Blogging skepticism and some answers I met with a team from a major technology company this week to talk about their interest in launching corporate blogs. They're skeptical and they had some good questions. Here are my responses:

I can't even read the industy publications I already get. Who's got time for blogs?
Information overload is a problem for everyone in business. The blogosphere only adds to the crush. The thing to remember is that it's not how many people read your blog, it's who reads it. One very important constituency is reporters and analysts. If you're the head of an influential, publicly held industry company, I guarantee you the press and Wall Street will read your blog. That makes a blog an ideal place to float ideas, spin current events and communicate good news that these influencers might otherwise miss.

There's also a huge disparity between the great mass of blogs on the Internet and the ones that really get read. There are no definitive numbers, but I'd guess that the vast majority of blogs get daily readership in the double digits. However, the leaders count hundreds of thousands of daily visitors. If you know how to build audience, you can generate tremendous traffic in a fairly short period of time. If you do it right, you actually can put up big numbers.

The people who read blogs are mainly teenagers and people with lots of time on their hands.
I think that was more true a couple of years ago than it is now. The explosion of popularity and media interest in blogging has driven a lot of business people to test the water and I've got to believe they like what they see. Again, reliable statistics are hard to come by, but when you look at the number of really busy, influential people who are actively blogging, you have to assume there's a reason for that.

The blogosphere is still developing its own self-organizing principles but link-popularity engines and RSS feeds are improving and enabling readers to separate wheat from chaff. It takes a few minutes each day to check for new content via RSS and blog content is becoming almost indistinguishable from CNN in the indexing services that people already use. I think blogs will simply become part of the fabric of Web news that people are already monitoring. To the reader, it won't matter what the source is as long as the content is useful.

Does the CEO have to blog?
Not necessarily. It depends on your strategy. Microsoft clearly chose not to have blogs by Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates. That's because the company was interested in promoting smart employees and actually reducing some of the focus on the company leaders.

At the other end of the spectrum, Bob Parsons at GoDaddy.com has used his blog very effectively. Parsons is a dynamic leader and GoDaddy was very interested in promoting his personality and opinions in a market that is perceived as being bland and undifferentiated. Different strokes.

The one bit of advice I'd offer is that if your CEO is going to blog, he/she has got to be committed to it and has got to have something to say. The worst thing you can do is put out corporate oatmeal or update your blog once a month. You're actually going to hurt yourself more than help your cause if you do that.

How should we choose company bloggers?
Again, it depends, but the basic rule should be to select people who line up with your company strategy. If you're trying to expand your partner channel, look to people who manage partner relationships. If your company has a product quality problem, then maybe your developers or engineers should do the talking. If there are rumors that the company is in trouble, the CEO can use the soapbox to demonstrate leadership.

The most important thing, though, is to choose people who have something to say and who can express their opinions persuasively and constructively. Blather and tirades won't help you. Look for debaters and articulate writers.

Really? What about people who can't write well?
Oh, you mean the developers! :-)

Seriously, good writing skills are not a necessity in some fields. People with strong technical skills who can speak the language of their communities can do just fine without having an English degree. However, you do need to match the author to the audience. I'd suggest that a marketer who can't write is not a good candidate for blogging. On the other hand, a farmer who speaks in plain language and has passion for his work might be just what your company image needs.  ¶ 8:24 AM