SBP (*Standard Blog Procedure)
Ideas are EVERYWHERE! Although, to the uninitiated they may be hard to find. As any serious blogger knows, Ideascaping takes time. Gathering information from RSS feeds, technorati, del.icio.us, the blogosphere is hard work. Yet and still, the process is ultimately rewarding and fulfilling. Blogs are a tool to improve innovation, PR, marketing, productivity, morale and they can connect people together with information in new ways. But without proper planning, a blogging program can have disastrous results when incorporated company-wide.
Challenges for mainstream blogging, by Stephen Baker from Business Week - "...I don't think the movement will really transform our business until we start using blogs and wikis for internal communications and collaborative reporting. Once we get used to those tools inside the firewall, I predict we'll reach out, energetically."
Mr. Baker wonders, "If we're going to grow strong within this medium, we'll have to free up more resources."
Witness this brief exchange between Jack Krupansky, "Will blogging be considered a "premium" activity or something comparable to slacking off?" and Mr. Baker's reply, "I don't think anyone knows at this point. In pitching the concept of starting the blogspotting blog, I argued that blogging would get us into a vital area, where we would pick up all sorts of ideas, which would later enhance our product, in the magazine and online. I still think this is true, but I don't know how it will be evaluated by the top editors."
The facts are blogging, both internal and external, takes time and resources. Just because the technology is free or cheap does not mean that a real business plan, one that meets multiple objectives, can be skipped. Without one, the honeymoon will be over pretty fast when the efficiency minded executive finds out resources are being diverted to blogging and away from projects that have a direct line to strategy and profitability. Sure, there is a lot of mental masturbation going on right now over blogs, wikis, and podcasts with little hard data to back up wild claims. So good business plan, with supporting policies, procedures, and support systems is required to successfully implement a blogging strategy.
The most innovative companies, 3M, GE, W.L Gore, et al all have defined employee policies, procedures, and systems in place that account for time spent on new ideas. For example, 3M gives every employee 5 - 8 hours a week to pursue new ideas. I don't know if these companies are using blogs, but they recognize the time and resources that are required to pursue worthwhile ideas.
A half-assed approach might work for a few months, but having a tiger by the tail ("let the blogs fly" approach) will result in injury. So far, the businesses we are working with have been able to beat off the marketing groups until the back-end blogging systems, policies, and procedures are in place.
Evelyn from CrossRoads Dispatches has an insightful post, "Align This: Reversing the Company-Centric Blog Trend" that touches on a facet of internal and external blogging for customer ideas or open innovation. I hope the company she mentioned, HealthyConcerns.com, is prepared to take action on the ideas garnered from customers.
Evelyn suggests, " Try putting your customers and your ecosystem's conversations at the center of the hub -- rather than your company's. Even if it's simply a conceptual idea, it'll radically change the focus of your conversation."
"Marketing is not all about getting out the company story. Your customers have stories too." They're just hosting the party and getting out of the way.
To support this effort or any effort like it, requires a whole new way of viewing your organization. Hugh on gapingvoid continues with "the porous membrane (cont.). [Each company's market is divided into two parts, (A) the internal conversation within the company, and (B) the external conversation with the outside world. The ideally porous "x-membrane" seperates the two.]
As you can see, there is way more to blogging than just writing posts; both from a purely mechanical perspective (the research and time expended to research the subject matter) and from a business perspective (incorporating blogging into your business plan and policy). What's more, scaling is a problem that most businesses haven't even thought of yet. Simply believing that all things will scale in proportion is wrong.