Hallo Zusammen,

ich selbst habe ja bereits den Blog von The Phone House ein wenig kritisiert  (hier nachzulesen). Nunja ich habe jetzt kein BWL studiert und bin auch noch nicht im Marketing tätig, allerdings fand ich es sehr spannend, als ich folgenden Beitrag auf ConnectedMarketing.de gefunden habe:

ConnectedMarketing.de: Open Source Marketing bei PhoneHouse.

Ein paar Monate später habe ich dann noch per Mail Feedback zum PhoneHouse Blog geben können, das mittlerweile seit einigen Wochen im Netz steht. (Nicht alles perfekt, zuweilen noch extrem werblich, aber in jedem Fall der Weg in die richtige Richtung, denke ich.)

Ich finde es gut, dass meine Meinung durch das Feedback eines Profis bestätigt wird. Der Blog wirkt derzeit noch etwas wie eine moderne Litfasssäule, zeigt aber bereits sehr gute Ansätze.

Nachtrag:

Ich hatte diesen Artikel bereits als Entwurf gespeichert, als ich erneut den The Phone House Blog aufgerufen habe. Die neue Aktion finde ich richtig klasse!

The Phone House sucht das älteste Handy Deutschlands.

Wer also noch ein Altertümchen in der Schublade hat: Schnell noch ein Foto machen und im Blog oder bei Facebook hochladen um es danach bei uns im Shop als Zahlungsmitteln zu nutzen…

I happened to be checking out the site for Elastic Path a few days ago (if you haven’t heard of Elastic Path, check it out – great local success story with an impressive list of customers), and noted the corporate blog. As we’d been discussing corporate blogs in class, and I’ve also been exploring how they can be used in conjunction with my day job, I clicked through to see what this one had to offer.

I was doubly rewarded. Not only is Get Elastic a great example of how a corporate blog can be used to highlight a company’s expertise in its market space, but it’s also full of really practical discussions around online retailing and ecommerce in general. The posts are topical, pointing out best practices used by a wide arracy of online stores to influence conversions and drive sales, and they include screenshot examples to illustrate the discussions.

There are several elements that make Get Elastic successful as a corporate blog:

1. Focus – The blog is focused on ecommerce practices and maintains a professional tone, positioning the company as an expert in this field. While it is fronted by a single person, the entries feature her expertise, not her life.
2. Low-key approach – While there’s no question the blog is linked to the company, it keeps the sales pitch to a minimum and offers valuable information that even non-customers will likely come back for or subscribe to. A product like what Elastic Path sells is not something a prospect would purchase casually or regularly, so the key to success is staying top-of-mind for prospects so that when they find themselves in a situation where they need an ecommerce software solution, Elastic Path gets into the consideration set. Get Elastic provides a reason for prospects to keep coming back and maintains brand mindshare.
3. Integration with other online marketing activities – One recent entry provides a summary of a webinar the company recently offered and has posted online for free (with registration). The webinar features Brian Walker of Forrester Research discussing trends in B2B ecommerce, and the summary does a nice job of hitting the highlights, while still leaving the reader interested in viewing the whole webinar (assuming they have the time). At the end, it includes details on the next webinar the company has scheduled.
4. Conversations with experts – While Linda Bustos, who maintains the blog, is an ecommerce analyst and quite knowledgeable, she also engages with other, more “neutral” third party experts, not only in the webinar mentioned above, but also in podcast interviews. This adds to her credibility with readers and supports her own expert positioning.

If you’re looking for an example of what a corporate blog (even one not fronted by the CEO) could add to your marketing program, this is worth a look. If you’re interested at all in ecommerce and online sales, it may also be a good one to add to your feeds.

Marketing 2.0 refers to any marketing techniques that use promotional strategies via  internet. This refers to simply using classic advertisement campaigns on web pages, as well as  viral marketing and corporate blogging.

Using viral marketing in the  Marketing 2.0 tranisition is very affective. People can email information to friends or post information on  social networks, allowing information to reach more people in less time.                                                                                                                                                    Corporate blogs are used to publish information for both internal and external uses.  In addition to staying organized,  employees can use corporate blogs to communicate ideas and goals with other employees. Externally, consumers can keep updated on the company´s  products, services, and policies. 

As the times are changing, more and more people are choosing the internet as their main source of information. It is important for businesses to recognize the transition to Marketing 2.0

Last updated November 16, 2009.

1. Information Technology Outsourcing Policy Management: A Case Study of Malaysia

Information technology outsourcing practice is enshrined in numerous problems one of such problems is policy management. Due to economic benefits derived by government and organisations from ITO it is inevitable for any government or organisation to protect interest of the nation or organisation’s vision and mission respectively. Policy management guides business transactions between two or more interested parties and also the stakeholders, therefore it is imperative for the parties to operative successfully only in an environment where operational policies are realistic at the same time appealing. This research looks into the effect of Malaysian government policies on ITO practices and its impact of Malaysian ITO community, in term of level of awareness among the big and small-and-medium- scale-enterprise, this research also investigates the contribution of policy in building an effective ITO success model by using India ITO policy as benchmark. This research finds out that government policy alone cannot be effective if tangible incentives and amenities were not in-place. It also finds out that any negative ITO policies are detrimental to failures recorded in the implementation of ITO models. Interviews were conducted among some ITO suppliers in Malaysia and MDeC. Comparison between Malaysia and India is based on materials available on both countries (research materials, write-up and books).

2. Conceptualising the Co-creation of Value via Corporate Blogs: A Proposed Research Framework

The new Internet, dubbed as web 2.0, has been hailed as the next wave of technology, introducing a plethora of social media tools such as blogs, social networking, media-sharing, collaborative tagging and wikis. These web 2.0-driven technologies are significantly advancing the business world from the 20th century of one-to-many, top-down mass communications model towards a 21st century communications model that is more open, interactive, multidimensional and participatory. As a result, web 2.0 has carved out a more competitive environment, forcing businesses to perform at a faster, cheaper and smarter level to create new business opportunities. Focusing on an increasingly competitive web 2.0 tool – blogging, this paper introduces the concept of corporate blogs as a dialogical platform between company and customers. As companies are faced with a growingly demanding heterogeneous customer base, they are forced to take a step back and re-evaluate their existing online communication channels in order to foster more valuable online relationships with their customers. A way to achieve this is to utilise corporate blogs as a dialogical online platform for knowledge exchange between companies and customers. By positing blogs as engaging “experience environments”, we discuss how meaningful value can be co-created through the corporate blog via a conceptual framework as a call for further research. We anticipate that the insights garnered be helpful in paving way for some collective thinking on how corporate blogs may further benefit companies who are keen to use this tool as a business enhancement and branding concept.

3. Do We Need a New Ethical Approach to Fill Policy Vacuums in Computer Software Property Rights?

Computer software is unique as a technology and creates complex moral problems. Although these moral problems are not new in character they are new in traditional practice. Computer technology raises several new questions in old ethical issues, such as privacy, confidentiality, property rights, harm, risk, and so forth. Specially, software ownership right is a new idea in traditional ethics. Present legal framework (e.g. copy right, patent and trade secrecy) and philosophical ownership theories (labour theory and utilitarian theory) are not sufficient to protect ownership rights. There is also a disagreement whether software should be owned or free. Traditional insufficient legal framework, inadequate ethical approach, lack of appropriate philosophical ownership theory creates policy vacuums in computer software property rights. These policy vacuums lift up the question: do we need a new ethical approach? I will apply Moor and Johnson’s policy vacuums thesis to the computer software property rights and argue that present ethical approach is inadequate because it is fundamentally based on utilitarian principle, and cost-benefit analysis. Moreover, this paper will critically examine some sub questions like: is software ownership right unique? Why is the present policy inadequate? Should software be owned or free?

4. Influence of human resource practices on the recruitment and retention of skilled employees in Malaysia

The research aims to determine the influence of human resource practices on the recruitment and retention of skilled employees in Malaysia, particularly in the information, communications and technologies (ICT) service industry. It is a qualitative study, targeting both local ICT companies and multinationals in Malaysia. At the moment, I am analysing my data and developing main themes for my research, based on which I would purpose theory development. The study aims to demonstrate the appropriateness of findings derived from western and different industries in terms of their applicability in the Malaysian context. In addition, the study aims to propose a model suitable for use by human resource practitioners in determining what practices ICT companies should adopt to recruit and retain their skilled employees. This study hopes to illuminate the current employment relationships in the ICT companies in Malaysia, which would be useful for the human resource practitioners in developing and implementing their retention policies and practices.

5. REVIEW OF ICT MANAGEMENT CRITERIONS FOR MANAGING LEARNING ORGANIZATION: EXPERIENCE ON ACADEMIC STAFF ADVANCEMENT PROGRAMME

Hallo Zusammen,

dieser Artikel beschreibt, weshalb ich unter anderem diesen Blog betreibe.

Personal Branding im Netz: Online-Schreckgespenst? – fuellhaas.com – Online Reputation Management, Personal Branding und Social Media.

Nicht das wir uns falsch verstehen. Ich suche keine neue Herausforderung. Oder vielleicht doch? Wer möchte sich nicht verbessern, oder an neuen Herausforderungen wachsen? Was ich damit sagen möchte:

Ich suche derzeit nicht aktiv nach einem neuen Arbeitgeber, da ich bei The Phone House wirklich sehr zufrieden bin.  Meine Arbeit macht mir Spaß und TPH bietet mir auch gute Perspektiven. Nur warum sollte man nicht schon jetzt eine Basis für die Zukunft schaffen? Und wer weiß, vielleicht ist ja doch mal ein richtig gutes Angebot dabei?

Über XING habe ich schon zahlreiche Jobangebote bekomme. Die meisten davon waren widererwarten sogar recht interessant und seriös. Dies ist eine Bestätigung für mich, weiterhin in den einschlägigen Netzwerken und auch hier in meinem Blog aktiv zu sein.

Jedenfalls steht eines fest: Ich sehe mich selbst als Marke! Produkte sind vergleichbar. Kaufentscheidend ist die Person bzw. das Einkaufserlebnis, welches wesentlich durch mich geprägt wird. Kooperationen welche entstehen, sind Resultate meiner persönlichen Netzwerkaktivitäten. Warum soll ich mich also nicht selbst vermarkten?

Hallo Zusammen,

bereits vor einigen Jahren las ich Schlagzeilen über den Frosta-Blog. Eins der ersten, wenn nicht sogar das erste Unternehmen das über ein Blog den offenen Dialog mit den Verbrauchern / Kunden gesucht hat. Chapeau!

Hier wird nach dem Motto mehr Mensch weniger Corporate (<= Interview mit Uwe Knaus, Daimler-Blog) fleißig gebloggt. Wenn man sich anschaut, wann der erste Beitrag geschrieben wurde ist es verwunderlich, dass derzeit immer noch so wenige Unternehmen diese Art der Kommunikation vergleichbar nutzen.

Ob man Angst vor dem Dialog hat? Ich habe in einem anderen Artikel bereits erwähnt, dass man aus Fehlern nur lernen kann. Es zeugt von Stärke, wenn man Fehler auch öffentlich zugibt. Es müssen aber ja nicht immer Probleme oder Fehler sein, welche in solch einem Blog thematisiert werden. Vielmehr können Kunden hier auch über positive Erfahrungen berichten.

Der The Phone House Weblog erinnert mich da eher an ein Anzeigeblättchen. Werbung gibt’s genug. Liebe Marketingabteilung von TPH: “Wann beginnt Ihr endlich mit unseren Kunden in den öffentlichen Dialog zu treten?” Folgt dem Beispiel von Frosta! Einige Ansätze finde ich ja schon sehr gut. Beispielsweise die Aktionen wo ihr Blogger gesucht habt, welche über diverse Produkte wie beispielsweise das edHardy Netbook berichten sollten. Schaut man sich allerdings die Kommentare -also die Beteiligung- im Blog an, so lässt diese doch zu wünschen übrig?!

Nunja. Gebt unserem Blog ein Gesicht. Lasst ebenfalls Mitarbeiter aus den unterschiedlichsten Bereichen ab und an mal bloggen. Beispielsweise könnten auch einzelne Shops über eigene regionale Aktionen berichten und Feedback von den Kunden einfordern.
Wir haben vor einiger Zeit eine Promotion in einer Diskothek gemacht. Im Dezember findet erneut eine Promotion in dieser Diskothek statt. Im Weblog und speziell in den Social Media Communitys könnte man solche Events sehr gut bewerben und die Interessenten dazu bewegen weitere Freunde / Kunden einzuladen…

Abschließen zurück zu o.g. Interview:

Aus ihrer Sicht: Was bringt Social Media einer großen Marke wie Daimler?
Social Media bietet großen wie kleinen Marken ein ENORMES POTENZIAL. Es entsteht ein Dialog und dieser wird TRANSPARENT geführt. Beziehungen werden aufgebaut und Kommunikation findet kontinuierlich statt. So entstehen Ideen und Anregungen, die sich auf Marke, Unternehmen und dessen Anspruchsgruppen positiv auswirken.

Hallo Zusammen,

ich habe heute die Inhalte meines Blogs neu überdacht. Ich werde in den kommenden Tagen noch ein wenig über Social Media in Unternehmen schreiben. Einfach nur deshalb, weil ich noch einige interessante Beiträge gefunden habe, welche ich Ihnen nicht vorenthalten möchte.

Die nächsten Artikel werden sich künftig mehr mit IT, Mobilfunk, Gedanken zu Verkaufsgesprächen und Erfahrungsberichten befassen.

Ich möchte eigene Inhalte zur Verfügung stellen. Mir ist aufgefallen, dass ich bisher viel Artikel die ich interessant finde hier “nur” kommentiert habe. Social Media in Unternehmen ist zwar ein Themengebiet welches mich sehr interessiert und ich mir vorstellen kann hier künftig tätig zu werden, allerdings verfüge ich derzeit auf diesem Gebiet über noch sehr wenig Erfahrung.

Außerdem wird es einen Kummerkasten geben. Dazu aber später noch mehr…

Freuen Sie sich also auf Anekdoten aus dem Shopalltag eines Filialleiters bei The Phone House, Erfahrungsberichten zu eigenen Einkaufserlebnissen und Produkten, sowie Testberichte und Anleitungen zu Endgeräten der Telekommunikationsbranche.

Hallo Zusammen,

wieder einmal war ich etwas im Web unterwegs und habe erneut einige interessante Beiträge zum Thema Social Media in Unternehmen gefunden. Immer mehr wird sich mit diesem Themengebiet auseinander gesetzt. Nur wenige Firmen nutzen derzeit die möglichen Tools wirklich effektiv aus. Wenn ich an meinen Arbeitgeber denke, so ist er in der Welt 2.0 zwar bereits relativ breit vertreten, aber wirklich zielgerichtet läuft dies meiner Meinung nach noch nicht ab.

Beispielsweise nutzt The Phone House einen eigenen Blog und ist in Twitter aktiv -sofern man das aktiv nennen darf-, allerdings eher in Form einer neuen großen Litfasssäule. Ab und an werden neue Gewinnspiele und Angebote in die Welt 2.0 hinausposaunt. Es handelt sich hierbei aber eher um einen Monolog. Thema verfehlt hieß es damals in der Schule… Setzen 6!

Wir an der Front im Verkauf stehen täglich im Dialog mit dem Kunden. Manchmal möchte ich eine Couch im Shop aufbauen und sagen: “Legen Sie sich entspannt hin. Wo drückt denn der Schuh?” Genau dieser Dialog ist es aber der die Marke eines Unternehmens massiv prägen kann wird.
Wir im Shop erreichen täglich nur eine kleine Anzahl der Kunden, welche wichtige Multiplikatoren darstellen. Oft sind es auch nur kleine Fragen oder Problemchen die sich auf Grund mangelnder Kommunikation und der daraus resultierenden Unwissenheit der Kunden aufstauen und aus denen oft eine Kündigung des Vertragsverhältnisses resultiert. Der Weg in den Shop ist oft zu weit oder zu aufwendig. Wenn man dann allerdings nachfragt weshalb der Kunde kündigen möchte, kann man sein Problem meist relativ leicht beheben, oder ihm eine neue passende Lösung anbieten. Je einfacher die Kommunikation zwischen Unternehmen und Verbraucher stattfindet umso leichter können eben solche Missverständnisse vermieden werden. So werden Kunden zu Fans!

Und genau dieser Dialog muss auch im Web 2.0 stattfinden. Unternehmen dürfen diesen neuen Kanal nicht mit SPAM ungewünschten Angeboten und Werbetexten überfluten. Der Dialog selbst ist der beste Werbetext den ein Unternehmen nutzen kann. Man könnte es auch Kundenbindung 2.0 nennen…

Angeregt von folgenden Beiträge:
- Warum der Chief Social Media Officer kommen wird
- Social Media Officer versus Community Manager versus Community Ambassador | thomashutter.com

Hallo Zusammen,

auch hier noch ein Link zum Thema Social Media Marketing im Unternehmen.

Wenn Elefanten fliegen lernen: Social Media Marketing im Unternehmen | Besser 2.0.

Wo bleibt der Corporate Blogger?

Ein Lösungsansatz für Unternehmen könnte sein, das ausgewählte Mitarbeiter den Status des „Corporate Bloggers“ oder “Social Media Botschafters” erhalten, der neben internem Ansehen und externer Sichtbarkeit auch Zeit und Aufwand für die Kommunikation abdeckt. Die organisatorischen Rahmenbedigungen müssten auch durch den klaren Willen quer durch das Unternehmen hindurch begleitet werden, diese neuen Rollen wirklich anzuerkennen und nicht in irgendeine “Auch du bist auch so ein Blogger – deine Zeit möchte ich haben” Ecke zu stellen.

Wann werden die ersten solcher Stellen in Unternehmen geschaffen?

Hallo Zusammen,

ich bin heute erneut durch Twitter, genauer gesagt durch Klaus Eck auf einen interessanten Artikel gestoßen.

Wie Marketer Misserfolgsfaktoren im Social Web mindern können

„Viele Unternehmen denken, dass sie mit ihren Social-Media-Aktionen gleich beim ersten Mal alle Erfolgsrekorde brechen und virale Kampagnen erzeugen“, sagt Dr. Nils Andres, Geschäftsführer des Brand Science Institute. Verkannt werde aber, dass Social Media intern und extern als dauerhaftes Engagement mit den Konsumenten angesehen werden muss, um erfolgreich zu sein. „Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass viele kleine Aktionen meist wirkungsvoller sind, als die eine große Kampagne“, erklärt Andres. Vor dem Start ins Social Web sei zu empfehlen, Social-Web-Abteilungen und Verantwortlichkeiten aufzubauen, die als zentrale Ansprechpartner für die Planung, Ausführung und Kontrolle dienen sollten.

Diese Verantwortlichkeit, bzw. dieses Aufgabengebiet finde ich sehr interessant. Mein Arbeitgeber sollte solch einen Posten einführen. Ob mein Fernstudium hier zielführend ist, solch eine Position später zu besetzen? Ich denke schon…

Vielen Dank Klaus Eck. Werde Ihre Beiträge auf Twitter und nun auch im Blog weiter verfolgen.

Hallo Zusammen,

ich habe bei meinen abendlichen Recherchen im Netz ein paar nützliche Hinweise zum erfolgreichen Bloggen gefunden.

6 Tipps zum Start eines Corporate Blogs.

Ein Tipp werde ich auf jedenfall gleich beherzigen: Ich habe mir vorgenommen so zu schreiben, wie es mir gerade in den Sinn kommt. Gestern Abend habe ich mir noch überlegt ob ich eine Art “Strategie” entwickeln soll, in welche Richtung ich diesen Blog entwickeln möchte. Klar benötigt man ein Ziel, was man mit einem solchen Blog erreichen möchte und eine Ausrichtung, aber ich stehe ja noch ganz am Anfang und werde das nun alles erst einmal auf mich zukommen lassen.

Mal sehen wohin die Reise führen mag.

Image credit: www.webepreneur.com

The success of a website depends upon the amount of traffic it draws. So it is ingenious to invest in a professional online marketing company or a good Dubai SEO service for the same.

-When you create a website, make sure that your blog domain is catchy. Visitors will return to your site quite easily when the name is easy. Also keep in mind that a large amount of traffic to your site is provided by search engines. Thus all the necessary arrangements need to be done by your Dubai SEO experts to make your site search-engine friendly.

-Search-engine friendly also means that your keywords need to be relevant to the website content. Depending on the search engine you are targeting, you will have to make use of these keywords wisely. Use good Meta Tags if the particular search engine looks out for them.

-A neat website design that is not heavy to navigate is also essential to create a good 1^st impression. A positive image will chisel your site in the minds of visitors.

-Be a part of the social networking craze. For example: Everyone is busy with Twitter. Everyone from movie stars to politicians are at it. This is because this social networking site does have a huge and varied audience to influence. Don’t change your avatar often, as your company’s identity is associated with the picture more than the name.

All the above tips are great for your website. But for deeper internet marketing strategies in UAE, contact Online Marketing Dubai.

Image credit: www.cartoonstock.com

SEO or search engine optimization in Dubai has changed over the years. Since many don’t notice these changes, you (as an advertiser) can get the following modern SEO alternatives done by Dubai SEO experts of your choice. But before that we all need to ‘get real’ as old techniques are literally harming webpage rankings today.

-Keyword stuffing will get you nowhere. Quality, linkable, killer content is required to get noticed even if your SEM service in Dubai hasn’t mentioned your keywords many times.

-Business blogging is much better than article marketing. It is more worthy of respect than article marketing. The low quality of articles and other disadvantages make it a less animate option.

-Before linking out, check if you’ve got exceptional content. If linking is done this way, people will link back to your website more than you linked them.

-Online forums are pretty nasty for marketing as people who come there are in search of a solution to their problem. Social communities on the other hand are laid-back and provide the perfect environment to talk about your site.

-Less designing and more ease is the need of the day. Your website really needs to look great. But what your visitors really need is quick navigation, landing pages that are to the point and clear registration forms. There needs to be lesser clutter on you webpage for the visitor to maintain focus.

It up to you to decide which of the new tactics or the old ones suit you better. Whichever you choose, Online Marketing Dubai can fulfill all your SEO needs.

fromblaugh.com

To say that blogging is one of the best features of the Web 2.0 will be an understatement. Not only has blogging enabled normal Internet users like me to document whatever selfish details of their lives are for all the world to see, it has also handed a challenge to companies. That challenge can be summarized in two words: corporate blogging.

In all honesty, I haven’t read a single decent corporate blog in the Philippines. There. I said it. I’ve heard about the best corporate blogs there are and that includes Dell’s and BBC’s. There are even CEO bloggers like Craiglist’s Craig Newmark, who surprisingly have the time for corporate blogging. But no, not in the Philippines. Our lecture in corporate blogging made me realize how it is nearer to talking with people than it is to achieving organizational goals. That said, Philippine companies should be brave enough to face the fire and try corporate blogging; they’ve listened long enough. Why not let us listen to what they have to say?

A word of caution to Philippine companies from an Organizational Communication student and a proactive Internet user, though: Don’t even think of corporate blogging if..

You’re not going to promote it anway.

With gazillions of websites in the Internet, how can you expect your corporate blog to be read by the unsuspecting reader? Two things: first, it has to have engaging content; second, it has to be promoted. I’m a firm believer that content is the be-all and end-all of everything, so if you can’t manage to get great content in your corporate blog, you might just as well not make one in the first place.

In promoting your blog, you should have a clear cut plan: identify who your target readers are and strike at the heart of where they are. Once you’ve caught their attention, make sure they never stray away.

You don’t have the heart to update.

Even the lousiest bloggers I know can update their blogs every so often. And once they do, it’s anything but unreadable. The last thing you want is to be a has-been corporate blog that was read by people at some point in the past. Worse, your outdated corporate blog can even damage your reputation.

Make sure you are willing to invest time and effort in your corporate blog. A great amount of both is needed to keep your blog rolling. And remember: no one wants a rotten apple.

You don’t want to listen.

More than a tool of getting information out to the public, your corporate blog is an instrument for you to hear out your readers’ thoughts. It can come in the form of responding to their comments, asking feedback at the end of every post or seeking their input on a new product you’re about to release. The feeling of having to listen may be unusual at first, especially if you’re used to heavy trimedia advertising. Try listening, though. You’ll surprisingly get a lot out of it.

You want ease and convenience.

A study conducted by my professor on corporate  blogging in the Philippines revealed ease and convenience as primary reasons for convincing supervisors to try corporate blogging. Something is very wrong with this reason.

Corporate blogging isn’t easy, especially if you’ve never tried it before. Rewards can be dire and almost impossible to come by. Sustaining reader interest is a science in itself. Responding to reader comments one after the other is a tireless job. It is not easy and convenient.

You’re not a person.

Are you planning to post news articles on your corporate blog? Never mind. Corporate blogging is not about posting news updates on your website. There’s another place for that–your (probably boring) company website. What your corporate blog has to have is the voice of a real person, someone with a perspective, a mind and heart. Someone willing to listen and respond. You know, like a normal human being.

Before even thinking of corporate blogging, make sure you have a blogger in the first place.  A blogger–that’s what you call someone behind a blog, corporate or not.

Oh yes you sure read it right, I’m going back to school as of today. After almost 3 months of fun and joy the vacation is finally over. No more turning back now… time for some action!

So I went to my first lesson of this year (and also the only one of today): Automation. And yes it is really all about automation with machines like you could have guessed. For the first time in 5 years of studying Economic Engineering we’re going to visit some companies (one of them Ford Genk). And we will get a group assignment instead of an exam for our course of Automation. Is this a good thing? Time will tell I guess.

After that lesson I went to the library of my university [Universiteit Hasselt] to do some reading for my theses about “Corporate Blogs”. And at this point that means reading “Blog Schmog“, a book written by Robert W. Bly who is a Blog Critic to say at least. I’ve even read some interesting things in it that I will be able to apply on my own blog (yeah this one you’re reading) too. And I also plan on reviewing the book later on after I finish reading it. Before this one I’ve also read “Blog Marketing” by Jeremy Wright and I will probably read “Naked Conversations” by Robert Scoble & Shel Israel too afterwards.

And a few hours later I took the bus straight home which was very crowded, just the way I’m used to it. Oh yes after that ride I knew for sure: “It has started! We’re going back to school!” And there I made this picture of my classmate John who took the same bus as my girlfriend (not on the picture) & I. Say Chééééééééése

Actually I’m quite happy that school started again. I always feel so useless when having a long vacation… don’t you? Oh and if anyone knows a “must read” about corporate blogging, feel free to tell me about it!

We Often Hear What Can a Blog Do for a Business

In order to best answer this we must all agree on what a Blog is. So the most common definition used for the word Blog is a web page made up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically-the term is actually weblogs coined by Jorn Barger in 1997.

Blogs generally fall into two categories.

Personal Blogs: This is a mixture usually of a personal diary as well as opinion posts and even research links.

Business Blogs: These are usually more corporate tools for communicating with customers or employees to share knowledge and expertise in a certain area.

Currently, Business blogs are sweeping the business community. Blogs are an excellent way to share your company’s expertise, build additional web traffic, and connect with potential customers.

So now on to the question at hand…..What Does Blogging Do for a Small Business?
• Blogging is a low-cost marketing initiative to enhance your web presence. For small business owners without the major marketing dollars this is a rather inexpensive method to get your company’s name out on the Internet.
• Updating the blog is a much quicker process to help introduce new concepts and even products online.
• These blogs also provide a business the opportunity to share your expertise and knowledge with a larger audience.
Here are a couple of examples of business blogs that I enjoy
Gizmodo (http://gizmodo.com/) is a weblog about everything about gadgets and gizmos for those who want to remain on the cutting edge of consumer electronics. As a web magazine, Gizmodo is quickly building a specialized audience in consumer electronics with an advertising business model.

Research Buzz (http://www.researchbuzz.org/wp/) is an excellent resource tool for Internet research. An information provider, Research Buzz provides advertising and a special paid edition of their newsletter.

I encourage you to get online and check out the vast variety of blogs out there. Blogs do have a downside. Blogging does not provide the functionality of web pages and should never replace the need for a highly optimized website. However; knowing this blogs are a minimal cost initiative that are usually very advantageous to your small business.

Si sente parlare sempre più spesso di Enterprise 2.0, ossia quello che Wikipedia definisce un insieme di approcci organizzativi e tecnologici orientati all’abilitazione di nuovi modelli organizzativi basati sul coinvolgimento diffuso, la collaborazione emergente, la condivisione della conoscenza e lo sviluppo e valorizzazione di reti sociali interne ed esterne all’organizzazione.

Una modalità di lavorare e progettare che nasce dall’esperienza del web 2.0 e che si avvale di molte delle tecnologie nate in quest’ambito, come blog, wiki, rss, tagging. Anche le infrastrutture di rete basate su SOA e BPM sono ormai mature e si stanno diffondendo in ambito aziendale e si stanno affermando molti software collaborativi pensati per le più varie esigenze d’impresa (per una panoramica visitate  l’ottimo http://www.softwaresociale.com).

Le tecnologie dunque ci sono e hanno costi sempre più bassi, dal mio punto di vista però c’è un tema che non va sottovalutato: le persone sono pronte a collaborare? E fino a che punto?

E’ un’altra faccia della medaglia dell’approccio strategico ai social media: bisogna capire prima chi sono gli intercolocutori e quali obiettivi si vogliono raggiungere e solo poi si può approcciare una tecnologia.

L’enterprise 2.0 dunque è prima di tutto un approccio organizzativo, che passa per la corretta comprensione della valenza del lavoro collaborativo, dei principi della delega e della cultura di un approccio win-win per tutti gli enti e le persone coinvolte.

Le aziende ne sono consapevoli? E la mentalità lavorativa degli italiani è pronta con le dirigienze in grado di accompagnare il cambiamento?

Vedremo, certo la tecnologia senza le persone non serve a nulla…