CEO Blogs: 3 Reasons CEOs Should Blog

There are plenty of reasons for CEOs and other high level executives to blog. I'm skipping the "because communicating is good" and concentrating on the solid benefits in this list.

1) Blogs add a personality and face to a company. This can mean more business, more dollars and cents.

Let's face it, people don't tend to trust big organizations anymore, whether it's the US Government, Microsoft, Worldcom, Enron, etc. People do however trust people they know, and like to do business with people they know and trust. When an executive blogs, they become part of the face and personality associated with the organization. They build trust. They build likeability.

I never liked Sun Microsystems. They were an arrogant competitor from way back. I now occasionally read their president and CEO Jonathan Schwartz's blog, and I no longer think of them as the old arrogant Sun. I rather like them these days, primarily due to their CEO's blog.

2) Blogs influence the most important people.

I rarely read GM's Fastlane blog. I simply don't care about cars. But guess who does? Well, my friend Gearhead Greg does. When I need a new car, who do I ask for opinions? Well quite naturally my friend Greg the car nut, and he's much more positive on GM these days, in part due to their blog.

Few if any of my clients read Jonathan Schwartz's blog. But when they need to buy new Unix Workstations, my opinion is often valued as I'm an old Unix guy from way back, and as I've said before I kind of like Sun now.

3) Blogs connect CEOs and senior executives to their most important people, their customers.

It's lonely at the top! The higher you get, the less feedback you get. The less in touch with the end customer you are. Blogs put you in direct contact with the people that matter most, the end customers.

Bonus #4) Writing is critical business skill

Some executives and CEOs really should learn to do it better! Practice doesn't make perfect, but it does help you improve.

I'm not claiming every CEO and high level executive should blog. Quite honestly, some should be hidden from public sight as communicating is not their forte. But for many CEOs and high-level executives, blogging is a no brainer.

CEO Blogs: 5 Reasons CEOs Shouldn't Blog

There are plenty of reasons CEOs or other executives shouldn't blog, and many of them certainly shouldn't.

I'll go as far as to say that many organizations do NOT need to blog. Sure, they could, and they might benefit from it, but please let's not have any of that rhetoric that all companies must start blogging soon or they'll go the way of the dodo -- extinct. Simply not true -- although MANY organizations can benefit from blogging.

Here are 5 commonly given reasons CEOs and other executives shouldn't blog. I don't buy reason #3 or #4 as I note, but they are commonly mentioned and worth addressing.

1) CEOs are risk adverse. Much of their daily lives are occupied with risk management. They have got enough to worry about without this new-fangled blogging thing.

2) The qualifications that make one a good CEO or executive and that make one a good blogger do not overlap remotely near 100%. Even among those who communicate well, many have difficulty writing in a personal and informal tone as blogging requires.

I had one CEO I coached literally hold a telephone to his head and pretend he was talking to an old friend in order to get conversational language out of his mouth! We even tried having him leave voice mail in this fashion to his secretary who would then transcribe it into a draft blog post. It took a few weeks, but I finally got him writing conversationally, but not without a lot of difficulty.

3) CEOs have confidential information that can't be made public.

This is an often cited reason, but rarely holds water. Someone that makes it that high in the corporate ladder had already better know what they can publicly discuss and what they can't.

Hey, let's be serious -- most executives are very smart people and let's give them the credit of at least common sense!

4) They may need to stop for legal reasons.

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market stopped blogging because of an "independent internal investigation."
If a company is going public, there is an SEC enforced "quite period" which may disrupt blogging by executives.

This is silly. When is "you maybe needed to stop someday" a good reason to never start? I guess I'd better never go to that Chinese Buffet because I'll need to stop eating sometime. Doesn't make sense to me!

5) Time -- or lack of it. I have no extra time, neither do you, and neither do CEOs and other execs.

One solution is a multi-author blog where several executives occasionally contribute, or perhaps a CEO and a few other people do. This generates enough content to build regular readers, and is often a great solution. Another possibility, one that makes many bloggers cringe, is the possibility of "Ghost Blogging," which we'll address later!

 

Many CEOs and other executives should blog, but there are also plenty of good reasons why some of them should not.

No Time to Blog - CEOs and others

From Shel Holtz, friend and my co-author of Blogging for Business.

I was running a daylong seminar that led one of the participants to fire off a blogging proposal to her CEO via her Blackberry. She shared with me the two-word answer that came back within minutes:

“No time.”

It wasn’t the first time I’ve heard this issue raised; I’m certain it won’t be the last. Whether it’s a CEO or any other employee, if it makes sense for that individual to communicate by blogging, time shouldn’t be a problem. Here are some thoughts on getting around the “no time” argument.

==Reallocating resources==

One executive with whom I spoke recalled receiving a communique from his company’s board of directors. The board took issue with the amount of time this CEO was committing to his blog. His answer was succinct: He wasn’t spending any more time communicating now than he was before he took up blogging.

Will CEO blogs ever Take Off?

Define "Take Off" :)

CEO blogs WILL become more popular. There will be more CEO blogs in the future -- of that I'm quite certain.

I can even imagine certain CEO Positions requiring the CEO blogs!

But most CEOs will never blog, at least with a "traditional" blog. Most CEOs, and companies, just aren't right for it, for a multitude of reasons.

Read More

Ghost Blogging - Useful, or crime against nature?

One big reason CEOs and other executives give for not even considering blogging is the time commitment.

What about "Ghost Blogging" -- could this ease the time burden and the blogging still be effective?

The chorus of self righteous bloggers, and we are a self righteous group, are probably chanting "Evil", "Not Authentic" and "Burn Ghost Bloggers and Bloggees at The Stake" now!

Sure, a blog entirely produced and scripted is not going to be effective.

Continue Reading

3 BIG reasons CEOs should Blog

There are plenty of reasons for CEOs and other high level executives to blog. I'm skipping the "because communicating is good" and concentrating on the solid benefits in this list.

1) Blogs add a personality and face to a company. This can mean more business -- more dollars and cents.

Let's face it, people don't tend to trust big organizations anymore, whether it's the US Government, Microsoft, Worldcom, Enron, etc. People do however trust people they know, and like to do business with people they know and trust. When an executive blogs, they become part of the face and personality associated with the organization. They build trust. They build likability.

I never liked Sun Microsystems. They were an arrogant competitor from way back. I now occasionally read their president and CEO Jonathan Schwartz's blog, and I no longer think of them as the old arrogant Sun -- I rather like them these days.

2) Blogs influence the most important people.
Continue reading

Should CEOs blog? (from the IAOC blog)

Should CEOs or other senior executives blog? That is an open question. Certainly some do, and do effectively.

Executives who blog include Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman of General Motors, Jonathan Schwartz, President and CEO of Sun Microsystems, and Mark Cuban, owner of The Dallas Mavericks among other things.

Some of these blogs are easy to dismiss. Although Bob Lutz’s blog is great, GM is in such bad shape that perhaps this is a move of desperation? Companies in tough shape have little to lose by blogging or anything else. Sun Microsoft is a high tech company and lots of high tech companies blog – we can almost say there is a tradition here.  And Mark Cuban is, well, simply a maverick. Besides, as a billionaire entrepreneur, the rules are somewhat different. Oh yeah, he’s in high tech too.

How about . . .
More here at the International Association of Online Communications blog, where I'll be posting daily this week

Should CEOs Blog?

The term CEO Blog refers to a blog written by a high level executive such as a CEO.

The few CEO blogs that exist are very popular, but should the average CEO or other executive blog? How can they possibly make time among their other responsibilities?

Are the "rules" different for CEOs and other high profile poeple? Can they have ghostbloggers or blog less frequently?

The week of Oct 22 I'll be guest blogging at the International Association of Online Communicators blog and answer these and other questions on CEO Blogs.

Tom's of Maine Should Blog!

I wrote previously about Colgate buying Tom's of Maine, a small rapidly growing company in the "natural" category of personal care products.

Tom Chappell of Tom's of Maine should Blog!

Tom's is valuable -- and growing rapidly -- because of it's great image as well quality of their products and Tom Chappell, their brilliant leader.

In order for this buyout to succeed, Tom's image and brand need to stay distinct -– or sales, and value to Colgate, will plummet.

Tom Chappell is a core part of Tom's image and brand, and he should strongly consider blogging -- communicating directly with his rapidly growing base of customers and fans -- and let them know he is still there and in charge, and that Tom's of Maine is still, well, "Tom's of Maine."

Tom is a natural. His writing seems naturally blog-suitable, i.e. authentic and personal, as in his book Managing Upside Down. Blogging goes hand-in-hand with his Seven Intentions® of Values-Centered Leadership.

Blogging would also be a great way to keep employees in the loop, both another channel for (hopefully) reassurances from Tom and a conduit for regular information. Tom communicates directly as well, but the more communication with customers, fans, and employees during what by its nature is destined to be a difficult time, a time of transition, would help things go smoothly and should be seriously considered.

GIve me a call Tom, I'm glad to help out.

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.