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Is Blogging now a mainstream activity?

by | May 24, 2005 | blogging, Uncategorized

I’ve been collecting articles and information about how the blogging phenomena has started to change the relationship between Product Management and our customers. This is a more specific niche than how blogging is changing marketing for example – but still lots of data.

One article that caught my eye this morning was on the front page of CNN of all things. “Marketers Take A Shine to Blogs” basically stating that blogging is becoming mainstream. There is even the (now passe?) reference to ClueTrain Manifesto.

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More on Corporate Blogging

by | Apr 18, 2005 | blogging, evilzenscientist, Uncategorized

I’m in Toronto for LinuxWorld – and I’m looking at more relevant articles on blogging in a semi-closed corporate world. Next thing I find a very apt summary of this at Claire’s Alternate Version of Reality. Seems like Sun has a pretty pragmatic and open policy on employee blogging.

So in the words of Claire Giordano – who worked on the OpenSolaris project:

This conversation made me wonder – if you work for a company that doesn’t yet encourage employee blogging, and you’re wondering about whether you should influence your company to start blogging, where do you go from there? How do you go from wondering about whether to encourage blogging to articulating the benefits to the business to assessing cultural compatibility to persuading key influencers – and finally, to working the logistics?

Next thing I noticed was that all of the seminal blogging and disruptive marketing sources are noted – the Cluetrain Manifesto; as well as Tim Brays more recent posts on blogging.

The post is worth a read – it is certainly informative about the approach that Sun takes to blogging and the benefits they get from it.

Even Robert Scoble gets a mention..

“Thought Leadership” – Open-minded, Passionate and Honest.

by | Mar 28, 2005 | blogging, evilzenscientist, Uncategorized

I’ve been hunting around for examples of teams blogging on specific areas of specialty. Most pointedly my search has been for online examples of the nebulous area – “Thought Leadership”

Several CxO blogs promoting this – including Debbie Weil on CEO Thought Leadership:

First, blogging is writing. That’s all it is. Good blogging is good writing. It is not copywriting. That is, writing-for-hire whose purpose is to sell someone else’s products or services. So for you, Bob, a blog might serve as an outlet for itchy fingers to sound off on topics / issues / bugaboos that come up in the course of your copywriting assignments. Do you have that urge? If you do, that’s a raison d’etre for your blog. If you don’t, well… I understand.

I like the comment on having an urge to express. On my personal blog I write more about how I came back to blogging

I also liked this from James McGovern – an IT Enterprise Architect blog:

The difference between generally available opinions and thought leadership are the difference between night and day. Opinions tend to be emotional, reactional and narrowly focused. Thought leadership on the other hand serves to introduce ideas and concepts to individuals using factual, open-minded, disciplined approaches.

Especially in the area of technology this seems like a great approach to communication. It suggests a divergence from the traditional marketing-led approach to blogging and more of an unbiased (is that the word I’m meaning?) discussion of the technologies and issues at hand.

Open-minded, Passionate and Honest.

Summed up by this:

Employees will be blogging in their off hours if it’s fun for them. Edwin K., the primary author of the Collaxa blog, actually used the words “fun” in describing his 2 and 1/2 years thus far of evangelizing the business process management and BPEL space. Fun, passion, challenge, enthusiasm: It’s the only way the commitment will be maintained.