Comments on: Corporate Blogging

By: Lindsey Monroe

Lindsey Monroe — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:45:29 +0000

Sarah,

Thanks for the resources. I’ve been busy brainstorming for future posts. I think investor relations will make a great topic for a post because laws have even been changed in order for organizations to share financial information with shareholders online. Look for an upcoming post on this subject.

By: Lindsey Monroe

Lindsey Monroe — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:43:04 +0000

Heather,

You got it. Corporate blogging isn’t just a nice idea for companies to take part in, but some companies, such as Dell, have literally been forced into social media usage to stay afloat. Without that customer relationship, a company’s market share will disappear. Not only has Stonyfield Farm embraced social media to reach its customers, it makes sure to uphold the highest of standards to maintain its online relationship with customers.

By: Sarah Lokitis

Sarah Lokitis — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:05:11 +0000

Lindsey, you presented very clear points about guidelines for establishing transparent corporate blogs. Microvision, a small technology driven company, has implemented these guidelines in their corporate blog. Yesterday, Shel Holtz wrote on his blog about how Microvision’s official blog launched a new effort in investor relations. Like you stated in your post, corporate blogs normally have to stay away from revealing too much because of legal and regulatory issues. The investor-focused blogging effort has been laid out to improve transparency for Microvision. The group blog was launched at the end of 2008 and is continuing its efforts to improve authenticity and transparency for investor relations. The company allows investors to post questions that will be answered on the company’s earnings conference call. The investors have responded by posting several questions. Microvision’s risk taking has appeared to pay off and will set the stage for future investor relations efforts in other companies. Microvision has shown that corporate blogging does not have to be so authoritative and can really create a dialogue between all audiences.

Here is the link to Shel Holt’z post:
http://blog.holtz.com/index.php/weblog/ir_blog_makes_ir_history/

Here is the link to Microvision’s Investor Relations post:
http://www.microvision.com/displayground/?cat=13

By: Heather Thoreson

Heather Thoreson — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:21:39 +0000

For corporate blogging, it is important to know the strategies your company wants to take. I agree with you Lindsey when you say that corporate blogs can build trust as long as the boundaries are open. Christine Halvorson, from Halvorson New Media with Stonyfield Farm, has started at least five corporate blogs and has developed strategies for effective corporate blogging. On her blog, which you can find at http://chrishalvorson.typepad.com/, she says that corporate blogging is important because it establishes a two-way communication dialogue with their customer. Talking with your customers is an important aspect for any company. You mentioned Jeff Jarvis, and you can just see why in the example of Dell, that you should never just ignore your customers. You need to engage them and begin the conversation, starting with the corporation.