Come on in, the water — er, blogosphere’s — fine

For probably 9 out of 10 corporations, the blogosphere is a scary place…and understandably so. We’ve all heard our share of the “corporate blogging gone wrong” stories, the Kryptonite lock incident I wrote about previously, and so on. Even if companies don’t get it right the first time around, one thing that they should remember is that the blogosphere is, generally speaking, pretty forgiving.

But this can be easy to forget when – like L’Oreal experienced – a corporation sees commenters writing how they think the company’s blog is “foisting a fraud upon the public.” This is exactly what happened with Vichy, a blog written by fictitious author Claire to promote a new L’Oreal product. The company generated this character, an all-too-perfect looking thirtysomething, whose language resembled (a little too closely) that of the Vichy advertisements. Of course the blog’s readers saw right through this, and they made it clear to L’Oreal that the blog was, well, lame.

Although the Vichy blog got off to a bad start, Scoble and Israel use it as their “favorite case of a bad blog turning good” in chapter 10 of Naked Conversations. After being inundated with so many negative comments, L’Oreal shut down the blog but reincarnated it shortly thereafter. The company found five women bloggers who were willing to test the anti-aging cream and gave them license to write whatever they wanted about it on the blog. The public’s reaction to the blog was exactly the opposite of their reaction to the first blog: people loved it. And the blog even earned praise from the press.

This is a great example of why corporations shouldn’t be afraid of delving into and participating in the online space. It might take a company several tries to get it right, but jumping in and trying to engage those online is far better than turning a deaf ear on the conversation that’s happening.

Even though a mistake or two in the blogosphere probably won’t make or break a corporation, it would be nice to do things right the first time around. As always, Scoble and Israel offer tips on how to make this happen. Chapter 11 focuses on “doing it right”, and here are some of the highlights:

• Read a bunch of blogs before you start. “Reading other blogs should help inspire you to write your own—and should give you some ideas of what is already being said and what you might contribute.”

• Demonstrate passion. Show your authority. “A good corporate blog is both passionate and authoritative. Blog what you know.”

• Add comments. “A good blog is a conversation, not a one-way PR channel. Get over the fact that you won’t have full control.”

• Be accessible. “It’s surprising how many people start conversations with blogs but foolishly choose to make themselves unreachable through e-mail or phone.”

 

Corporations should read and re-read Scoble and Israel’s suggestions and then get into the online discussion. Yes, they might make a mistake or two, but that’s okay. Just get out there. Because, like so many social media gurus have said, the conversation is going to continue regardless of whether your company is paying attention.