Should it be repeated that blogging is a marvelous way of creating touch points, providing value, receiving feedback and being found. A business with a “human” blog is perceived as a “human” business, simply put. Since many companies don’t blog yet, here are some tips to get started. Because, obviously, there will be hurdles and the overenthusiastic will often find themselves called to order.

Here are some famous last words:
- “If you buy me a dog mommy I will take care of it!”
- “Let’s start a company blog!”

Starting a corporate blog is about the same as buying a dog.

Someone has to feed it, walk it and clean up after it and you have to do that daily. It all seems pretty easy at first, but if you don’t have a full company buy-in and support from senior management, you may find yourself saddled with caring for a dog you don’t really have time for.

Your web, e-mail and social strategy should spoke out from the hub which is your blog. This means you need support and you need a plan which facilitates the goals you have set for your organization. Without a good blog at the centre, you might as well resort to driving around town with a loud speaker attached to the roof of your car shouting slogans.

Heidi Cohen had a good post up at the Content Marketing Institute last week about this and provided a good overview of how to build and organize a blogging team for your company.

One of the first things you need to get is the buy in from management and that means an understanding from them that producing content for this blog will take up human resources. This work has to be part of people’s job descriptions or you will never get content. If your management team is under the impression that this is something which can be done on your lunch hour, then I suggest you buy them a dog and find a new job.

Remember, people will be very enthusiastic to start and make many promises they will never keep unless the have support and encouragement from management to be a part of the blog team.

Editorial calendars and roles

Next, talk to promotions and work with them to create an editorial calendar. This can sound daunting, but if you have a marketing department then they should already have a promotion plan and that should be your guide for the blog calendar. You may not need to have a detailed day to day calendar. You may just need a weekly theme for example. Start vague if need be then drill down.

Now, who’s going to edit the blog and who’s going to proof it? Which person/department will be the gate keeper? You can’t have more than one editor any more than you can have more than one head. If you have someone on staff that is a skilled content editor and also has the proofing skills, consider yourself lucky. Proofing is something you can outsource, but the editor role should be internal because that person plays a large role in generating content and ensuring a true and consistent voice. If you are going to be the editor then BE the editor. You decide what goes and what doesn’t and never forget that clarity and information always trump style. Even amateur writers will passionately argue the opposite.

Content creators can be internal and external. You’ve got product experts on you own team who likely would love to blog. One skill an editor must have is the ability to identify who has the talent to write and then be able to guide and channel that talent. Find the insight, the expertise and the creativeness and nurture it to produce the online voice you want.

Being a blog editor isn’t so much about being a great writer or even an expert. It’s more about being really good at motivating people and herding cats.

All this sounds to difficult, organized etc.? Then let go of your brand, define some categories and topics, find the people with passion, a disgust for corporate speak and a thirst for authenticity and give them room to blog away. Just make some agreements regarding frequency, language, style and the rest is up to…the community.