Blog from the Gut of Your Company

USA Today has a big story asking why CEOs aren't blogging in droves. I think they are making a bigger deal out of this than is warranted. Often the most interesting corporate blogs are the ones that are written by the rank and file. They come from the passionate "gut" of the company, not necessarily from the top.

PR instinct tells us to have the executives - and only the execs - speak for the firm. But blogs break down these walls. We can now hear from everyone inside the heart of a corporation - if the company is willing to let them speak. I trust companies that are willing to do this. Sometimes it's the CEO, often times it isn't. Heck, customers could be the gut of your company.

When we buy we're not just buying from a bunch of executives. We're buying products and services produced by people at the gut. Let the people - the gut of your company - speak and convince us why we should buy. I am more likely to buy from Dell because of what Sam Decker writes on his blog than I did if Michael Dell wrote one. The reason is, I know Sam's blogging from the gut. With CEOs you can never tell. Entrepreneurs usually make good bloggers because they blog from the gut. Would Michael be a gut-blogger? One hopes.

The maverick CEOs - Mark Cuban, Bob Liodice, Alan Meckler and Bob Lutz - they all blog from the gut. They're naturals. Not every exec is a natural, but there's always someone in the rank in file who is. The moral of the story is, find someone who will blog from the gut whether they are at the top of the corporate food chain or the bottom.

Comments

[Rob S]

I think that every corporate CEO should at least have an internal blog to address the company on a regular (at least once a month) basis. There's a lot of scrutiny on the actions of corporate executives these days and it's very important that the CEO set the tone for an organization in a way that is easily disseminated and easily consumed. A blog is an excellent way to communicate those messages.

I agree that an outside blog has more impact when it's coming from a rank and file member of the organization.

[Debbie Weil]

Great point that some CEOs are "naturals" who can "blog from the gut." Makes me wonder if they're also exceptionally good communicators offline. I.e. genuine, straight, no bullshit. And if "good blogging" can be taught to senior execs for whom it doesn't come naturally. Waddya think??

[JennyD]

You know, I just read the GM blog, and it sounds completely disconnected from the real world. For the past three days, all I've heard about GM is bond ratings in the toilet, sales falling, layoffs. But the GM blog is all happy talk, great new vehicles, etc.

It sort of points out what a lot of people suspect--that the folks who run GM are totally out of touch with what's going on. There's nothing here about rising gas prices, hybrids, etc.

Maybe this is blog for American car nuts only. But...I don't think you sustain the nation's largest auto company by appealing to a few car enthusiasts.

I think blogging about bad news in ways that would show these folks know what's up would be good for them.

[Aimee Kessler Evans]

This is a great post. As the "keeper" (although I prefer "Queen") of my company's blog, I can tell you -- the posts that get the most traffic on my blog are the ones written by our "guts" team.

The posts from our sales staff, account managers, etc -- the folks who are on the front lines of our client campaigns -- time and time again are the most visited and most linked-to.

Why? Because even though I'm also working in Web marketing and PR, they're the ones who are actively working in search and web marketing campaigns for clients across different verticals. They're the ones watching client metrics and budgets scrupulously. Their posts provide real insight into what we do, how we think, and what DigitalGrit really does.

You couldn't have been more correct with this post. For sure, the views of those people in the "guts" of the company are far more compelling (in most cases) than those of us in the back office.

[Amy Gahran]

Ah, this gets to the heart of the white elephant of organizational communications: Are companies willing to openly give up trying to control the flow of information about their activities, performance, and goals?

They've really never been able to, but will they let go of that illusion? What might be the consequences?

Any company that allows gut-level blogging would be taking a major step in that direction. Yes, it's risky -- but probably not as risky as ignoring the public conversation and the true flow of information. People do talk, after all.

- Amy Gahran
Editor, CONTENTIOUS