blogging may be difficult or impossible to do effectively in some organizations. If company policy requires statements to be approved before being made public, perhaps by several layers of bureaucracy, the immediacy and relevance of a blog and its chances of success can be severely compromised. In any industry where running afoul of regulations may be an issue, confer with legal counsel for guidance.