1. +
A Guide to Blogging
for CEOs
By Erin Champion

2. People will be talking about you
and your company whether you
+ like it or not, why not get in on
the conversation and increase
your company‘s authenticity.

3. What to blog about
I think CEO of the Huffington Post, a sort of consortium of bloggers, gave
some great advice when she spoke with John Stewart on the Daily Show:
―Blogging is not about perfectionism. Blogging is about
intimacy, immediacy, transparency and sharing your thoughts
the way you share them with a friend.‖
People are interested in your thoughts and spur of the moment ideas. Do
not overthink your blog posts. Posting entries about a great vacation spot, a
new favorite product or personal thoughts on the state of the economy will
transform you from a faceless figurehead, void of personality into a person
with unique thoughts and feelings.
But obviously you should not just be blogging about miniscule day-to-day
events, the main purpose is to be open and forthright about things going on
in the company, both good and bad. By being the first person to post things
about happenings within the company you will be able to shape the
+ conversation and get it headed in the direction you want it to go.

4. +
How to create a blog…It‘s easy!
There are plenty user-friendly sites that provide blog hosting on

the internet. If your company has a website and you have a
designer you could ask if she could get you started. Or you
could simply provide a link from your company‘s page to the
blog using and outside hosting site like:
Wordpress

Blogger


5. +
How often
Do I have
to post?
Make time for the blog..
Blogging shouldn‘t be a burden but it should be on your checklist. It‘s understandable that
you won‘t be making hourly or even daily posts, nor should you be expected to. Figure out
what makes sense for your company. It‘s better to go for quality over quantity. Your posts
should add something to the conversation about your company, not just regurgitate bland
information that‘s readily available elsewhere. Try to keep up with a quota that works for
you. And most importantly you want to make sure to blog when important events are
unfolding at your company in order to keep people informed.

6. +
Keep It Authentic
Do not mislead readers
If your blog says it‘s written by you then you should be the only

one writing it. The whole idea of writing a blog is to increase
the company‘s overall authenticity, when someone else writes
entries for you it contradicts the whole point of maintaining a
blog. If for some reason you feel the need to post something
written by another person inside or outside of the company
make sure that it is made clear to readers.

7. + This is about
conversations
Your blog provides a great
opportunity to get in on conversations
that are going on about your brand.
Your biggest fans and critics alike will
probably be checking in regularly to
see what you have to say and
commenting about your posts. While
you may not be able to personally
respond to the posts the blog
provides a great place for people
from your human resource and
customer service divisions to follow
up.

8. +
In times of crisis DO SOMETHING!
The public does not scrutinize companies when
all is well. Companies are put under the
magnifying glass during times of challenge and
extreme pressure. It is during these times in
which companies need to do all they can to
shape the discussion of the events that are
unfolding. And when would be a better time to
get the 411 straight from the horse‘s mouth
than in a time of trouble?

9. + Don‘t let someone steal your voice
―Today, whatever you say inside of a company will end up on a blog,‖
said Rusty Rueff, a former human resources executive at Electronic Arts
and PepsiCo. ―So you have a choice as a company — you can either be
proactive and take the offensive and say, ‗Here‘s what‘s going on,‘ or
you can let someone else write the story for you.‖
– New York Times, Nov. 4 2008
In the case of Gannett Company, the largest newspaper chain in
the US, someone else broke the story of their plan to cut 10% of
the workforce before the company could get a word in. The
culprit‘s name is Jim Hopkins, a former employee of the
company, Hopkins got the scoop and went public with it. There
were lots of anonymous comments written in response to the
post from employees who stated that this was the first they had
heard of the layoffs and that they would have been ―blindsided‖
without the blog. He still maintains his blog and asks for
donations of $5 a person because he asks, ―How else will you
learn about your layoff?‖

10. +
The CEO Strikes First
The case of Seesmic.com
Companies are blogging about their layoffs so that they can

control the message before and external source or angry
employee puts their own spin on things. When Seesmic, a
video conversation site, had to layoff employees CEO Loic Le
Meur posted a video on the site letting people know about the
layoffs. The move was a preventative measure because Le
Meur knew that if he did not post a video addressing the cuts
someone would beat him to it. In the end his vlog post was
well received and most of the comments he got were positive.

11. Say something…Even if there‘s nothing to say
In November 2008 CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban was in a legal
bind. The SEC was charging Cuban with insider trading in 2004. Instead of
staying quiet Cuban decided to do what he legally could to keep his blog
readers informed and be as transparent as possible. While it was not it
Cuban‘s best legal interest to comment on the case he released a letter from
his attorney on the blog that stated his situation and plan of action. A total of
797 comments were written in response to Cubans post; comments ranged
from supportive to highly critical. Either way Cuban was not in any way
hiding the fact that he was being prosecuted and made it clear to the public
what was going on. There will always be critics, but giving the public as
much information as possible will ultimately increase authenticity.
+

12. + Is it all up to you?
The answer put simply is No. By maintaining a blog you set a great
example for your company to follow but in order to maximize your
online potential you need to integrate other aspects of your company
into the online world. Depending on what type of company you run
people from human resources all the way to clerical staff should at
least have the opportunity to maintain a blog or some sort of online
presence. By fully integrating your company online not only are you
being transparent and authentic but you are going to be able to
provide better assistance to the people who use your products and/or
services. The online presence needs to be a team effort and setting
the tone for your company‘s web presence and supporting the overall
online strategy both internal and external views of the company are
likely to be quite positive.
lead by example

13. +
Top CEO Blogs
If you‘re a little hesitant about diving right into the blogosphere
and still unsure of just how to start look at some of the best
CEO blogs for ideas and guidelines.
Blogs that consistently top the lists are:
CEO of Sun Microsystems, Jonathan Schwartz:
Jonathan's Blog
CEO of Craigslist, Craig Newmark:
Craig‘s Blog
Chief Software Architect at Adobe, Kevin Lynch:
Kevin‘s Blog

14. +
Sources
http://mariosundar.wordpress.com/2006/07/09/top-10-ceo-blogs/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/technology/start-
ups/05blog.html?_r=1&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/technology/start-
ups/05blog.html?_r=1&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
http://www.zillow.com/blog/difficult-times-difficult-decisions/2008/10/
http://www.debbieweil.com/blog/arianna-huffington-explains-blogging-to-
jon-stewart-more-fun-than-sex/
http://www.debbieweil.com/blog/
Photo credits:
hands typing: image courtesy of : baronsquirrel, dad-in-training's
photostream, flickr, cc license
Pic with pogo stick: keamysparadise'sphotostream, flickr, CC license
Conversation pic: ed Yourdon, flickr, cc license