I want you to come with me on a little thought experiment.
Picture your typical local restaurant, on your typical Main Street, in your typical town. Actually, picture two local restaurants. With me so far?
Of course, the restaurants' owners wants to boost their business - who wouldn't - so they're going to try something new.
Once every few weeks, the owner of one of the restaurants walks out front with a megaphone and shouts to everyone within earshot "HEY EVERYONE! COME EAT AT MY RESTAURANT. IT'S THE BEST RESTAURANT IN TOWN. WE'VE GOT A TWO-FOR-ONE SPECIAL EVERY MONDAY. THE CRITICS LOVE US!" And then he goes back inside.
The other restaurant takes a different approach. A couple of times a week, the restaurant's chef (or sous chef or waiter) comes and sits down at one of the sidewalk tables for 30 minutes or so. They bring out some bread, maybe a bottle of house wine, and invite passers-by to have a chat about the latest special, the secret to turning out really good chicken marsala, or just spend some time retelling a funny anecdote from the previous night.
Tell me, which of these is going to have more impact on their business and standing in the community?
So, why am I bringing this up?
One of the line items in the job description for my new position is "Executive Blogging Strategy." While I've been taking a broader view and speaking with all of my new coworkers about blogging (and I'm pleased to see many of them are doing so already), it's the "executive" piece that I've really been thinking about.
I'm all for having our executives blog, and there are many examples inside and outside of IBM of executive blogs done really well (
Irving Wladawsky-Berger and
Sam Lawrence are two that come to mind). But there are also many examples I've come across where executive blogs are really nothing more than something a communications staffer writes and posts under the executive's name (sorry, probably best not to include any links here. But I'm sure you've all got your favorite examples.)
One of the amazing things about this local community of ours - the blogosphere - is that content talks. Content = credibility. It doesn't matter if you're a summer intern or an SVP, if you've got quality content and are willing to come to the table and engage with the community, that's all that matters.
So I think my advice to our executives - well, to anyone - who may be considering whether to blog or not, is going to be to look at what they're hoping to accomplish. Are they looking to be part of the conversation, or are they looking at this as a checkbox item because blogging is the new, cool thing to do? Are they trying to engage with their readers, customers, and colleagues in the industry, or do they see this as another extension of the marketing plan?
If it's the first case, then let me set them up with a blog as soon as possible. (Imagine if it was the owner of the restaurant himself was sitting down at that sidewalk table!)
But if they're just viewing this as another marketing tactic, I'd rather see the communications staffer that's ghostwriting the executive blog come out and blog themselves. Or the product manager that's providing the details to the communications staffer. Because it doesn't really matter whose title is at the top of the page as much as the authenticity of the voice, the quality of the content, and the willingness to engage and respond on feedback that's passed along.
What matters is
whether you're making the conversation smarter. And executives are in a unique position to make that happen - it just has to be their goal.