TRENDS 2008

To Blog or Not to Blog

Corporate blog sites can be interesting and influential, but remember this one simple rule: bloggers are born, not made. There's nothing worse than an abandoned blog effort. It's the online equivalent of a ghost town without its past glory.

If you're going to blog, then go into it with your eyes wide open. You will need a prolific writer with something interesting to say about every other day at the very least. Random posts every three months or so will not cut it. You will find potential bloggers in the PR department, and product managers, evangelists, and higher level support techs are good candidates as well. With a good writer, blogs can be quite effective. They allow you to tell your story and be the expert with openings for comment relegated to page two, which is a very different form of communication than a peer-oriented discussion forum. Think of your blog as your bully pulpit, but be committed to it before proceeding.

—Doug Strohm, Chief Strategist