Our MyST Blogsite generates highly qualified leads compared to other venues of online lead generation. One of the primary reasons is we have a trust factor, which we built (and continue to build) by providing dependable and accurate information through the blogsite. As a result, actions are more meaningful for business and the customer."
Associated Press Article on Fortune 500 Blogging Exposes Multiple Benefits
The blog has become for me the single most effective vehicle to communicate to all of our constituencies...
–
Jonathan Schwartz, CEO
Sun Microsystems Inc.
The blogging trend continues to infiltrate various levels of the corporate world. According to a recent article by the Associated Press, the number of Fortune 500 companies that are publishing blogs written by CEOs has doubled since December 2005. From the article as published in BizReport:
Jonathan Schwartz recently became "un blogeur" when he started publishing his Weblog in French and nine other languages....
"The blog has become for me the single most effective vehicle to communicate to all of our constituencies -- developers, media, analysts and shareholders," Schwartz said in an interview in his Silicon Valley office. "When I go out and have dinner with a key analyst on Wall Street or a key investor from Europe and ask them if they've read my blog, they almost universally say yes."
The article goes on to expose several of the advantages of blogging, and also speaks to what are perceived as obstacles or disadvantages to business blogging at the corporate level. However, as often happens when this issue is covered in the mainstream media, two things seem to be missing from the discussion on the discourse surrounding what can potentially be the dark side of blogging.
The first issue that is often not addressed is that the decision for CEO blogging has potential risks and rewards just like any other business decision. What needs to be weighed is how to manage and reduce that risk, and whether the potential risk outweighs the rewards.
I spoke with a group of bloggers in Phoenix recently. What I found is that very few had any business from their blogs despite a lot of effort. I have 5 closings and 7 active buyers directly from [our MyST blogsite] in 2008. I know because I ask. One person told me they have been reading my blog for almost a year before they called me to buy a property."
