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The Corporate Blogging Book: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know to Get It Right
 
 
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The Corporate Blogging Book: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know to Get It Right [Hardcover]

Debbie Weil (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)


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Book Description

August 3, 2006
The definitive guide to corporate blogging, and why every organization needs to join this marketing revolution

So many blogs, so little time. Is it too late to start, now that the blogging craze has reached critical mass? Absolutely not!

Picture a focus group, a viral marketing campaign, and your own news station all rolled up into one. Now wrap that into a low-cost, easy-to-use, always-on Web site. That is what effective corporate blogging is.

At first, business blogging was ideal for free agents and entrepreneurs who needed a cheap way to get their message out. Now, the big guys are tapping the amazing power of a great blog. But the key word is great. A corporate blog that’s boring or deceptive is worse than none at all.

In this indispensable guide, online marketing consultant Debbie Weil explores all aspects of corporate blogging, answering important questions such as:
• How much time will it take?
• What about the legal risks?
• Who in my company should blog?
• What are the best corporate blogs out there?

In an informal, provocative style and without technical jargon, Weil explains how to create a blog that’s engaging, smart, and likely to grow an audience.



Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

With citizen bloggers multiplying by the minute, corporations are keen to co-opt the authenticity of this online publishing phenomenon. But while many already understand the concept (GM's Bob Lutz, who wrote the foreword, is a blogger), many more are struggling to make sense of a fairly simple proposition: use your blog as a meaningful conduit to your customers, and watch them become your best advocates; use it as an outlet for stale press releases, and watch the world yawn or walk away. Weil provides background on blogs, offers tips on writing them ("invite a conversation"), addresses common concerns ("what if my employees are blogging?"), discusses tools and technology (including podcasts and wikis), and offers a cheat sheet for convincing the boss that it's time to blog. Bonus resources include sample policies and guidelines, design tips, a glossary, and more. Short and sweet, this is more enthusiastic and personably written--and includes fewer CYA disclaimers--than Nancy Flynn's Blog Rules (2006) and is more appropriate for the corporate crowd than Andy Wibbels' Blogwild! (2006). Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

She makes a convincing case for the corporate blog. Smart, witty, and accessible. -- Kirkus Reports

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover (August 3, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1591841259
  • ISBN-13: 978-1591841258
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #987,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Debbie is an author, international speaker, veteran blogger, content marketing strategist and Web pioneer. She was named one of the Most Influential Women in Technology by Fast Company and a Washington DC Top 100 Tech Titan. She recently founded Voxie Media www.voxiemedia.com, a boutique imprint that publishes short, smart and stylish eBooks and print books by up-and-coming business authors. Voxie Media is entrepreneurial publishing with passion and a point of view: books can spread ideas, change lives and make the world a better place. Voxie also provides consulting to navigate the new world of self-publishing. Debbie is the author of THE CORPORATE BLOGGING BOOK, one of the first and most definitive books to illustrate the benefits of business blogging. She holds an MBA degree from Georgetown University, a Masters in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin and is a graduate of Harvard with a degree in English.



Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Like many others, I consider Debbie Weil one of my favorite marketing writers. My husband has a 2-inch thick, 3-ring binder of many of the previous columns and newsletters. Her writing is concise, focused, but never dull, and so are her blogs.

Debbie was one of the first to recognize the potential of corporate blogging, and it was a natural fit.

Debbie Weil's Corporate Blogging Book is an outstanding example of what a genuinely helpful non-fiction book should be.

It begins with a "fast read" chapter that gets your attention: "Top Twenty Questions about Corporate Blogging." She avoids ground already covered, and focuses on corporate blogging objectives and objections.

Those who want to introduce blogging to their firm will appreciate the way Debbie candidly addresses reasons for corporate hesitation, and shows how to overcome frequently-heard objections.

Debbie outlines a detailed plan for implementing a corporate blogging program that addresses corporate issues, rather than getting sidetracked on soon-to-be-obsolete technical issues or "fad of the moment" promises. Numerous examples, questions, quotes, and resources round out the package.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Frankly, I am astonished by the rapid growth of blogging and, especially, by the rapidly increasing adoption of blogging as a primary (not exclusive) medium for corporate communications, both internal and external. There are several dozen excellent books now in print that explain this phenomenon (Debbie Weil identifies many of them in her "Recommended Reading" section) and this book is certainly one of them. As I began to read it, I was immediately reminded of an incident decades ago when Vince Lombardi (the new head coach of the Green Bay Packers) met with the team for the first time and announced that he would begin with basics. He held up a leather spheroid and said, "Gentlemen, this is a football." It is widely reported that Max Magee then responded, "Coach, could you please slow down? You're going too fast."

Wisely, Weil assumes that her reader knows nothing about blogging. She begins with the basics. In fact, in the first chapter, she responds to the "Top Twenty Questions About Corporate Blogging." At this point, I presume to add that almost everything she says about corporate blogging is relevant to non-corporate blogging, with the obvious exceptions being information and suggestions with regard to creating an institutional blog mechanism. But even so, such mechanisms seek to attract and involve human beings and must thus be designed and administered with a full accommodation of basics.

With all due respect to the value of the FAQ section, each reader will have other questions and Weill is well aware of that as she begins her narrative with a "quick romp through the corporate blogosphere" (i.e. background and early development), addresses common fears about blogging (e.g. allocation of resources, contingent legal liability, loss of control.... "the mother of all fears"), determination of ROB (i.e. return on blog), tools and technology needed, and "making the case for blogging to the boss." Along the way, Weil includes (in Chapter 7) her "Top Ten Tips to Write an Effective Business Blog." Then in the final chapter, she shares her thoughts about "what's next," followed by a "Bonus Resources" section that, all by itself, is worth much more than the cost of the book. One man's opinion, its value is increased by a factor of at least ten if the material is absorbed and digested within the frame-of-reference established by the ten chapters that precede it. Suggestion: Read the entire book in chapter sequence, highlighting whichever passages catch your eye; then, after reading Chapter 10, set the book aside for a few days before you focus on the "Bonus Resources" section.

Many readers will especially appreciate Weill's provision of summaries of key points made by others such as a list of nine ways to use an internal blog suggested by Shel Holz (Pages 31-32) and the "Thomas Nelson Blogging Guidelines" (Pages 165-168) that, according to Weill, make clear "what the business reason is for encouraging [Nelson] employees to blog: to open the door and offer a peak inside one of the world's largest publishers." There is also an abundance of real-world examples throughout the narrative that illustrate the given key point, be it a "do" or a "don't."

Only after having read and then re-read this book did I conclude that, at least for me, the most valuable material is provided in Chapter 4, "A Baker's Dozen: 12 Plus 1 Ways to Use a Corporate Blog." Once again, as she does in previous and subsequent chapters, Weill inserts a brief and insightful excerpt from another source: Hugh Macleod's response to the question, "What's a Global Microbrand?" By the time the reader has arrived at #13, she or he should not be surprised by Weill's assertion that "blogs are the new corporate Web site" and there are still 140 more pages ahead that offer additional evidence of how effective corporate blogging for all organizations (regardless of size or nature) can help them to increase and enhance relationships between and among all their stakeholders.

Obviously, it remains for corporate bloggers to (a) determine for themselves which of the 13 are most appropriate, (b) cross-rank their importance to achieving the given business objectives, (c) create an electronic infrastructure, and then (d) broaden and deepen internal and/or external participation, with primary emphasis on convenience in terms of both connectivity and interactivity. If asked to select a single source for information and counsel on how to introduce and then sustain effective corporate blogging, my suggestion would beDebbie Weil's book.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have to start with a disclaimer before going into the review of this book; I know Debbie Weil personnally and she interviewed me for the purpose of this book. That means I am biased but I will try to keep this as objective as possible.

Writing a book on corporate blogging is not an easy task. A lot of books have been written when the "hype cycle" on blogging was at its highest and not all of those books were excellent or even relevant for that matter. The author here had an even more daunting task; to write about a new medium but also try to explain how blogging works in a corporate environment.

I definitely think Debbie Weil has managed to write a business book on an activity that was/still is considered as something "16 year olds do" by most business communicators and professionals. Thanks to her extensive network of business people & leaders in the blogosphere she has managed to collect an impressive amount of case studies from the corporate world.

This is not a book about theories or the promise that sometime the market will be one huge conversation... This is about return on investment, CEOs who blog and explains the why and how of business blogging.

Next to case studies from a multitude of companies Debbie takes the time to guide the reader to the more down to earth side of corporate blogging. She dedicates a whole chapter to "how to write for a blog" and another one on the more technological side of the medium. But even if blogging is closely linked to the internet and technology, Debbie never falls into the bits & bytes trap; all is explained with business people in mind.

Debbie also asks the right questions and answers them. She is not a blind believer but knows how to filter the correct information on the topic from her multitude of sources. Of course she also talks from experience. Her online presence is very strong and her blog is a "have to read" for people in Marketing and Communications. She doesn't hesitate to cover difficult topics such as the loss of control in online communications, legal pitfalls and questions if all CEOs should blog (of course not).

In the last chapter titled "What's Next ?" she even gives a potential view of what the next steps could be in the "new media" adventure of corporations. She covers such topics as citizen journalism, Web2.0 for business and the end of corporate speak. The final add on to the book is also something that every company can use as a source of inspiration; an extensive collection of the most well know corporate blogging policies from companies like IBM, Forrester and Sun topped with legal resources, blog design guidelines and references to other books on the subject.

What I liked most about this book is that it is written by someone who knows how to talk to business people and covers the corporate side of blogging through case studies, examples and interviews of professionals who have a real experience on the subject.

My only regret is that Debbie Weil didn't go deeper into the subject of RSS or Really Simple Syndication. It is a difficult topic to explain, especially in a business context but it is the single most important tool for business communicators that I have seen appearing in my 13 year career. And because it is so linked with blogging I would have liked to see more depth in the chapter covering it.

There, I included a "negative" so this review turns out to be objective after all.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A great overview of blogging for the corporate world, and small...
I bought this book to educate myself more on how to approach clients with convincing ideas of why and how they should be blogging. Read more
Published on March 22, 2008 by Philip Johnson
Should Be Required Reading
As a web designer and internet marketer, I've suggested my client's start a blog for the past 2 years or so but the response wasn't great because of lack of understanding and fear... Read more
Published on January 25, 2007 by Leslie Trosset
Not quite everything
A lot of repetitious platitudes about the philosophy (feminine viewpoint) of writing blogs. Very little on how to do it. Where do I get blogging software? Read more
Published on January 15, 2007 by Critical Carl
Great blogging resource
As reviewed and posted on my blog [...] on 10/9/06:

Looking for a good book that effectively covers all the pros and cons of corporate blogging? Read more
Published on November 20, 2006 by Joe Wikert
Debbie Weil Give Easy-to-Apply and Sage Advice
Want to use blogging to expand your corporate presence or simply add blogging to your visibility in the marketplace? Read more
Published on November 9, 2006 by W. Terry Whalin
Social Media Serendipity--The Best How-To Book on Corporate Blogging
Having blogged for a year and having researched blogging for two-and-a-half

years now, I have a sense for when the social media stars are aligning. Read more
Published on October 3, 2006 by Kip Meacham
this book appreciates that business is progress
(and it is about time someone did so)

This book finds the incredible balance betweeen folksy advice for novice executives who want to impart important info to the masses... Read more
Published on September 30, 2006 by Katherine Stetson
Helps with more than "blogging"
I've read Ms. Weil's articles and e-newsletter for many years, because she writes in a way that's specific, clear beyond clear, and always answers the question, "why should my... Read more
Published on September 24, 2006 by Michael O'Sullivan
Is blogging worth it?
Since I've been blogging for several years now, I frequently get asked if it's worth it. My answer is a resounding yes. Read more
Published on September 7, 2006 by Jill Konrath
Ready to Blog? Now you don't have any more excuses
In The Corporate Book: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know to Get It Right, Debbie Weil has produced the perfect how-to. Read more
Published on September 4, 2006 by David M. Scott
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
So much chatter. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
blogging guidelines, blogging thing, test blog, chief blogger, internal blogs, citizen marketers, fan blogs, blogging policy, corporate blog, blog editor, company blog, employee blogs, blogging platforms, business blogs, public blogs, other blogs, other bloggers, blog search engines, blogging tools, blogging software, blog page, group blog, blog entry, bob lutz, blog entries
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sun Microsystems, Jonathan Schwartz, General Motors, Stonyfield Farm, Bonus Resources, Robert Scoble, Long Tail, Michael Wiley, Seth Godin, State Farm, Thomas Nelson, Wall Street Journal, Air Conditioning Contractors of America, Bob Parsons, Halley Suitt, Matt Blumberg, Michael Hyatt, Movable Type, Top Ten Tips, Alan Meckler, Daily Kos, Doc Searls, Effective Business Blog, Mark Cuban, Steve Rubel
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