Crisis & Blogging Musts

I found it ironic that today’s Corporate Weblog Manifesto Session on good public relations for blog writing and crisis communications was driven by Buzz Bruggeman, Robert Scoble and Anil Dash, none of whom are in the communications business, or are they??????

For those of you who know Buzz, you know that he's a lawyer and CEO of a small software company, but he’s also a helluva marketer. His belief is beyond Doc’s ‘companies are conversations:’ products are conversations.

Anil makes more sense since marketing is an integral part of his new business development role at Six Apart. Robert is really an evangelist; a really good one. He’s someone who is getting paid by a large company to blog, monitor trends, and to communicate. He is a PR machine without even meaning to be one. Why? Because he’s transparent, fair, interesting, smart, and intuitive.

A few tips from this threesome:

Build a great relationship network before you start blogging. Build those relationships first and establish credibility ‘before’ you write. Tell the truth and be authentic. (We keep hearing the word authentic……love the word since its how I live my life today and ……. always have. It’s critical in your life and this should just extend to your writing and your corporate values). A good blog is authoritative and passionate. (We keep hearing these two words as well – a common theme). Link to your competitors and say good things about them… If you don’t have the answers, say so. If your life is in turmoil or you’re unhappy, don’t write. (I had to laugh at this one, since I did write about my grandfather’s death. Frankly, I think there are a few exceptions to the rule and one is where you can blog about something that ‘frees you’ from turmoil in a way that isn’t aggressive or angry and that can serve others) Never lie. (Some of these are basic morality lessons we teach children early on…..or should). Post quickly on good news or bad news. (Having said that, it’s better to be slower and right, than faster and wrong). If you screw up, acknowledge it. Fast. Don’t assume that because you’re posting something on a blog that is not widely read, that it won’t get out there…..and eventually be widely read and linked to. What you post something on your blog, know that it ‘could end up’ in the New York Times. Know the information gatekeepers. If you refer to Gladwell’s Blink, you learn that there’s a short period of time to get the word out there ‘when necessary’ i.e., in a crisis communications situation. “Who can talk to a lot of people in a short period of time and get the word out?” Be the authority on your industry or product and be a ‘master of it.’ Know who’s talking about you and what their perceptions are. Never change the URL of your weblog. Underpromise and over deliver.