Liz Strauss.com

That new corporate blogger — the one that was trained in relationships — has found out that the company doesn’t exist. In other words, she’s found that no one is talking about the company or its products.

That’s serious trouble.

People talk about what they notice and what’s to important them.

Can’t do much business when you’re invisible.

Our blogger needs to start meeting people on her road trip.

Meeting People

Almost always, in the first question set about corporate blogging is a valid and important question that is best yet fully answered. That question is . . .

What do we blog about?

The specifics of that answer is decided with an ear to customers, prospects, and the conversation that is already happening. That means that our blogger needs to find the conversation and meet the people who are already having them. She can do that by

• interacting with the blogs in her industry both corporate and individual.
• by finding and joining online communities and forums that discuss issues topical and current to the company’s interests.
• by networking with other blogs and bloggers in her city.
• by attending blog conferences and meetings.

and in all cases by letting everyone know that she is an enthusiastic learner, there because her company sent her and supports her. Bloggers are generous, helpful people. They’ll take the cue and help her build a network of information and contacts.

Blogging is relationships. Our blogger has made the first of many.

Liz Strauss

That new corporate blogger — the one that was trained in relationships — has been gently correcting misinformation. . . .

Missing the Engine

Suppose however, on this imaginary roadtrip, you look out your windshield and there are no customers. No one is talking about you. You’ve used every search tool, and you can’t find a comment about your company or your products anywhere on the Internet. All information about you is on your own company website.

At first you might think that means you control the conversation, but it does not. It means you are talking. No one is taking a word that you say home with them.

You’ve got a problem. It’s much bigger than a simple flat tire. Your car has no engine.

In the world view of more than 50 million bloggers, you are nothing.

• You don’t exist.
• They can’t see you.
• They can’t hear you.
• They won’t be telling their families and friends about you.

Silence in the world of noise and clutter goes unnoticed — great for a spy, not good for an enterprise.

Call It Opportunity and Join Your Customers

An enterprise who understands conversational marketing gets over the initial hit to the corporate ego and considers this an ultimate opportunity. Though none would wish it, having no message out there means you can be there, be part of the action, join with customers as they decide what your brand and your message will be.

Oh. Did you think you did that — choose your brand? Companies never decide their brand. They only decide what they want it to be. Customers use their own experiences to determine what the actually brand stands for.

By becoming part of the conversation the enterprise has an opportunity to listen in and become part of the process as customers determine the values of its brand. The organization can hear first hand and incorporate into its culture a care for the needs and desires of the customers the enterprise wants to attract and keep.

Each time an employee touches a customer — every package filled, every customer call, every customer letter answered, every customer interaction, large or small — though comments and blogging — offers the enterprise a chance to enhance or degrade the brand value they have.

The blogger can help customers see the human face of the enterprise by being an authentic human being as she visits other industry blogs, acting in the same way as they might when visiting other industry company offices where customers are in the room.

Listening and learning probably should stay her chief goal until the corporate blog is launched. However, if she has information that would add value or insight to what people are discussing, she shouldn’t be reluctant to join in with comments. People will notice her, particularly if she’s a respectful visitor who is truly interested in what the blogger and other visitors have to say.

Friendships are made in the comment box of various blogs, just as they are made around campfires and in meeting rooms.

Conversations lead naturally to finding out where our new blogger blogs. Folks will be interested in seeing the blog. As soon as the corporate blog goes live, our blog and our blogger will have an audience. People will come interested in what she has to say because she only talked when she had a point that moved the conversation forward. She’s already becoming a thought leader.

Liz Strauss

That new corporate blogger — the one that was trained in relationships — has been listening . . .

Fixing a Flat

You’re a new corporate blogger and hopefully, when you’ve gone out to find customers, you’ve found a few, maybe plenty. Basically that means in the world view of 50 million bloggers, some folks have noticed your company and your products.

If you find more than a handful of customers, it’s likely that some of them are saying some things that aren’t true or aren’t nice. Should you speak up even before you have a blog?

You bet. You wouldn’t keep driving, if you had a flat tire. Bad information needs correcting as soon as you know that it exists. Here’s how to do that.

1. Fill out the comment form. In the comment form you’re asked for a name, email address, url, and a message. Give a real name (first and last if you’re comfortable with that), an email account that links to your company’s website url.

2. Write a message. Choose a voice that is friendly, conversational, and helpful. Agree with the truth of the message — even those parts that might be company errors. It’s okay to say that you’re working on them. Ask permission to correct misinformation you have noticed. Then go ahead and do so. Thank the blogger for the great discussion and for allowing you to leave a comment.

3. Don’t be shocked if your comment doesn’t appear right away. Many bloggers have technology that holds comments from first-time commenters to be moderated before they are posted. This is mostly to protect the blog from spammers and fly-by commenters who leave inappropriate or lewd comments.

4. What if your comment never shows up? One of two things has happened. The spam catcher ate your comment, and the blogger doesn’t know. Or for some reason the blogger decided not to publish it. Look for a contact link on the blog and email the blogger to mention that you don’t see your comment and wonder whether the blogger knows that you left one. That email could be the start of a new relationship.

5. Some bloggers will publish your comment, but won’t respond. If your comment gets a response, use what it says to decide whether to comment again. You are now part of a conversation. You’ve got experience with conversations. Blogging conversations work in much the same way as email, telephone, and face-to-face conversations do.

Whether the blogger responds to your comment or deletes it, he or she knows that you’re listening. That fact alone tends to change how bloggers act. In their book, Naked Conversations, Robert Scobel and Shel Israel describe this example.

Mike Toress is a lead program manager for MSN Spaces. . . . He said he used search services such as Technorati, Feedster, and Pubsub to quickly find and respond to any comments for or against MSN spaces. “It stops the rants,” he said. “A lot of times when you do that, there’s a ‘Sorry — I didn’t know you were listening’ reply. One guy posted, ‘Big retraction: I was wrong.’ What happens is that if they know you’re in the conversation, people get respectful. They may still crticize you, but they don’t lie.”

Blogging relationships are a lot like those in the 3-D world. We have trouble having a we-they relationship with someone we know we’ll be talking to.

Blogging makes “we” relationships happen where we-they relationships once were the norm.

Liz Strauss

That new corporate blogger — the one that was trained in relationships — is now ready to start that new corporate blog. Where does she start?

Let’s imagine she is you.

A Map and a Full Tank

To prepare for a corporate blog roadtrip, you need a map and a full tank of gas. You also need a route — a way to get the blogging content your stakeholders want you and need you to be blogging about. This vehicle runs best by observing, listening, getting to know the road for most of the first 100 miles.

Everything in business is about the people.

1. Can you see them? Can you hear them? Look and listen. Value relationships. Find out from the people –both inside and outside of the enterprise — what the people need and desire.

2. Can you find them? Look in your own building. Talk to the people who touch cutomers. Ask how they want you to influence their customers. Try simple blog searches for your company name and your products. Follow the searches to see what folks are saying.

3. Can you see the patterns? Take notes and remember from one conversation to the next. Listen for the things that folks aren’t saying — what are their unexpressed needs and desires.

4. Can you imagine yourself in their position? Take on the points of view of the people you listen to. Rescale your world view to look as others do. See where your organization fits in their world. Know what they think of you. Know whether they think of you at all.

5. Can you persuade yourself and your organization to make room for the information you just gathered? Bring back the conversations you heard — from inside and outside the enterprise — in a formal fashion. Point out the patterns. Pick two or three idea threads that seem to flow through every conversation. Use those threads to form your first short-term blogging goals.

You might call this the prework, the proverbial packing before a long road trip. It’s a step that many corporate bloggers miss.

Listening is something humans don’t do particularly well. However, we’re far more adept than organizations are at this skill. That’s how and why blogging helps an enterprise develop positive relationships with customers. It is a person listening and talking to other people.

Most relationships start best when they are highly packed with active listening.

Liz Strauss