I’ve been having this ongoing dialogue with a good friend of mine who works for a premier marketing firm. He’s said that his organization is “talking with their customers about blogging.”

From what I can tell nothing other than talk though is really happening. With so many people talking about blogging these days, why are so many firms so slow to move on them? Just this week Bob Lutz, a Senior VP of Global Product Development at GM, wrote an article for InformationWeek. Bob talked about all of the advantages of using a CEO-style blog.

To blog or not to blog? For a lot of senior executives these days, that is the question. The answer, simply enough, is to blog. No better opportunity exists to engage in an open dialogue and exchange of ideas with customers and potential customers.

Since January, I’ve been participating, along with other members of General Motors’ senior management, in the GM Fastlane blog (fastlane.gmblogs.com). We’ve found the blog to be a hugely effective communications tool and a terrific way to conduct a grassroots, largely unfiltered conversation with GM fans and nonfans alike.

Much of the problem really steams for corporations not understanding what a blog is, what it’s capable of and why it’s worth the investment. Fear [of the unknown] is one of the two great motivators, so I can completely sympathize with these business leaders.

In an effort to help alleviate these fears Nebo Group has worked to create a tool set that allows us to identify the types of blogs that would be successful, the groups of people who would be the most successful bloggers and the gaps that exist within your business strategy that a blog would do more harm than good (the landmines to avoid). This repeatable and scalable process is ROI focused so the fear of ROI is satisfied as well.

So rather than talk about how a blog may be successful, take a Blog Readiness Assessment and see exactly where a blog will be successful, who it would be successful for and the style in which to write it.

Lutz concluded his thoughts by saying:

To me, the blog is a way for GM to be culturally relevant. It allows us to be on the leading edge of new technology while getting our strong views out there about our cars and trucks. So far, response has been outstanding, with more than 5,000 visits and 13,000 page views a day.

To any senior executive on the fence about starting a corporate blog, I have a word of advice: Jump.

If you’re considering a blog for your organization, you can work with Nebo Group to create a successful blogging strategy that enhances your overall business strategy and avoid cultural noise and move to cultural relevance - holistic ROI.

Learn more about Nebo Group’s blogging solutions.

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