BLOGGING POLICY FOR CORPORATE AND EMPLOYEES

Features of Blogs High search ranking and easily customizable Easy to add photos, videos Low Cost, with Little maintenance User generated content Easy to add Links Comments Section RSS Syndication Reverse Chronology

Components of Blogging ( The 4 C’s) - content Provide service to your readers Access original source of information Share knowledge and information Add value and create engagement Provide opinions

Components of Blogging ( The 4 C’s) - community Get involved Listen to your audience Understand your different audiences Seek opinion rather than just giving Don’t overreact

Components of Blogging ( The 4 C’s) - consistency Post regularly Be genuine and authentic Stay focused on the subject Be active on other networks Don’t indulge in promotions

Components of Blogging ( The 4 C’s) - clarity Communicate clearly Make simple and compelling promotions Interrelate different topics Explain difficult/niche terms Add citations and links

What are Corporate Blogs? Used internally to enhance communications to reinforce the culture inside the organization Used externally for branding/marketing/public relations Facilitates an open channel for two-way communication Enhance electronic word of mouth/viral marketing Tells readers the inside-story of the company

Reasons for Corporate Blogging Dealing with Expectations Dealing with problems Online Reputation Management Networking- Make valuable business contact Improve Search Engine visibility Creating a new touch-point for your customers Providing a creative outlet Global reach and worldwide audience Market Research and Access to information Brand building and community development

Reasons for Individual Blogging Become an active conversationalist in your field Offers Expertise and sharing Develop personal branding Employees as brand ambassadors Display your creative abilities Explore hidden talents Build trust and transparency Networking and engagement Boost your career Interactions and knowledge transfer

Kinds of Blogging Policy – corporate Identify and know your target audience Align subject with company’s goals and objectives Respect copyrights and safeguard confidential information Ensure that Posts are verified and approved before posting Be aware of Defamation, IP theft and Plagiarism

Corporate Blogging policy Be transparent and authentic Be respectful to employees, competitors Blogging is about conversation not PR and Advertisements Not a substitute for customer service, rather a supporting tool to it. Do not use unethical slurs or abusive language.

Kinds of Blogging Policy - individual Get the posts and topic verified from your manager Respect company’s business conduct policies and guidelines Respect copyrights, fair use and financial disclosure laws Respect the company’s confidential and proprietary information. Be respectful to colleagues, customers and competitors.

Add value by providing worthwhile information and perspective Find out who else is blogging on the same topic and cite them Ensure it does not interfere with your work commitments. Don’t get offensive while replying to the negative comments Use disclaimer while writing on a specific issue. Be yourself Kinds of Blogging Policy - individual

Blogger code of ethics Tell the truth. Write intelligently and with accuracy. Acknowledge and correct mistakes promptly. Preserve the original post, use notations to show the changes and maintain integrity Never delete a post. Don’t ever delete comments unless they are spam or off-topic. Reply to emails and comments when appropriate, and do so promptly.

Blogger code of ethics Strive for high quality posts – including basic spell-check, typos etc. Stay on topic. Respect other’s opinions, even when you disagree Link to online references and original source materials directly. Disclose conflicts of interest. Keep private issues and topics, private; don’t mix the private & the professional.

Legal Rights to Blogger Intellectual property rights Defamation and freedom of speech Privacy and Confidentiality Labour law issues and employee blogs Bloggers’ rights as journalists

Blogging platform Blogger- Blogging platform of Google

Blogging platform Wordpress - very popular platform that offers wide range of plug-ins

Blogging platform Typepad- paid blogging tools, good for professional bloggers

Blogging platform Blogs at Myspace, Friendster, LiveJournal etc.

Blog hosting options You can host your blog at blogging platforms like blogger, wordpress etc. The web address would be something like www.yoursitename.wordpress.com

Blog hosting options You can use your own web hosting account to host your blog. For example, if you already have a website online, make your blog an extension of that site by publishing it to a sub-directory on your site. Thus, the web address would be something like www.yoursitename.com/blog

Getting started with blogs

Getting started with blogs 1. Log into company’s blog site/editor 2. Look for the “dashboard” and click on “write”

Getting started with blogs 3. Enter a suitable title for your post under “Title” box 4. Type your message under “post” section

Getting started with blogs 5. Select the appropriate “category” from drop down menu 6. Don’t forget to add tags to your post

Getting started with blogs 7. Enter a summary(a few lines) to your post under the “excerpt” column 8. Check the grammar and spellings before publishing

What to blog New products or services Summaries or reviews of books or articles Live Blogging of an event or conference Research findings, tools, reports or surveys Office culture and occasions Product demonstration

Outsourcing your blog You can hire someone else to blog for you, instead of adding any additional workload to your employees.

Advantages of outsourcing Time-saving exercise for employees Fresh eye on the company Writing expertise and quality content Demonstrate openness Writers already have a good network

Disadvantages of outsourcing Bloggers won’t know your company from inside Difficulty in understanding corporate culture Require more supervision Lack personal interest and organizational touch Less networking and engagement

Risks and Challenges Analytics and Metrics IP Disclosure Implied warranty and copyright PR Issue: Confidentiality and Negative posts Blogs after employees’ exit

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