Comments on: Blogging Truth: No One Likes Your CEO

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:03:58 +0000

Rae: No.

By: Rae Hoffman

Rae Hoffman — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:48:05 +0000

So does this mean I don’t have to blog? ;)

By: amymengel

amymengel — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:45:29 +0000

Sure, Bill Marriott’s blog isn’t terribly exciting and probably doesn’t have too many regular readers, but one way it has served Marriott very well is crisis communication. During the bombing of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad, the corporate communications team used to blog to very quickly post the company statement/response. Putting up a blog post from Bill Marriott was much faster than trying to get a release out or do a news conference (which they did later) and they could give an immediate response via the blog. Major news outlets linked to and pulled quotes form his blog post almost immediately after it was posted.

So yes, the blog may not be that interesting to the general public, but in a crisis, having a CEO blog allowed Marriott to address a situation very quickly and directly.

By: sherisaid

sherisaid — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:24:29 +0000

Just remembered something….I’ve been trying to explain seo, blogging, social networking and article marketing to a client of mine who owns a business. They’re in trouble, and can’t afford to hire me, and I don’t have the time to write for free…so I did my best to explain. He recently sent me a link to his blog. It read exactly like an advertisement for his business. He’s a talented writer, but he didn’t get it and probably never will.

By: Brian Clark

Brian Clark — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:47:39 +0000

Bill is pretty bland, but I wouldn’t give him too much grief… his stuff reads like most business blogs, CEO-transcribed or not.

Which is bad, of course.

By: sherisaid

sherisaid — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:51:49 +0000

Blogging’s about personality…and even good writers don’t always have it. It’s a different skill than the simple ability to string cohesive words together, and it’s personal. There’s nothing personal about Marriott’s blog and that’s the problem. It reads like a cross between advertising copy and an entreaty to adopt a starving child (as written by Sally Struthers and performed by Wilford Brimley). Please, please come to Mexico. Ignore the pervasive atmosphere of disease, violence and mayhem. We have great food and a very nice pool. Honest.

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:56:12 +0000

Terry: The sweet spot is to find someone who knows how to take calculated risks. You have to take some risks with your blog, otherwise it’s not a blog. It’s press release or a company memo. No one’s going to care about that.

Brian: [blush] ;)

By: Shashi Kapoor

Shashi Kapoor — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:53:48 +0000

chutzpah is an awesome word.

By: Brian Carter

Brian Carter — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:47:32 +0000

lol this is freaking awesome. you have a gift Lisa, but everyone including you knows that.

By: Terry Vision

Terry Vision — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:22:23 +0000

Absolutely right. Corporate blogs often are so dull at the best of times and there is a problem of always presenting the best face of the company. Injecting personality into a blog could be double-edge sword, what some people find witty and entertaining risks alienating another set of clients. It’s a tricky one.