The business blog backlash is nigh

There's Dave Hitz...NetApp founder.

http://blogs.netapp.com/dave

Mark Cuban comes to mind. Maybe we'll see more media CEOs before the likes of CEOs in manufacturing, etc.

But in a sense, we're kind of saying that the kind of dialogue in the below articles is pretty much an academic exercise ...

• Why CEOs Should Blog
• Why CEOs Shouldn't Blog

Here's the link Steve's trying to point to:

http://www.globalprblogweek.com/2005/09/19/taylor-why-ceos-should-not-blog/

It's an article I wrote for Global PR Week 2.0 that's very apropos about some reasons why CEOs shouldn't succumb to the blogging "phenomenon".

Who cares whether a CEO blogs or not? I don't see any widespread desire to hear the meandering thoughts of a CEO and they're sure as heck not going to blog corporate strategy.

Dave's right. His article was one of two articles I was trying to point to. Here's the other one:
http://www.globalprblogweek.com/2005/09/19/sessum-why-ceos-should-blog

CEO's are in a very difficult legal position when speaking to the press, public, or writing blogs. Lawyers sue companies and CEO's all the time for disclosing information. The SEC has very strict and unintuitive rules around public disclosures.

CEO's are pretty much restricted to speaking from a script of previously released information. They can't talk about the next big thing. But, I can...I'm a mid level manager. Read my blog, Don Dodge on The Next Big Thing at http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/

Disclosure, I work for Microsoft in the Emerging Business Team. We work with VC's and start-ups to find the next big thing.

Whether a CEO should blog or not is academic, as Steve says, with strong points on both sides. No one expects the CEO to communicate about corporate strategy in such a public space anyway and a CEO blog/vlog/podcast will attract its audience just like any other website. At least a CEO blogger will be familiar with this media for correct implementation and guidelines for use (or not) of collaborative technologies like dark blogs and wikis within the company.

The large French retail chain "Leclerc Group" has an active CEO blogger, Michel Edouard Leclerc:

http://www.michel-edouard-leclerc.com/blog/

Dave Taylor's article on CEO's and blogging at the Global PR Blog week was an excellent discussion on some of these issues. I'd only add that each company will have different approaches to blogging. If you are the CEO of a small technology engineering firm, and you hold the patents on all of your company's products, you probably should be the one to blog. An executive of a large fortune 500 company, I am not so sure. Bob Lutz might blog because he is passionate about cars. But as Chuck Tanowitz suggested in one of his posts, Bob does not really reveal his passion for cars.

John

The emphasis for business use of blogs seems to continually be at the corporate level. That's where the focus is at least. I'm sick of it!

I contend that SMBs are the ones able to make the best use of blogs, particularly for marketing purposes.

Corporate bloggers like Scoble may be business blogging's "pop stars," but the singular soul that continues to inspire me is a man by the name of J.D. Iles, owner of a small sign shop in New Hampshire. His signsneversleep.com blog is a model all aspiring small business bloggers can learn from. Maybe even corporate types as well.

You can have a look if you speak french http://www.michel-edouard-leclerc.com/blog/m.e.l/index.php
Michel Edouard Leclerc is the CEO of a big firm of supermarkets "Leclerc". (the post of the 3/10 is about blogging by the way)

I agree with Paul Chaney's comments and several other comments posted here. Large public companies will probably always be skittish about blogging, but blogging is a great forum for small and mid-sized businesses. My organization has been blogging about workers comp for two years now, and we have gained a loyal following of clients and prospects that have an interest in the topic. Our CEO contributes to the blog, but most posts are written by managers. Over the two years of blogging, we've seen several insurance and HR-related weblogs making a fine go of things and a viable blog community is gaining traction in this area, as evidenced by our growing blogroll.

Every business is expert in their given field. Blogging as an expert source and a filter for news and information is good business blog model, and can be a valuable service to current and future customers, vendors, partners, etc.

I strongly agree with one thing ... the success of the blogs depends on the passion of the blogger and the relation of that passion to a target audience. Regardless of company title or position, CEO or janitor, the blogger has to want to do it. Whether or not they have time for it is besides the point. If it's important to them then they'll do it, and if it contains that shared passion for a certain focus between reader and blogger it'll be successful.

Who cares whether a CEO blogs or not? I don't see any widespread desire to hear the meandering thoughts of a CEO and they're sure as heck not going to blog corporate strategy.

Dave's right. His article was one of two articles I was trying to point to

CEO's are in a very difficult legal position when speaking to the press, public, or writing blogs. Lawyers sue companies and CEO's all the time for disclosing information. The SEC has very strict and unintuitive rules around public disclosures.