The New Age of Communication

The new age of communication is going to involve text messages(also know as texting). Any business that hasn't used this form of communication, is leaving a reservoir of revenues untapped. Some companies have caught onto the vision of texting, while others haven't. Two ways that texting can be integrated into your business is through your customer service and marketing departments.

The W Hotel in New York, ESPN, and Disney all use text messaging as a way to interact with their customers. A company can text dinner confirmations and special offers to their customers. It's fast, cheap, and effective.

Texting can be used to bring a companies marketing directly to its customers. Not just mass marketing to everyone. You can text directly to people who have used your product or service previously therefore, they are more likely to act on your marketing. Most people have cell phones today. In an article written by Bart Perkins of Computerworld, he wrote "In a recent CeBIT keynote address, Intel Chairman Craig Barrett stated that at the end of last year, there were more than 3 billion cell phone subscribers worldwide. The number of cell phone users in China now exceeds the total population of the U.S. Worldwide, there are now 2.3 times more cell phone subscribers than e-mail users." This leads me to belief that texting can be a great tool for marketing.

To lead the way in marketing and customer service, companies have to look for every way they can to reach customers effectively. Texting is just one of those ways.

Sources:
http://www.macworld.com/article/140529/2009/05/textingrules.html
http://rohitbhargava.typepad.com/weblog/2006/05/text_messaging_.html

What do good corporate blogs look like?

Here are list of ten good corporate blogs:
1)http://conversations.nokia.com/
2)http://googleblog.blogspot.com/
3)http://www.checkoutblog.com/
4)http://www.amazon.com/gp/daily
5)http://www.crmcdonalds.com/publish/csr/home/_blog.html
6)http://espn.go.com/blog/big12
7)http://www.blogs.marriott.com/
9)http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/
10)http://www.whatsthediff.com/

Blogging on the corporate level can be a very daunting task. Paul Boag of Smashing Magazine published an article that referenced some key truths about corporate blogging. He points out that"good corporate blogging is a long-term commitment". Corporate blogs don't become popular overnight. It takes time and frequently updating on a consistent basis to get and keep readers interest. Blog post should be interesting and not just press releases that everyone already knows about. The new and exciting happenings of your company are great things to write post about on blogs. Another flaw that was pointed out in this article was the failure to use an RSS feed link and email notifications effectively. Instead of using this feature to send the whole blog post, they send blog teasers. Which makes the reader go through the whole site to read the post. A good corporate blog will give you all the post and not just a teaser. The blogs listed above are updated regularly, provide exciting content to read, and all have ways to subscribe to thier blogs. These are just a few things that a good corporate blog should have.

Source:http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/09/10-harsh-truths-about-corporate-blogging/

Blogs vs. Webpages

Any company that is deciding whether to use a website or a blog is wasting its time. Why should a company limit itself to one or the other? Websites might be a little harder to update and maintain, but they offer a very good service to any business. Blogs may not be as hard to update, but they provide a more dynamic form of communicating to the rest of the world.

Websites can be designed with a forum section in them. A company should use a CMS (content management system). This allows anyone interested in your website to get updates when you update. When people see something they like they can reply on your forum. Or if they see something they don't like. This provides great feedback for any business.

Blogs can have and should have links to a company's website. When people link a proffesional blog back to thier website it can have a compounding impact on business. Discussion can be given on products and services in a different setting with blogs. Blogs aslo have a form of keeping poeple updated, by using RSS (really simple syndication) links. Which works pretty much the same way a CMS does.

Limiting a company by using either a blog or website would be foolish. It would be the same as only using one form of advertising. Using a website and blog together is an ultimate duo for any company.

Sources:(http://www.problogger.net/what-is-rss/)
(http://www.search-this.com/2007/05/16/an-end-to-the-website-versus-blogs-debate/)
(http://workingathomeinternet.com/WP/2008/05/20/the-best-of-both-worlds-blog-and-website/)

Blogging guidelines essential?

As the world of blogging continues to develop, it is more important to have guidelines to follow while blogging. Any business that uses blogs, or that have employees that use blogs, should always have rules set in place to govern those blogs. After looking at some companies that have blogging guidelines, I think that it's essential to have policies set in place to protect the company. Some examples of essential rules that I found from other companies are as follows:
Some essential guidelines for personal employee blogging within the BBC-

If your blog makes it clear that you work for the BBC, it should include a simple and visible disclaimer such as “these are my personal views and not those of the BBC”.

Don’t reveal confidential information. This might include aspects of BBC policy or details of internal BBC discussions. Again, consult your manager if you are unclear about what might be confidential.

You should not use your blogs to attack or abuse colleagues. You should respect the privacy and the feelings of others. Remember that if you break the law on your blog (for example by posting something defamatory), you will be personally responsible.

All of these rules, in some way, apply to protecting BBC.
The BBC use guidelines for employees and they also have additional rules for their managers. It's important to have set rules for employees, but even more important for managers and executives. The higher you are in management, the more risky your behavior on blogs.
Another company that has guidelines for employees and managers is IBM. They have a very extensive policy for blogging.
Some things that IBM point out in their executive guidelines are-

Try to add value. Provide worthwhile information and perspective. IBM's brand is best represented by its people and what you publish may reflect on IBM's brand.

Don't cite or reference clients, partners or suppliers without their approval. When you do make a reference, where possible link back to the source.

These are just a few rules that I chose because I thought they were essential. Both of these companies have policies that are very in depth and lengthy. Having these policies, I'm sure, have saved a lot of head ache for their companies. These guidelines protect the company and it's employees.






Sources: http://commonusers.blogspot.com/2006/05/new-bbc-staff-blog-guidelines.html
http://www.ibm.com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines.html

What can professional blogs do for businesses and organizations?

The internet has made the business world turn upside down. That is, the business world is reaching new heights. Fifty years ago people never would have dreamed of the forms of communications that are available to organizations now. One part of using the internet that has influenced a great change in the way businesses operate is blogging. Now, through blogging, a businesses can communicate to a much larger audience. Business and organizations can advertise their products or services to millions with the click of a button. They can also communicate internally with blogs. Different operations within a company can update status on projects to managers and other organizations. The spread of information about new products is like a wildfire that can't be controlled. Blogging is a great way of giving a preview to the world of a new product or service that is going to come available soon. Blogs are also a great way to get feedback from the public. If you have a situation where you want input from consumers, or just the community in general, you can use a blog. Blogging has changed the way businesses do business and hopefully, helped them in the process.

Sources:
http://www.allbusiness.com/business-planning-structures/starting-a-business/3873865-1.html