Adapting
Blog Technologies To Corporate E-Newsletters
by: Todd Brehe
Every January, trade publications put out a
list of predictions for the coming year. They discuss products,
services and trends that they think will change the way business
is done, labeling these "disruptive technologies."
The idea of disruptive technologies comes from Clayton Christensen's
1997 book, The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause
Great Firms to Fail. A disruptive technology is a method, procedure,
skill, device, or material that redefines the competitive standards.
Note that the technology doesn't have to be a physical item and
that it often forces us to re-examine the way we work.
InfoWorld's list of disruptive technologies for 2003 included open
source, self-service CRM, digital identity, and my personal favorite,
Weblogs. How can a simple, Web-based journal be disruptive?
For starters, it's worth describing what a Weblog is. Basically,
a Weblog or "blog" is a personally created, online, time-stamped
web page that includes the thoughts, ideas, and comments of the
"blogger." The musings are usually brief, but they are
published frequently and consistently. People can subscribe to receive
the blog updates via e-mail. Often, the blogger is an expert on
the subject he/she is discussing.
At first glance, it doesn't appear that blogs would be at all disruptive.
So why all the hype? If we look closely at the structure and intent
of blogs as a communications tool, we can see some powerful ideas
at work.
Blogs are a direct, one-to-many vehicle for communicating ideas.
They expand an individual's ability to communicate. They are fresh
and timely. The blogger, in order to maintain interest, must communicate
often. Blogs enable a single person to share ideas, insights, and
useful knowledge with an audience. Thanks to the Web, the audience
can be a global one.
Whenever a new tool or process-such as e-mail- expands communications,
the effects are far-reaching and dramatic. Even though blogs have
been around for 3-4 years, they could be the next big thing.
Blogs Are The "Real Voice"
Two important characteristics of blogs are that they are written
by a person who is knowledgeable and passionate about the topic,
and that they are written in a "real voice." This is a
cosmic shift from the marketing and public relations materials that
are the staple of business communications.
Often, when information goes through a formal marketing or PR process,
the end result is an attractive, expensive, stale, diluted document
written in corporate speak. This result is generally due to the
processes that evolved to accommodate the costs and standards of
print technology, rather than to the incompetence or malevolence
of corporate communicators. The edge, the authenticity, and the
voice of the professional speaking to his fellow professionals is
lost.
Blogs offer the human voice that can be loud, controversial, and
even wacky. But the realness of the blog inspires trust and piques
people's curiosity. A blog can create a community and a dynamic
discussion.
If you are a product manager working in the chemical products industry,
chances are that you would rather hear about the real experiences
of other product managers in your industry than read a glossy marketing
piece put out by the marcom department. Blogs fit this communications
requirement perfectly.
Blogs Are Simple
Weblogs are easy for people to publish, read and respond to. They
can foster a community of like-minded individuals and be the catalyst
for spirited discussions. Blogs are an inherently proactive form
of communications. Weblog participants can subscribe to receive
scheduled postings to the blog. Weblogs are inexpensive to produce
and they can include a variety of multimedia content (audio, video,
files, etc.) and hypertext links that add value to the discussion.
Blogs Empower The Individual
There are a host of tools on the Internet that make blogging a snap!
Blogs empower a single person to capitalize on the reach and ubiquity
of the Web. And they don't require the investment or recurring costs
of print technologies.
Blogs Empower The Enterprise
Blogs empower the knowledgeable people within a company to share
their insights, know-how, and expertise. The value to a corporation
is that this knowledge can be organized, distributed, and leveraged
to increase the value of different product and service offerings
to the customer.
If a corporation is going to use a blog, however, it should understand
that controlling the content of the discussion is difficult. If
you want an authentic exchange, you have to be willing to accept
the stone-throwing and critical comments that often occur in a blog.
This requires extending trust and giving up some of the control
a company would normally have when it publishes a press release
or hosts its own online forum, for example. The upside is that people
will listen to a real voice.
Adapting Blog Concepts To Your Newsletters
You can adapt blog technologies to your corporate electronic newsletters
by taking advantage of the underlying concepts. You can, for example:
* Publish a small amount of well-organized information frequently
and regularly
* Include content from individuals who are knowledgeable
and passionate about their work
* Make it easy for your employees to communicate
directly in their own, human voice
* Respect the reader by making sure your e-newsletter provides value
and that he/she wants to receive it.
E-newsletters geared towards educating a marketplace, rather than
those focused on advertising or marketing, turn out to be particularly
effective. E-newsletters offer an affordable, direct way for the
experts in a company to communicate with an audience. This means
that a product manager or an engineer can enhance the flow of information
and make it more accessible to those who want it.
Think of your channel and the information needs of your partners.
Your company has a wealth of information that would help them sell
your products more effectively. There is much insight within your
partner community that could be leveraged throughout the channel.
And your technical experts and engineers have critical knowledge
and understanding that everyone could utilize.
What's often missing is an easy way for the "know-how"
keepers to capture their knowledge, organize it, and deliver it.
The best e-newsletters are written in a real voice, not in corporate
speak.
Two years ago, the book The Cluetrain Manifesto shook up the business
community (see http://www.cluetrain.com/book.html). The revelation?
That business is about humans. As Wall Street Journal columnist
Thomas Petzinger Jr. writes in the foreword: "I was dumbstruck.
There in a few pages, I read a startlingly concise summary of everything
I'd seen in twenty-one years as a reporter, editor, bureau chief
and columnist for my newspaper. The idea that business, at bottom,
is fundamentally human. That engineering remains second-rate without
aesthetics. That natural, human conversation is the true language
of commerce. That corporations work best when the people on the
inside have the fullest contact possible with people on the outside."
It turns out that the human "voice" is an underserved
or ignored need. In a world of 6+ billion inhabitants, the individual
craves to speak and to be heard.
References
Blogs As Disruptive Tech: How Weblogs Are Flying Under The Radar
Of The Content Management Giants, By John Hiler, CEO, Webcrimson,
http://www.webcrimson.com/ourstories/blogsdisruptivetech.Htm
Making Room For Disruptive And Emergent Technologies, By Hugh Blackmer,
Science Librarian, Washington & Lee University, http://home.wlu.edu/~blackmerh/sabb/nitle2.html*
Blogs As Disruptive Innovation: What A Brave New World Blogging
Is Building!, by Dr. James V. McGee, Professor, The Kellogg School
Of Management,
http://www.mcgeesmusings.net/2002/05/15.html
Weblogs At Harvard Law, Bookmark List For ABCD Weblogs Meeting,
By Dave Winer,
http://Blogs.Law.Harvard.Edu/Stories/Storyreader$199
Todd Brehe
Director of Communication Products
Gallatin Technologies, Inc.
http://www.gallatin.com
(719) 597-3366
tbrehe@gallatin.com
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