PowerPoint Presentation

Corporate Blogging

Sabrina I. Pacifici

Founder, Editor, Publisher, Web Manager

LLRX.com (www.llrx.com), the unique, free, independent webzine on legal research, resources, applications, and technology for librarians and legal professionals.

& Author of beSpacific (www.bespacific.com)

Accurate, focused law and technology news, updated daily

Presentation Overview

Blog facts

Overall blog stats

Blogging applications

Blog features

Tracking blogs at large

Corporate blogging stats

Why blog

What to blog about

Got Content!

Blogging Essentials benefits, people, time, cost

Elements/components of good blogs

Content creation and management

Marketing and branding, in-house and to the public

Blogs as knowledge management tools

Adjunct to portals, websites, intranets

Examples of focused, topical blogs

More reasons you should blog

Tech companies lead the way in corporate blogging

News and resources on corporate blogging

Facts about blogs

Parts of a blog consider which elements to use

How many blogs are there? Millions and millions.

But how many are updated regularly?

A mere 2% of Adult Internet users maintain Web diaries or Web blogsContent omnivores are among the heaviest overall users of the Internet.

Blog Software An overview of some options

Tracking Blogs

Stats on Corporate Bloggers:
http://www.sifry.com/alerts/archives/000390.html, October 17, 2004

Why Blog?

Inexpensive, non-techie, easy/quick to launch

Capture, annotate information

Indicate document relevancy, provide taxonomy, create info relationships

Make info visible that would otherwise be overlooked

Document management tool, from micro to macro (personal, departmental, organizational)

Excellent adjunct/alternative to email overload

Leverage your research and ability to disseminate it

Create and promote key relationships within and across departments, groups and services

Expand services to those across your organization

Increase productivity and info exchange through better time management and resource allocation

Seamless access via internal network

Read the website, receive RSS feeds or updates through email

Promote internal marketing for individual, group/dept. and/team initiatives, projects (long and short term)

Content is searchable, browsable, archived and users can comment

Alternative to vast, impenetrable file folders of emails

valuable database is created and expanded continuously

Inexpensive, practical KM system that does not require lots of $

Blogging Essentials benefits, people, time, cost

Is a blog the app you should choose

Who are you trying to serve, and why

Needs assessment

Have a specific goal, review progress and assess value

Who is responsible for maintenance/updating

Blogs can be back-office or front and center

Determine scopeor niche

Establishing and populating the blog(s) with content

review resource options with key members of departments, practice groups or areas whom you wish to serve.

Obtain stakeholder buy-in

Demo the service, request suggestions, comments and input

Respond quickly by adapting the blog to incorporate additional data

narrow or expand content and specifications

Is one blog sufficient, or do you need multiple blogs?

Address usability, functionality, value for time spent

Stay on messagefocus, focus, focus readers have limited time

Verify, vet, validate content

choose your source materials very carefully

Blogs can they replace an intranet?

From Dave Pollard's How to Save the World The Knowledge Process, http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/

What to Blog About? Share the Knowledge

new or ongoing projects close the loop

new services, or current ones that require better promotion/info dissemination

KM initiatives

Evaluation, design, implementation, roll-out, testing

Tasks group/departmental

Organizational tool, management tool

Password database, subscription database, calendar of events

training

presentations

topical/subject specific research

practice development

clients

virtual reference, electronic services, cataloging

from topics specific or broad, it is up to you!

What Does Blogging Involve Got Content!

Assignment: monitor, track, locate (through all avenues availablefee and free) find needle in haystack and make it look easy!

validate, verify, analyze

review, edit, append info as reqd (PDF, Word docs, Excel, graphics, audio, video)

seek feedback, comments, contributions

publish, disseminate, update (the updating part is the real kicker)commitment is key!

dont start what you cant continue Feed the Blog!

time management is essential

Example of a blog used for development, collaboration, testing

Blogs facilitate organization of, and access to, relevant data by topics

Example of a very focused topical blog: GM Smallblock Engine Blog

Example of a topical blog with broader focus but still subject oriented stays on message.

More Reasons Why You Should Blog

Identify and target your users

Provide channels of information

Choice/selection in data stream

From the general to the granular, your readers can choose if you offer them a range of content

Supplementing info/data/resources from websites, e-newsletters, paid subscription services, online databases

Aggregate your current publishing formats

Intranet

Portal

Websites

Handouts/brochures

Power Points

Emails

Newsletters

Branding/marketing vehicle for your library good PR

Offers tangible, ongoing documentation of work product

Justify resources, staffing, additional services

Where is that report, news article, survey, training manual?

Promote, maximize internal collaboration, knowledge base management of resources, tasks and projects

Real time publishing

Direct, no intermediary reqd

You are the expert

Blogging will focus and expand upon your skills

Level the playing fieldminimize barriers and increase visibility, communications, integration of resources

A Product Blog"By announcing a new product on a blog you are creating an invitation to a discussion about your product. On-line press releases don't allow readers to post comments to provide feedback or to ask questions. As more and more blog readers use newsreaders, people are very apt to grab an RSS feed for a blog they find interesting. That creates an opportunity for the blog to continue the discussion that starts with a new product announcement. http://contentcentricblog.typepad.com/Think about products and services informing and supporting users

Consider the options, value and flexibility offered by RSS Feeds

News feeds help you get the word out about updates to your blog

In-house or to the public

Offer your readers/community an alternative to email only, or as a supplement to it for those who opt-in

Review websites you use that offer feeds

To locate feeds, look for the orange icon or button that says RSS, XML, Syndicate or Atom.

Microsoft has over 800 employees bloggingtake a look

Bloggers from Sun Microsystems

CEOs Who Blog

News and Resources About Corporate Blogging

Blogging for Business With readers flocking to their Web postings, execs are finding blogs useful for plugging not just their products but their points of view. Business Week, August 9, 2004 http://tinyurl.com/4mukc

Blogging With The Boss's Blessing More companies are helping employees to speak freely -- and bond with customers. Business Week, June 28, 2004 http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_26/b3889107.htm

Blogging behind the firewall InfoWorlds internal Weblog started as an experiment. Already, its indispensable. InfoWorld, May 24, 2004 http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/05/21/21OPconnection_1.html

The Corporate Blog is Catching On, New York Times, June 23, 2003 http://tinyurl.com/f10d

Google sees benefits in corporate blogging, Company says internal blogs can be used to track meeting notes, share diagnostics information and code. InfoWorld, November 18, 2004 http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/11/18/HNgooglecorpblog_1.html

HP quietly begins Web log experiment Hewlett-Packard Co. has become the latest IT vendor to dip its toes in the wild world of Web logging, or blogging. IDG News Service, 23 Nov 2004, http://tinyurl.com/689r4

See beSpacific.coms regular updates on blogging at http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/cat_blogs.html

Blogging policy examples Charlene Li, http://forrester.typepad.com/charleneli/2004/11/blogging_policy.html