How can we develop a distinctive voice for our company's blog?
The good news is, it's easier than you might think. The trick? Being yourself, talking about things you care deeply about, and doing it all in pretty much the same voice (that is, the tone and word selection) you'd use for face-to-face conversation. Having only one or two lead bloggers can keep your voice consistent, with occasional guest bloggers dropping in for variety.
Where organizations often get tripped up is treating a blog the way they'd treat, say, an annual report or a news release. Making a blogger jump through multiple hoops of approval, giving your legal or PR department a shot at editing every post, or giving them so little latitude there's no room for spontaneity can quash any sense of the authenticity that lies at the heart of truly distinctive voice. Sure, they need to know about your legal and strategic communications constraints. But if you give your bloggers the room they need to speak honestly and with passion, you'll be delighted at the results.
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10 ways to use numbers in your blog post titles
A lot of the most popular pages and blog posts out there on the web have something in common: a number in the title. If you want to get people's attention, why not try one of these tricks for using the magic of numbers-in-titles the next time you're blogging?
Advice to social media mavens...from media pros
The essential rules of social media share much in common with other kinds of bottom-up marketing campaigns. We compared notes with our colleagues at ttweak, who reminded us of some of the fundamentals: Let participants speak for themselves. Production values matter. Invest in your local community.
10 ways to maximize your blog's ROI: Part 1, give your organization a human voice
In tough times, blogs have to pull their own weight. Here's how they can do it - starting with the way blogging can put a personal face on an organization, which is the first step to building relationships and trust.
Targeting your video message to the community you want to reach
Being "too corporate for YouTube" isn't just a question of slick production values. It's all about conversation... and giving your audience something of value to them.
Using others' words in support of your message
The right quotations can take your message to a whole new level - but you need to choose with care. Here's how to borrow other people's words... and make the most of them.
Vancity CEO Dave Mowat is blogging
It's not your usual CEO blog. No griping about the travails of first-class air travel or hand-wringing about how hard it is to lay people off.Social Signal on...
Work Smarter with Evernote
Get more out of Evernote with Alexandra Samuel's great new ebook, the first in the Harvard Business Press Work Smarter with Social Media series!
