Executive Blogs ...

There are quite a few senior executives who are blogging. And, more are joining the bandwagong. I came across an interesting post about executive blogs, and the things you might want to think about before you launch on this.

Interesting reading ... there is, however, the other side of this, which i wanted to write about. First, when you ask your CEO to write a blog, and encourage customers to comment on it, be prepared to hear what you dont want to. More often than not, you will have customers writing about how the product doesnt work, and how they think the company is over-charging, etc., etc. ... you know, pesky customers! Of course, a mature organization would be able to hear these, without flinching. Acting on these is another thing, though. When folks write comments on a CEO's blog, they would think that something would happen, based on their feedback. When not much happens, you would only get more disappointed customers. This is to convey the impression that web 2.0 is a double-edged sword, and this must be grasped before embarking on this journey.

Maybe a better idea would be to treat web 2.0 as more than a marketing tool ... as a means for communicating with a wide spectrum of audience ... and this takes on a different shape. Why not have the Chief Executive, and other managers blog about the things the organization is doing, write about some of the recent wins, losses, strategy, etc. ... things which could be of more interest to employees. Thing is, most senior managers dont see the value of this, and the kind of benefits these could bring to the organization. Though this is where web 2.0 has the potential of generating far greater value, than as a PR tool.