The Corporate Blogging Book: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know to Get it Right by Debbie Weil, Bob Lutz (Foreword by)

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Synopsis

So many blogs, so little time. Is it too late to start, now that the blogging craze has reached critical mass? Absolutely not!

Picture a focus group, a viral marketing campaign, and your own news station all rolled up into one. Now wrap that into a low-cost, easy-to-use, always-on Web site. That is what effective corporate blogging is.

At first, business blogging was ideal for free agents and entrepreneurs who needed a cheap way to get their message out. Now, the big guys are tapping the amazing power of a great blog. But the key word is great. A corporate blog that's boring or deceptive is worse than none at all.

In this indispensable guide, online marketing consultant Debbie Weil explores all aspects of corporate blogging, answering important questions such as:
* How much time will it take?
* What about the legal risks?
* Who in my company should blog?
* What are the best corporate blogs out there?

In an informal, provocative style and without technical jargon, Weil explains how to create a blog that's engaging, smart, and likely to grow an audience.

Library Journal

Blogging has become not just fashionable but mandatory in today's business world, but some managers have taken to it more readily than others. Here are two approaches to the subject. Weil, publisher of the e-newsletter WordBiz Report, conducts readers on a fun and freewheeling excursion into the world of blogs for managers and for employees who want their managers to allow blogging. Written informally, much like blogs themselves, the narrative interweaves stories about corporate executives who blog with tips on both the value of blogging and on how to start doing so. She discusses the problems and pitfalls of corporate blogging and even has practical advice for the most dreaded fear that CEOs have about blogging, loss of control: "Get over it." She includes discussions of wikis and podcasting, as well as legal resources, and has some sample policies and guidelines. For those not up on the language of blogs, she includes a glossary and a list of recommended readings. Her bottom line? "The essence of blogging is being real, and real isn't necessarily perfect." Flynn's book, on the other hand, is more strictly for CEOs fearful of blogging. True to her title, Flynn (founder & executive director, ePolicy Institute) includes "36 blog rules to keep you out of court." She takes a fairly defensive stance, considering rules, risks, and attacks. The impression one gets is that if your company must have a blog, let the lawyers and PR people have considerable control of the process. In the end, says Flynn, "Don't let the Blogosphere bully you." Larger business collections should purchase both books; smaller collections should purchase Weil's.-Robert Harbison, Western Kentucky Univ. Lib., Bowling Green Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Biography

Debbie Weil is a popular speaker, marketing consultant, and publisher of the award- winning e-newsletter WordBiz Report, which has 15,000 subscribers. She has appeared in print and on television numerous times to explain how successful corporate blogging really works.