Confessions of a two month CEO blogger
At the Forrester Marketing Forum in LA, held on April 8-9, I gave a short presentation on my first two months of blogging. Many of the marketing executives in attendance are urging their CEOs to blog — I thought my early impressions might prepare them for CEO reactions. Here goes:
Number One: “No one is reading my blog — my out-sized ego can’t take it.” Prepare your CEO for a slow audience build.
Number Two: “Once a week? I’m too busy trying to run the company to do this.” Yes, one post a week may only take a few hours — but “…getting into the conversation” — reading and commenting at other blogs — what all experienced bloggers urge you to do, will double the time required.
Number Three: “The technology sucks.” Blogging technology is shockingly crude. Get ready to give your CEO tech support — even around the fundamentals like getting a picture into a post.
Number Four: “I’m not getting anything back.” This is the corrollary to Number One. I often feel like I’m on a one-way phone conversation — I talk, but there’s no one listening. I lust for value-filled comments that will improve and drive my ideas. With time, they will come.
Number Five: “Where the hell is the money in this thing? Why are we giving this away for free?” I get it — that if you blow pizza smoke out into the street, people will come in and buy pizza. But other CEOs may have a tougher time justifying the commitment of time and resources to blogging. Get ready to make a tangible ROI case.