The Corporate Blogging Book [Updated Edition With a New Preface] [Kindle Edition]

Fear is the elephant in the room when corporate blogging is the topic du jour. And Debbie Weil's no-nonsense approach to that topic in particular is what I like most about this book which compellingly covers that topic and pretty much anything else executives need to know about a phenomenon that does not show any signs of abating.

Of course, there are lots of books - and blogs, of course! - on blogging. I've always viewed Debbie as the expert's expert on this topic. But more importantly, corporate executives themselves view Debbie as the expert. Like Bob Lutz, former vice chairman of GM, for example, who wrote the forward to the book.

But back to Debbie. It's hard to call her a social media marketing expert. She's much more than that: She's a first rate digital communicator who is greatly admired by those of us who live and breathe in the world of social media and executives who do not. We're all looking for level-headed answers and a down-to-earth approach to the questions we face every day relating to internal and external blogging.

Debbie supplies the answers with wit, wisdom and a refreshing warmth that permeates her writing.

The fear-based questions are by far the most common of the questions and at first blush the trickiest to handle but Debbie masterfully illustrates, from her hands-on experience in advising the C-Suite, not just book knowledge, the best way to deal with those questions. In a word: Head on. Indeed, she seems to argue for an approach that embraces the questions and even the messiness of the process so that better strategies and guidelines can emerge.

For example, Debbie astutely points out the importance of not relying on dryly written policies and procedures that are crafted by those sitting on high. Instead she proposes a more transparent, bottom-up approach and quotes the wise counsel of intellectual property attorney Denise Howell:

"It's more effective to have discussions and training and hash through these issues in a blood and guts kind of way to arrive at consensus."

Blogging is about to get much more popular and multifaceted than ever before.

Be ahead of the fear curve rather than being dominated by it by taking the first step and reading this book.

Not only does Debbie Weil provide tips for setting up a public-facing blog, she provides the justification that many risk-averse decision makers need to approve the blog project.

I have used the suggestions outlined in The Corporate Blogging Book, and I know that they work to:
- Create internal support
- Engage with target audiences
- Rank in search engine results
- Drive traffic to a company website/increase conversions

If you're responsible for creating engagement for your brand - and if the question is "to blog or not to blog?" - then get this book.

- Easy to Read
- Relevant to personal and business blogging
- Simple instructions to blogging
- Great way to get motivated to start or restart blogging

I had been hearing about this book for ages, and while I had jumped into blogging haphazardly for my company, I could never stick with it. I assumed blogging simply wasn't for me, yet I knew it was important. So one day I downloaded the book with the expectation that I would simply skim it and only read what I found relevant. Not only was I pleasantly surprised to find how enjoyable a book on blogging could turn out to be, but I realized that every chapter had relevance to my small company's blog. The books is simply an amazing guide to getting back on track with blogging, or if you haven't begun, its a perfect primer to starting strong and continuing the momentum. In the end with this book's help, I realized that it "wasn't me" it was my strategy. I actually made everyone in my company who plans on writing for the blog read the book. It is just that important.