Corporate Blogging: a Load of B.S.?
January 24th, 2008 by Bob Bly
In an article in the New York Review of Books (2/14/08. p. 18), Sarah Boxer implies that the idea of corporations paying people to write (or help write) blogs for them is doomed to failure.
“Bloggers are golden when they’re at the bottom of the heap, kicking up,” writes Boxer. “Give them a salary, though, and it just isn’t the same. And this includes, for the most part, the blogs set up by companies.”
Why? “When you write for pay, you worry about lawsuits, your boss, and your superego looking over your shoulder. And that’s no way to blog.”
Does this mean that “corporate blogging” is at best, an oxymoron, and at worst, an outright fraud?
Or is it perfectly legitimate for corporations to hire bloggers, blogging coaches, and blogging consultants, just as they hire ad agencies to create ad campaigns and ghostwriters to pen speeches for executives?
Your thoughts?
This entry was posted on Thursday, January 24th, 2008 at 5:20 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 24th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
I personally don’t agree with the idea of hiring someone to ghost write a blog, it lack authenticity, and if people find out, the person with their name on the mast loses trust and credibility.
There are as many reasons to blog as there are business goals. the companies that appear to do best with blogging are those that use it for customer service and product development. Concentrating on your customers needs is much more likely to turn ordinary customers into evangelists. I can think of Dell, Microsoft, Macromedia (before the merger with Adobe) and several more.
January 24th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Depends on the corporation.
I was once hired to write a blog for six months to promote the launch of an anti-spam product. The brief was to be as outrageous, obscene and way out as I wanted.
(Dangerous instructions to give a copywriter, I’m sure you’ll agree.)
Anyway, it was fantastic fun because I could look at all kinds of crappy spam emails and try to be even more wild than they were.
January 24th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
I’ll just second what John Cass said.
January 24th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Agree 100% with John Cass on ghost writers.
But, I have no problem at all with the idea of coaches, consultants, proof readers, etc.
January 24th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I disagree that corporate blogs with paid ghost writers are doomed to fail. It sounds like a purist view that someone who is paid can’t write engaging content. There are many individual bloggers who are in it to promote and sell their services. I see the corporate blog as another legitimate marketing tool which if executed well can accomplish traditional marketing goals. Success of a corporate blog won’t be dependent on whether or not the blogger is an outside writer or company employee. Interesting content relevant to the intended audience will make for an effective corporate blog.
January 25th, 2008 at 4:36 am
To be emasculated by the corporate dollar is a sad thing indeed, but people gotta eat.
I love blogging for grey suited individuals and watching their reaction when I propose a piece that will curl the toes of your average Maxim reader, but then I tone it down and get something through that’s still juicy but has been slightly sanitised by an exec who has the faint odour of failure about him and is about to be up for promotion again.
But it’s the nature of the beast, corporations are not fleet of foot and have the attack speed of a soporific elephant.
January 25th, 2008 at 9:03 am
How can anything that requires use of the creative mind be categorized as “doomed to fail?”
We’re writers…and as such will always find a way.
January 25th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Ghost writing blogs is inevitable. It happens now and will continue to. I would guess that most execs are simply too busy to blog, or don’t have the skill. If they did, they might be writers. I ghosted a blog for a while, but the problem was that the company owner did not pay enough attention to the blog world. We were trying to raise his profile in his area of expertise, but he thought it could happen without his participation. Uh uh. You can ghostwrite a blog but the person has to be closely involved. When that happens, the benefits can be endless.
January 25th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Okay, let’s separate ‘ghost writing’ from ‘blogging for a corporation.’ They can be two different things. I get paid to write and maintain a blog for Purina, the pet food company. I write about my pets. I sometimes write about stuff Purina does. There is a vet who answers readers questions (former Purina researcher) and all of this is totally above board.
Purina is happy with my blogging, readers are happy with it, and the world has not stopped moving.
So, upfront, authentic blogging, while being paid, is a new career path. Ghost writing on a blog is another story entirely. I wouldn’t do it, and I’d have issues with anyone who did.
Mind you, I help clients post…by adding THEIR writing, and I council them on how to handle comments, even what links to put in their posts. But, I don’t write the posts. They do.
January 26th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I have to agree with Yvonne. I think there’s a big difference between blogging for a corp and ghostwriting. One of my friends blogs for Ty’s Toy Box and it’s been a popular feature of their site. While she doesn’t sign her name to each post, there’s no secret to who she is. Heck, I’d love to blog for a corp as long as it’s aboveboard.
January 27th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Let’s all face it, it is all not part of the blog-O-sphere and some will be obvious and some will not be obvious. To me taking off my blogger had and thinking as a reader, all I want is good information and if a ghost writer or actual person provides it then I am ok with that. It’s the information we want and if the blog sucks then we wont read it anymore!!!
Hey our President’s all had speech writers, all the TV Commercials, movies and TV shows we like and love all have writers (ghosts??). Hey even reality shows have writers when you think they don’t. Even podcasts have writers and I guess you could call them ghost writers because the host of the podcast may not write their own stuff.
Is it all that much different?
January 28th, 2008 at 7:42 am
The best blogs are spontaneous. If a corporate exec has something to say and has the guts to say it…he or she will. If the exec is too timid or the corporation is restrictive, the blog probably won’t work, especially if a someone else does it. Unfortunately, even some of the best and apparently enlightened companies frown upon those who speak for the company. There’s an interesting comment on the subject at http://www.marketingapple.com/marketing_apple/2008/01/apple-and-a-blo.html concerning Apple, Inc.
February 2nd, 2008 at 8:32 pm
@Gloria One interesting phenomenon with blogging is that that the medium can connect people within a professional community in a way that was not really possible before the web. I think many professional associations have had ethics codes for many years, but unless a code violation is particularly bad most codes a pretty dusty affairs. A blogging community in contrast polices itself. If the community disagrees with the idea of ghost writing, the blogger who uses a ghost writer faces a reduction in credibility and disapproval from the community. I don’t know the % of people who don’t approve of ghostwriting in most blogging communities, however, if the majority of voices are against ghostwriting I think there is a greater chance of people understanding that the practice is not something the community wants you to do. I hope more people in the community speak out against the practice.
February 26th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Oh, Good Grief!
When did we become such snobs that Ghostwriting is OK in one forum but not another? Maybe I’m missing something here. What does virtually everyone do when they want a certain amount of writing done but have not the skills or other resources to do it? They hire someone to do it. Isn’t a Copywriter just a Ghostwriter with a label? We certainly (in most cases), are not writing copy solely for our own products. What advertisement or sales letter contains the author’s name?
It seems to me that the only real issue is whether the writing accomplishes a purpose.
What is “doomed to failure” is poor quality writing or writing that does not accomplish its purpose.
March 10th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
I do believe corporate blogs are effective, but I don’t think you need to end every post with a question. It comes across as trite.People are clever enough to know that they can comment on a post without your having to prod them each time.
March 14th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Leslie,
The difference in perspective regarding ghostwriting on a blog, and for other speeches is that in the culture of blogging the blogger is writing personally. The words they write are supposed to be the real words of the blog, authentic not those of another person. Ghostwriting on blogs is the equivalent of meeting an executive at a business meeting, and having someone else speak for them. You would not think very much of the executive, you probably would not be very impressed with them.
March 25th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
When it comes to ghost blogging, what’s so harmful about a person merely transcribing another person’s thoughts and ideas. The content is the same. It’s only the typist that is different.
It’s my opinion that ghost blogging becomes shady only when the words written within the blog were not originally created by the subject of the blog.
May 16th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
[…] https://bly.com/blog/general/corporate-blogging-a-load-of-bs/ […]
May 26th, 2012 at 5:54 pm
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[…]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[…]……
May 26th, 2012 at 10:54 pm
Pro Plan Coupons…
[…]Corporate Blogging: a Load of B.S.? – bly.com blog – bly.com direct marketing blog[…]…
September 29th, 2013 at 7:45 am
Howdy! This post could not be written any better! Looking at this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He constantly kept preaching about this. I will send this information to him. Fairly certain he will have a very good read. Many thanks for sharing!
October 17th, 2013 at 7:43 pm
It’s really a cool and helpful piece of info. I’m happy that you simply shared this useful information with us.
Please stay us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.
December 21st, 2013 at 3:00 pm
I have figured out some important things through your website post. One other point I would like to state is that there are several games available on the market designed especially for toddler age children. They contain pattern acceptance, colors, pets, and designs. These normally focus on familiarization instead of memorization. This will keep a child engaged without sensing like they are learning. Thanks
April 25th, 2014 at 7:55 pm
nice!br /and what about wikibooks/wikisource assistance?
June 20th, 2018 at 2:01 pm
Does anyone have any suggestions?
August 26th, 2019 at 10:38 am
I think that information from https://celltrackingapps.com/track-cell-phone-location-without-them-knowing/ will help you to track cell phone location. I had such experience recently
December 15th, 2019 at 7:01 am
Relies upon the corporation.
I was once employed to write a blog for a half year to advance the launch of an anti-spam item. The brief was to be as outrageous, obscene and way out as I wanted.
(Dangerous guidelines to give a copywriter, I’m certain you’ll agree.)
Anyway, it was fantastic fun because I could take a gander at all sorts of crappy spam emails and attempt to be significantly more wild than they were.
Visit tachavtar!
June 10th, 2020 at 6:41 am
Thanks for sharing your experience and some insights.
I think for efficient parental control, you have to get a relevant and reliable phone tracking app. Check mspy.com – they offer an app that you can install on a device and track its user online activity easily.
August 26th, 2020 at 3:04 am
If you have Any questions about anything, feel free to ask us through our contact option. If you need more information, please visit this site.The bout was initially scheduled to take place on April 22, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. All the talk so far has been about the battle of styles, but Tszyu’s Horn Tszyu fight live coverage most recent opponent, Jack Brubaker, says the third man in the ring could have a huge influence on the outcome of the bout. Brubaker, who was stopped in four rounds by Tszyu in December, says the way the ref controls Horn’s inside work will make a massive difference on fight night.
June 12th, 2021 at 12:33 am
We all immediately recognize the flat snoot, wrinkled face, and large expressive eyes of the loveable Pug. The Pug breed’s roots can be tracked back to Imperial China in 700 B.C., during the time of Confucius, when the breed was h alerting Holland’s William I, Prince of Orange, to an assassination attempt by Spain. Over time, pugs have been the favored breed or both royals and celebrities—from Napoleon and Queen Victoria to Andy Warhol and Rob Zombie.
https://pugslandbreeder.company.com
July 24th, 2021 at 4:01 am
various ways of making money online was best explained in a practical manner once you visit this your mind blown away Visit
Visit https://duakikhazana.blogspot.com/
December 2nd, 2021 at 1:44 am
Accidentally i have come across this website and am a little bit confused about the details best online engagement rings store you have shared here. This post is about corporate blogging and this article tells more on that. I am expecting more details about it from here and keep sharing more updates here.
October 24th, 2022 at 10:40 am
Stunning best perfumes for men and perfume brands for men are offered by Rios, a great multi brand store. The shop satisfies customers with the best perfumes for men in Pakistan. Their best perfumes for men are perfect for your needs, fulfilling your demands With their perfumes for men, Rios meets all your requirements.
December 3rd, 2022 at 7:01 am
I love reading this site. This was really very informative site for me.
December 5th, 2022 at 4:39 am
This is similarly a great content material we very truly loved looking at. This is not constantly that we have possible to sort out a problem
December 5th, 2022 at 5:38 am
The puzzle game Tetris is well-known all over the world for its catchy music and captivating gameplay. tetris can be played without charge at CrazyGames. Good Old Tetris and Colortris are two additional free Tetris games that adhere to the original.
December 23rd, 2022 at 6:50 am
It is a bit difficult task to understand the topic and it would be good if you could make the content much more simple. Home Visit Physio Aylesbury Thanks for the data shared and hope to see more posts
August 31st, 2023 at 6:02 am
Looking for a cheap Windows VPS Europe ? Our hosting service offers cost-effective solutions for your Windows-based virtual server needs. Benefit from the reliability and performance of Windows operating system, coupled with the convenience and flexibility of a virtualized environment. With our cheap Windows VPS plans tailored for the European market, you can enjoy seamless connectivity, robust security features, and excellent customer support.
October 4th, 2023 at 1:21 am
Experience the power of virtual private servers without breaking the bank with our Cheap VPS Linux Hosting. Our budget-friendly plans offer the flexibility and control of a VPS environment, combined with the reliability of Linux. Whether you’re a developer seeking a test environment or a small business looking for cost-effective hosting, our plans deliver robust performance, root access, and seamless scalability – all at an unbeatable price. Join the Linux VPS revolution without compromising on quality or your budget.
October 6th, 2023 at 8:02 pm
Of all the things that have happened to me recently, the luckiest thing is the wonderful things you always share with us. Please keep writing posts like this. The time you used to waste traveling to pay for tuition can now be spent on studying. thank you https://szzzac.com/
October 12th, 2023 at 1:50 am
Surprise the new parents with our beautifully curated baby gift box. Each box is carefully assembled, filled with an assortment of baby essentials and delightful surprises. Our elegant packaging adds an extra touch of sophistication to your present, making it a memorable gift to celebrate the arrival of their precious little one.
November 23rd, 2023 at 5:09 am
Cheap Virtual Desktop Hosting entails hosting virtual desktop environments in a cost-effective manner. Virtual desktop hosting allows users to access their desktop environment, complete with applications and data, from anywhere with an internet connection.
November 23rd, 2023 at 6:18 am
Trust BSNS Consulting as your reliable Taxation Services Provider. With our in-depth understanding of tax laws and regulations, we ensure accurate and timely tax compliance for your business. Our proactive tax planning approach aims to minimise tax burdens and maximise savings, allowing you to focus on driving your business forward.
December 13th, 2023 at 2:44 am
A barberstuhl is a specialized chair used in barbershops. It is designed to provide comfort to male clients and facilitate optimal working posture for the barber.hese chairs often have a classic design and can be antique or retro-styled.
December 20th, 2023 at 6:50 am
When it comes to scrap buyers in Sharjah, We Buy Dead Stocks stands out as the preferred choice. We are committed to promoting responsible recycling and offer fair pricing for your surplus materials. Join our community of sellers and contribute to a more sustainable future while maximising your returns.
May 22nd, 2024 at 1:18 am
Based in Pakistan, BSNS Consulting is a leading Digital Marketing Agency Islamabad. Our talented team of marketers, designers, and strategists collaborates to create impactful digital campaigns that resonate with your target audience. With a focus on innovation and results, we empower your brand to thrive in the digital landscape.
May 22nd, 2024 at 1:29 am
E-commerce logistics refers to the specialized processes and strategies involved in managing the flow of goods for online retail operations. It encompasses warehousing, inventory management, order fulfillment, shipping, and returns processing tailored to the unique demands of online shopping. Efficient e-commerce logistics are crucial for ensuring timely deliveries, minimizing costs, and enhancing customer satisfaction in the digital retail landscape.
October 29th, 2024 at 1:02 am
Thanks for the info! Really well-organized and easy to understand. I learned a lot in just a few minutes!
social media marketing services in gwalior