The Four Noble Truths of Blogging.
A fabulous approach to thinking about blogging, and some pretty modern thinking about Zen Buddhism tossed in for good measure.
My favorite line in the whole post: simply showing up and keeping at it will teach you more than anyone else can.
Top Ten Lame Excuses for Not Adopting Web 2.0
Web 2.0 is more than just blogging, of course. My faves on the list:
9) My CIO tells me we should just use email if we all want to collaborate.
7) Blogs are for losers with too much time on their hands. (ouch)
3) Communities will never really exist for B2B.
2) I thought Wiki was Al Gore’s new nickname.
The Project for Excellence in Journalism’s State of the News Media annual report (with thanks to the Higher Ed Marketing blog for bringing this to my attention) lists seven major trends to watch. Here is a revised version, with apologies and thanks to the authors, to look at these trends in light of corporate communications:
*Do more to think through the implications of this new era of shrinking ambitions.
Think about segmenting your marketing communications, but remember that your customers are overwhelmed with information. Less is more, I’ll say again.
*Become more aggressive about developing a new economic model.
If you understand how Google Ads works, you are ahead of the curve. But remember it’s just a twist on a traditional model. Think beyond advertising when thinking about how to use the internet to your advantage.
*Does the investment community see your business as part of a declining industry or an emerging one in transition?
Here is the chance to assert your vision and take risks.
*There are growing questions about whether the dominant ownership model of the last generation, the public corporation, is suited to the transition companies must now make.
Think about wikis, open source software, YouTube, MySpace, to name a few. Then think about how you are ignoring or embracing them, and what effect that may have on your future business.
* The Argument Culture is giving way to something new, the Answer Culture.
No one really cares about what you (or I) think. They care about how what you think or do affects them or their bottom line.
*Blogging is on the brink of a new phase that will probably include scandal, profitability for some, and a splintering into elites and non-elites over standards and ethics.
Think about your customers and stakeholders and where the are on the connected continuum. Are you meeting their needs, or missing out entirely?
*While companies are becoming more serious about the Web, some are not clear about the online model that works best for them.
Again, think about your customers and stakeholders, and investigate what your top competitors are doing. If you can’t be first, at least model your web presence after something successful.
Does quantity trump quality? What is the correlation between the number of posts and readership? Depends on your readers and your industry, of course, but it bears thinking about.
John Cass addresses the question: How Often Should You Write A Blog? This is a question we’ve all had, especially in the planning and early stages of hosting a blog.
Blog on…