Debbie Weil is a corporate blogging and social media expert, online marketing consultant, speaker and author of The Corporate Blogging Book (Portfolio). She consults with large companies, CEOs and senior executives on how to create blogs that connect with customers and attract media attention.

Presentation to execs and marketing managers of state CPA associations and members of AICPA. More info.

I've compiled a handful I thought you'd find useful (or funny): Top 14 trends from Seth Godin's new book, Meatball Sundae; 10 tips for new bloggers from Jorn Barger who coined the term "Weblog" 10 years ago; Pete Blackshaw's Official 2008 Web 2.0 Buzzword Forecast; the best of Harvard Business Online. Merriam-Webster's 2007 Word Of The Year is w00t! More…

2007 Word of the Year 

Merriam-Webster's 2007 Word Of The Year is w00t! (Yes, those are double zeros.) It means yay! and yippee! as in, "I won!" #2 in M-W's Top 10 words for 2007 is facebook.

Best of Meatball Sundae, Seth Godin's new book

Seth Godin's Top 14 Trends from his new book, Meatball Sundae. You can also listen to Bryan Eisenberg's interview with Seth on Web Master radio.

Top 10 tips for new bloggers from the guy who coined the word "Weblog"

10 Tips for New Bloggers from Jorn Barger, who coined the term "Weblog" exactly ten years ago on Dec. 17, 1997 "to describe the daily list of links that 'logged' his travels across the web." He's a little scary looking, dontcha think?

Pete Blackshaw's Web 2.0 Buzzword Forecast for 2008

Pete Blackshaw's Official 2008 Web 2.0 Buzzword Forecast is quite funny. Friendiligence means doing due diligence on all those "friend requests" you get on Facebook.

Harvard Management Best Of's (free)

The Best of HarvardBusiness.org includes blog posts, video, podcasts, an interactive tool and an interactive case study. All free.

Blogging is a key piece of Web 2.0 or the Social Web, as it's called. The Social Web means crowdsourcing: looking to your customers and fans for knowledge and smarts. It means that painstaking creation of static, stuffy, stilted Web pages is out. Blogs (interactive) are in. Here are my Top 8 Tips to launch an effective corporate blogging program in 2008.

1. Use humor

I don't mean funny ha ha. Poke fun at yourself. Be self-deprecating.  Readers love it. It may be the #1 way to make your blog appear human and to strip the corporate edge from your voice.

New for 2008! Click here for my Corporate Blogging in a Day in-house workshop. Book before Jan. 25, 2008 to get 15% off. 

2. Write short. Less is more.

Who said every blog entry has to be a magnum opus? Short (150 - 300 words) can be very effective. When something happens in the news that mentions your company or product,  professional or trade association, jump on it. Create a blog entry with the relevant links. Add a few sentences of commentary. You're done.

3. Post at least once a week

Do I sound like a broken record? The best way to get your blog noticed by readers, bloggers and the media - not to mention blog ranking tools like Technorati, Bloglines and Techmeme - is to blog consistently. 

4. Link to naysayers and competitors

Grit your teeth and do it. Otherwise you're not credible.

5. Appoint a blog editor

If you can't hire somebody, identify your internal blogging enthusiast (or evangelist) and appoint him/her to oversee regular posting to the blog. It helps if this person has a knack for bloggy writing style and can also proofread for typos. If not, then appoint two people - one a copyeditor and the other a more senior person. More about blog editors.

6. Build redundancy into your approval process

See above. But this applies more specifically to getting approval for each blog post. Set up your blog program so that you have two senior managers responsible for okaying each blog entry. Since either one can do it, you're more likely to get through to one of them when you're in a hurry. Read about Southwest Airlines' blog approval process.

7. Consider joining the newly-formed Blog Council

I have no affiliation with the corporate Blog Council (paid membership) but by all accounts it seems to be a great idea. The brainchild of Andy Sernovitz, founder of WOMMA (Word of Mouth Marketing Association), the mission of the council is to:

Function as a collective voice in support of responsible, ethics-based corporate blogs.  Other issues the Council will address include:

• How do global brands manage blogs in more than one language?
• What do you do when 2000 employees have personal blogs?
• What is the role of the corporate brand in a media landscape increasingly geared toward consumer-generated media?
• What is the correct way to engage and respond to bloggers who write about your company?

Founding members include Cisco Systems, Coca-Cola, Dell, Gemstar-TV Guide, General Motors, Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft, Nokia, SAP and Wells Fargo. Learn more here.

8. Just do it… 

More and more companies and organizations are waking up to the idea of using a blog - an informal, interactive Web site - as a key piece of their online strategy. I can't offer you any precise statistics on the number of company, employee or corporate blogs (nobody has done an official tally). But I can tell you that the pendulum has swung.

As of Dec. 9, 2007, 9.2% of Fortune 500s are blogging, according to the Fortune 500 Business Blogging Wiki. 

Your customers or constituencies expect to be heard. They want to be listened to and they want you to talk back with corporate-speak stripped out. A blog is one of the most powerful ways to monitor the chatter about your brand, bring it back to your own turf and shape the discussion. Not control it per se. But demonstrate that you know people are talking and you have something useful to add.

Social Media Reading List

Here are some books for your social media bookshelf:

Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin 

Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel

Now Is Gone by Geoff Livingston with Brian Solis

The Corporate Blogging Book by Debbie Weil

The New Influencers by Paul Gillin

The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott 

My holiday gift to you, dear reader, is dressed up in a smartly packaged PDF. It's an enhanced transcript of the teleconference I did for the Personal Branding Telesummit marking the 10th anniversary of Tom Peters' now iconic article: The Brand Called You. You can also listen to the audio recording of this session.

Download Link

Download the PDF: How to Write a Great Business Blog 

Listen to the audio recording

Download the MP3 audio recording of this teleconference.

In this one-hour audio conference we touched on the distinction between personal and business blogs, writing for search engines, blog writing tricks, inviting conversation with readers, blogs vs. e-newsletters, how to handle controversy, measuring success and more.

The Personal Branding Global Telesummit celebrated the 10th anniversary of the publication of Tom Peters' article: The Brand Called You with round-the-click teleconferences by dozens of speakers including William Arruda, Krishna De, Kirsten Dixson, John Jantsch, David Meerman Scott, Guy Kawasaki, Andy Sernovitz and many others.

Special Offer: Corporate Blogging in a Day

2008 will be the year of corporate blogging

Want to get your group ready to blog, internally or externally? See page 3 of the PDF (or below) for my special offer on a customized one-day in-house workshop: Corporate Blogging in a Day. Note: I can only do three of these workshops so call right away if you're interested.

You provide the computers, Internet access and conference or training room. I will train your group (up to 20 people) in one day how to write an engaging, useful blog for your company or organization. It can be an internal or public-facing blog. You will learn:

► How to write blog-style in a warm, conversational voice and yet still be substantive

► How to write Google-friendly titles for your blog entries

► What to write about, what to link to and how to find material for your blog

► How to publicize your blog (internally or externally)

► How to handle controversial topics

► How to keep your blog fresh and topical

► What the role of a blog editor is and how to designate (or hire) one

► How to craft a Comments policy

► How to insert photos and images

► How to insert video clips

► Everything you need to know about the technical aspects of running your blog

At the end of the day you and your group will have learned how to blog. You will have created a fully-functional, attractive blog filled with enough content to convince your boss or other decision-maker to take the next steps to launch an internal or external blog program.

Included: 10 copies of The Corporate Blogging Book, workbook and handouts. Follow-up consulting by phone and email for four months beyond the engagement date.

To schedule your in-house workshop (15% off)

Fee: 15% off regular fee of $10,000 (plus travel expenses). Offer good until Jan. 25, 2008. Engagement must be booked by the deadline but can be scheduled for a later date. Be sure to mention you are a subscriber to WordBiz Report.

Reach Debbie at +1 202.364.5705 Eastern or by email at debbie.weil@gmail.com or use Contact form. 

Available for purchase

The Corporate Blogging Book

Chapter 7 of The Corporate Blogging Book focuses on blog writing tips for multiple author and executive blogs. It contains examples, tips and checklists you won't find anywhere else. It's also one of my favorite chapters in the book. You can order TCBB on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or 800-CEO-Read. 

PDF and Audio Recording: Content Strategy

Also available for purchase and instant download: How to Create a Content Strategy for Your Corporate Blog (MP3 audio recording and enhanced PDF transcript including screenshots).

Audio conference for Bulldog Reporter's PR University:  Write Like a Journalist: Newsroom Vets and PR Wordsmiths Reveal How to Write Compelling, Credible Copy That Sells.

Other panelists are Joan Stewart of Publicity Hound fame, Paul Furiga of Wordwrite Communications and Sandra Allen of Columbia College Chicago.

How to Write a Great Corporate Blog

Kudos to the Personal Branding Global Telesummit marking the 10th anniversary of the publication of Tom Peters' now iconic article: The Brand Called You. I led a session on How to Write a Great Business Blog and was one of dozens of speakers who donated their time. The Washington Post covered the event in a short article: Your Brandwidth. Reporter Vickie Elmer quoted me as follows:

"If you can write a consistently interesting and informative blog, you brand yourself as someone worth listening to, worth doing business with, worth hiring," [Debbie Weil] said.

Weil, author of The Corporate Blogging Book, said her publisher contacted her after reading her blog. Blogs help folks "get found." She said, "It's a way to control your digital identity." That's a growing part of your brand.
- The Washington Post (Nov. 8, 2007)

China Blogging Tour - October 2007

l recently returned from Beijing and Shanghai where I spoke at various events about CEO & corporate blogging. Edelman PR sponsored my book tour to mark the publication in Mandarin Chinese of The Corporate Blogging Book. It was a mind-blowing experience. See videos, photos and blog of my China Blogging Tour.  黛碧薇 

How & why to add video to your blog

Get step-by-step instructions. Your blog will soon be sooo 2006 if it's not multimedia. Continue reading…

Have you RSS'd yourself?

This is not an exercise in vanity. It's your no-cost, real-time way of monitoring the blogosphere and then engaging where appropriate. Continue reading…

Ya gotta have an avatar

A what, you ask? An avatar, the cartoon version of yourself that wanders around in a virtual reality environment like Second Life. Trust me. This will soon be very big. Continue reading…

Marketers beware: folks are unhooking from their computers

A quick prognostication for 2007: With wifi becoming ubiquitous, we'll be getting much more information via our cell phones and PDAs. Format your HTML newsletter to be read on a Treo. Write concise, compelling titles for your blog posts. That's what people see when reading RSS feeds on a handheld device. 

Do you need a CEO Blogging Coach?

Bill Gates does. Get the scoop…

How to Write a Great Business Blog

Join me at the round-the-clock Personal Branding Global Telesummit on Thursday Nov. 8, 2007 to mark the 10th anniversary of the publication of Tom Peters' now iconic article: The Brand Called You. This 12-hour teleconference is FREE and you can dial in from anywhere. Choose from dozens of sessions on topics related to personal branding. (Mine is How to Write a Great Business Blog.)

Speakers include William Arruda, Nina Burokas, Krishna De, Kirsten Dixson, John Jantsch, David Meerman Scott, Guy Kawasaki, Andy Sernovitz and many others. All are donating their time, BTW, and 100,000 participants are expected. Each is being asked to make a donation to Kiva, a microfinance organization. Register here [look for little box on right-hand side] to get the dial-in number.

Special Offer - US $47 value

I'm offering a great freebie in conjunction with the event. One of my favorite chapters in The Corporate Blogging Book is Chapter 7 ("Top Ten Tips to Write an Effective Business Blog"). Buy my book on Amazon (or UK edition; or in Mandarin Chinese). Then email your Amazon receipt to me at debbie.weil(at)gmail.com. I'll send you gratis the downloadable audio recording of my one-hour teleconference on Writing a Great Corporate Blog (value US $47.00).

China Blogging Tour - October 2007

l recently returned from Beijing and Shanghai where I spoke at various events about CEO & corporate blogging. Edelman PR sponsored my book tour to mark the publication in Mandarin Chinese of The Corporate Blogging Book. It was a mind-blowing experience. See videos, photos and blog of my China Blogging Tour.  黛碧薇 

How & why to add video to your blog

Get step-by-step instructions. Your blog will soon be sooo 2006 if it's not multimedia. Continue reading…

Have you RSS'd yourself?

This is not an exercise in vanity. It's your no-cost, real-time way of monitoring the blogosphere and then engaging where appropriate. Continue reading…

Ya gotta have an avatar

A what, you ask? An avatar, the cartoon version of yourself that wanders around in a virtual reality environment like Second Life. Trust me. This will soon be very big. Continue reading…

Marketers beware: folks are unhooking from their computers

A quick prognostication for 2007: With wifi becoming ubiquitous, we'll be getting much more information via our cell phones and PDAs. Format your HTML newsletter to be read on a Treo. Write concise, compelling titles for your blog posts. That's what people see when reading RSS feeds on a handheld device. 

Do you need a CEO Blogging Coach?

Bill Gates does. Get the scoop…

Moderated panel on Corporate & CEO blogging at BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas. Panel of heavyweight corporate bloggers included John Earnhardt of Cisco, Pete Johnson of HP, Jennifer Cisney of Kodak and Brian Lusk &  Paula Berg [links to case study] of Southwest Airlines.

One "live blogger" described this as an outstanding session. Simon Chen wrote up our session here. And another positive write-up here.

More info about BlogWorld here.

Thursday Nov. 8, 2007: 10:15 AM - 11:45 AM Pacific

Presentation and discussion with esteemed fellow panelists William Moss (aka Image Thief) and China's WOM guru Sam Flemming. This is a lunchtime event for AmCham Shanghai members on Tuesday Oct. 23, 2007. More info here.

Watch Edelman Asia Pacific chief Alan Vandermolen's video interview with CIC's Sam Flemming.

Why should the Top Dog blog?

I'm talking about CEO and senior executive blogging to an audience of multi-national executives at AmCham China at events in Beijing (Oct. 16) and in Shanghai (Oct. 23). The events are sponsored by Edelman PR.

I'll explain what constitutes a CEO blog, outline the pitfalls and challenges of senior executive blogging and provide examples of some of the most successful. I'll also touch on “ghostblogging” and the importance of social media as a corporate communications tool. The first 30 who sign up will get an autographed copy of the Chinese edition of The Corporate Blogginng Book.