Blogging Fear Factor
No this isn’t about eating worms or jumping from cars as the Fear Factor TV show has made infamous.
Rather this is about why it seems that so few corporate PR folks blog. Many advocate, but few actually blog or so it appears. (Calling all corporate PR folks to send me a message in a bottle.) Is it me or are agencies, consultants, and marketing and product folks the most likely to post? Are corporate folks sitting on the sidelines because they lack the time, ability or inclination? Do we prefer to delegate to full time bloggers or our agencies, or is our absence from the blogging rolls grounded in job preservation and fear?
Anecdotally, one corporate person confided in me that blogging was the surest way to derail a career, and another couldn’t possibly understand the benefit of talking about how her company engaged the blogosphere. Given this reluctance, it is not surprising that only between 4 and 10 percent of America’s largest companies have an external facing blog.
And some blogging purists would argue that this reluctance is good thing. Let's keep message points and marketing speak out of the blogosphere and leave blogging to people who understand the importance of candor and conversations.
From my vantage point, I certainly don’t wish to derail my career. Nor do I encourage reckless risk taking. Be wary of the PR person who becomes the story him or herself. Given my choice, I would rather have my internal clients get the spotlight. I want to shape the discussion, but my mission and job are based on what is best for my company.
Nonetheless, times are a changin’. Fear should be for those that don't engage. We are living in one of most dynamic times to be a PR professional since Edward Bernays staged his first press event or issued his first “scientific” study. I blog not only because it is critical to my job but because I want to. Only by blogging will I understand blogging. Only by blogging can I hope to change the tenor of the discourse.
At what point will blogging no longer be an option, but a requirement for those who wish to practice PR? And when that time comes, will we come kicking and screaming with nothing to say or will we embrace the new medium and make it our own?
Let me get back to you.
Technorati Tags: Edward Bernays; Blogging; Fear Factor; Corporate Blogging;
Rather this is about why it seems that so few corporate PR folks blog. Many advocate, but few actually blog or so it appears. (Calling all corporate PR folks to send me a message in a bottle.) Is it me or are agencies, consultants, and marketing and product folks the most likely to post? Are corporate folks sitting on the sidelines because they lack the time, ability or inclination? Do we prefer to delegate to full time bloggers or our agencies, or is our absence from the blogging rolls grounded in job preservation and fear?
Anecdotally, one corporate person confided in me that blogging was the surest way to derail a career, and another couldn’t possibly understand the benefit of talking about how her company engaged the blogosphere. Given this reluctance, it is not surprising that only between 4 and 10 percent of America’s largest companies have an external facing blog.
And some blogging purists would argue that this reluctance is good thing. Let's keep message points and marketing speak out of the blogosphere and leave blogging to people who understand the importance of candor and conversations.
From my vantage point, I certainly don’t wish to derail my career. Nor do I encourage reckless risk taking. Be wary of the PR person who becomes the story him or herself. Given my choice, I would rather have my internal clients get the spotlight. I want to shape the discussion, but my mission and job are based on what is best for my company.
Nonetheless, times are a changin’. Fear should be for those that don't engage. We are living in one of most dynamic times to be a PR professional since Edward Bernays staged his first press event or issued his first “scientific” study. I blog not only because it is critical to my job but because I want to. Only by blogging will I understand blogging. Only by blogging can I hope to change the tenor of the discourse.
At what point will blogging no longer be an option, but a requirement for those who wish to practice PR? And when that time comes, will we come kicking and screaming with nothing to say or will we embrace the new medium and make it our own?
Let me get back to you.
Technorati Tags: Edward Bernays; Blogging; Fear Factor; Corporate Blogging;
“What we’re seeing is the jury of the most skeptical age group in America has looked at Atlanta’s character and likes it,” Sam A. Williams, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, said.
But Mr. Williams acknowledged the difficulty of replicating that phenomenon on purpose.
Had the chamber tried to advertise Atlanta, he said, “we might have screwed it up — because they’re much more trusting of their own network than they are of any marketing campaign.”
“You can’t fake it here,” he said. “You either do it or you don’t.” (Comment this)
Perhaps that is why corporate public relations people do not blog (as themselves). We do not yet fully understand the landscape and mistake confession for authenticity. Under these circumstances, of course, people of every stripe would be reluctant to say what they think. But little steps can get us there.
Start with a take on something that could have been done better, move to offer insight to the thought process behind a decision, then a post or two about the things that really worry you and conclude with a call for comment on an idea or two that might, with the help of others, be done better.
Just a thought. (Comment this)
I kind of liked Virginia is for Lovers and I Love NY for that matter. :-)
Thanks for the post. I think your incremental steps approach is the right way to go. I started by posing questions and soliciting comments. Now, I am emboldened to posit my opinions. No risk, no glory.
(Comment this)
From Seville, Spain. Benito Castro (Comment this)
If you claim to be an expert--whether you're a sole proprietor or a CEO--and you aren't blogging yet, you're missing a valuable tool to build your brand, gain market share, stay in touch with your customers, and pull people into your sales funnel.
I think many PR people are hesitant to suggest blogging to their clients, or blog themselves, because they're afraid of "the technology." They don't understand that they can easily set up a blog in less than 5 minutes.
Once that task is completed, anyone who's serious about blogging should then learn all they can about how to blog and how to get in front of the most influential bloggers.
(Comment this)