Employee blog fears unfounded when blogs done right

Having employees blog generates a lot of concerns for both employees and employers. A lot of the concerns are unfounded. They often arise out of a total lack of understanding of blogs and how they could be used by a company.

Here’s the latest example. Our Seattle Times writes today ‘Employees who blog must watch what they say.’ I’ll agree with that but look at the definition the article gives for blogs.

…[A] fairly new way of keeping a record of your activities, expressing your innermost thoughts and exchanging information with your cyberspace readers.

Professional marketing blogs, perhaps not the subject of the Times article, are not a diary of activities with a blend of one’s innermost thoughts. Employee blogs used for marketing must focus on a niche topic and be directed at your target audience of subscribers. People subscribe to such blogs because the content is being published by a reliable and trusted authority in their field. Stick to that and you’ll not only have marketing success but your concerns should be limited.