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Magazines Where My Byline Has Appeared - Pinterest Board

Pinterest Board showcasing the magazines that have publish my work.

Ghost Blogging for Enterprise Mobility Blog

Enterprise mobility--capturing and delivering information at the point of activity--is an extremely important and highly relevant topic in today's IT world. One of the world's largest computer manufacturers has asked me to serve as the lead ghost blogger for a new site about enterprise mobility. I will be writing nearly a dozen blog posts per month on this critical computing subject.

I am currently engaged as a ghost blogger for a half dozen major corporate blog projects.

The enterprise mobility space is one I've watched evolve during my many years as a contributor to such publications as Inbound Logistics, Managing Automation, and Automation World. I'm eager to take a deeper dive into this topic.

Real Story Behind Corporate Blogging Survey Numbers

According to a University of Massachusetts Dartmouth report, corporate blogging appears to be on the decline. Of the companies they surveyed, only 37 percent were blogging in 2011. That’s down from 50 percent in 2010. If you look only at Fortune 500 companies, the percentage drops to 23 percent (via www.marketingpilgrim.com).

But do these numbers tell a different story? Are corporate blogs falling out of favor, or are weak marketers simply abandoning poorly planned blogging efforts for other poorly executed marketing schemes?

As a ghost blogger for a half dozen corporate blog sites, I suggest another way to look at these numbers is that while the second-tier, ad-hoc marketers jump from one "flavor of the day" marketing tactic to another, savvy, successful corporations have found a way (using professional writers) to maintain their blogs and leverage their SEO power (see Reasons Why B2B Companies Should Blog). These companies have given themselves a significant advantage over their rivals who don't follow through on marketing efforts, not the least of which are their blogs. Those companies that start and stop a blog project--after quickly running out of post ideas as the survey suggests--have effectively wasted the resources they put toward that effort.

The same type of thing happened in the 90s when corporate billboard Web sites were being built, at great cost, without much forethought. These sites were later abandoned as hopeless and rebuilt using a more sustainable model with the rise of Web 2.0.

In 2012, I've seen a dramatic uptick in the number of companies committing significant resources toward what I call "the brand as publisher" communications model. Their blogs stand foursquare at the center of this strategy.

K12 Education Technology Ghost Blogging Role

The interplay between technology and education will be a major theme in the blog project I've recently embarked upon for one of the world's largest computer makers.

I'm engaged as a ghost blogger for this relatively new topical blog site that shares quality information about technological advances in computer hardware and software to the benefit of K12 education.

My role as a ghost blogger continues to expand--this is the fourth major corporate blog project that I've taken the lead role as a ghost blogger.

Corporate Blogs Play Central Role in Shift to Inbound Media Relations

The old-fashioned "push" approach to media relations, whereby press releases are distributed via PRNewswire, PRWeb, or some other wire services, worked well under the traditional, old-fashioned media paradigm that is dying a slow but certain death.

The future is something I call Inbound Media Relations that utilizes the brand as publisher model, whereby the blog, as your sole "broadcast" platform, moves the needle in this direction by forcing the media to come to your blog, subscribe to it, or register their email to get breaking news.

"News only happens once," was something my first boss told me; so, if that's true, you can't distribute the news and then place it on the blog and expect that to do the trick. All you've accomplished under that scenario is having the blog serve as another outlet for the release, not the source of the release, which is the point of inbound media relations.

I realize this takes some guts!

But, if a company can train the media to follow its blog for company news, that's a true breakthrough, and the key step toward making Inbound Media Relations work to your advantage. Otherwise, you're just doing the same old, same old.

Related articles

• Should Your Next B2B Press Release Be a Blog Post? (martyweil.net)

Should Your Next B2B Press Release Be a Blog Post?

In 2010, when Google made a major announcement not by press release but by blog post, we reached what seemed like a milestone....This shift in medium and message represents a new era in corporate communications. News now needs to be conveyed in an empathetic tone and delivered in a user-friendly format.

via mashable.com

But does this shift translate to the more staid world of B2B?

Yes.

Here's why:

There are many compelling reasons why B2Bs--especially those who are now aggressively developing blogs of their own--need to to follow Google's lead. First, it brings gravitas to the corporate blog itself. The readership of the blog needs to know that breaking news about the company will appear there first, which will incentivize readers, especially those in media who follow the company, to subscribe to the blog's feed. Second, it presents another opportunity for fresh, high-quality content to appear on the blog, which accrues positively to the blog's Google ranking. Finally, if this is the era of the brand as publisher (and I think it is), then it follows that the corporate blog should be the medium of distribution for important corporate news.

Welcome to the Era of Brand as Publisher

Since the beginning of 2012, I have received calls from at least a half dozen large B2B technology companies that are in the process of launching blogs. Without exception, they are doing so with the hope of increasing traffic to their corporate Web sites. The B2Bs have seen the wisdom of social networking. And so, we are entering the era of "brand as publisher." There are many compelling reasons for companies to proceed down this path, but they must do so with caution.

Brand as Publisher

Magazines are well aware of the need for engaging, compelling content, but very few companies have the skills in house to create such content on an ongoing basis. And, even if they do, that talent is busy creating other marketing materials (when not stuck in a series of endless meetings). Even in the face of these facts, I see a lot of companies enlist their staff as blog writers without doing some basic checks to ensure that their people have the skill set or the time to generate quality content.

Protecting the Brand

Company blogs reflect on brand image. Unless you have the right structure, training, and staff time, the effort is destined to go horribly wrong.

The answer is to engage with a ghostblogger who has a journalism background and the editing skills to ensure that the posts are completed in a timely, professional manner. Importantly, however, the person you select must also deeply understand your technology and the trends within your market in order to create content that your customers and prospects will be eager to read.

Corporate Podcasting and Journalism

Do Men and Women Sleep Differently?

via www.sri.com

This show is one of the best podcasts I've recorded for SRI International. After approximately 50 shows, we have hit our stride. It's a great example of the power of podcasting and corporate journalism. Click the link to listen to the brilliant Fiona Baker.