Debbie Weil's BlogWrite for CEOs

List of 67+ Big Brand Corporate Blogs

2008-09-04T18:47:00-05:00

The industrious Peter Kim recently compiled a list of 159 social media marketing examples. I added to this 35+ examples of corporate social media posted to Mashable by Aaron Uhrmacher. I looked at the members list over at the Blog Council. Perused the invaluable NewPR Wiki list of corporate blogs. And cross referenced the 58 entries on the Fortune 500 Business Blogging Wiki.

A few more lists (see here and here). Then I sifted through to create this list of 67-plus Big Brand* corporate blogs. I also included some large association, governmental and non-profit blogs. A few takeaways:

Most of these corporate blogs are written by multiple authors
CEO blogs by Big Brands are still rare (that's for another list)
An increasing number of Big Brands have more than one blog
The blogs are being updated at least several times a month
These companies get it (although some of the blogs are edgier and more revealing than others)

Please help me curate (thanks to Peter Kim for the verb) the list by adding additional suggestions in the comments.

Big Brand Blogs

Accenture
Accuquote
Adobe (multiple blogs)
Amazon
American Red Cross
Avaya
Avis (UK)
BearingPoint
BestBuy (CMO blog)
Best Western
Bigelow Tea
Boeing (VP Marketing)
Chevron (event blog)
Cisco (12 corporate blogs)
Clorox
Coca-Cola
Delta
Dell (hands-down the winner as far as use of social media)
Edelman (and CEO Richard Edelman's blog)
EMC
Facebook
Fandango
Fiskateers
Flickr
~~Ford~~?
Forrester Research (multiple blogs)
GE (Global Research)
Global Crossing
GM (multiple blogs)
Google
Graco
GSK
Harley-Davidson
Hitachi (multiple blogs)
HP (includes Communities)
IBM (one of the original corporate bloggers)
Intel
Intuit (multiple blogs)
Johnson & Johnson
Kaiser Permanente
KFC
Kodak (also here and here)
Kryptonite
Lenovo
LuLu
Library of Congress
LinkedIn
Marriott (CEO blog)
Mayo Clinic
Microsoft
Molson
McDonald's (CSR blog)
Monster.com
Nike (also here and here)
Nokia
Oracle (multiple)
Patagonia
Pitney Bowes (CEO Mike Critelli's blog)
Quicken Loans
SAP (multiple)
Second Life
Starbucks (more than a blog)
Starwood
Sun Microsystems (and CEO blogger Jonathan Schwartz)
Southwest Airlines (more than a blog)
Texas Instruments
Verizon
Walmart
Wells Fargo (4 blogs)
Whole Foods
Yahoo!
Yoplait (in French)
Xerox (multiple blogs)
Zappos (multiple blogs)

* My definition of Big Brand is somewhat arbitrary. Some of these are smaller, private companies or startups. Some are Fortune 50s. All are recognizable brands here in the U.S.

Thanks also to Mario Sundar, LinkedIn's chief blogger and persistent chronicler of corporate blogging.

“Help! I Desperately Want to Blog and Make a Living at It”

2008-08-28T13:18:00-05:00

I got the following email this week from a visitor to my site:

"I work as a writer-editor for the Dept. of Defense and serve as a Navy Reserve journalist. I desperately want to blog and start making a living at it. Can you spare some advice on the best place for me to start? I have never blogged, so this is completely new to me. Thanks in advance for the advice."

First, I have to say that it's wonderfully refreshing to get this kind of question in late 2008. It's easy to think that everybody is steeped in the use of social media, whether it's Facebook, Twitter or blogging. They're not.

Being as it's almost 5 PM on Friday of Labor Day weekend I've just got a few minutes. Here's the 30-second stripped-down answer. You might also find useful this updated Blogging 101.

Where to Start

Start your blog on TypePad (US $5 a month) or Wordpress (free). Use one of their nifty templates. The only thing you have to make a final decison on is the URL of your blog. Not the "name" but the URL people will type in to get to your blog.

So if you're on TypePad, it's best to choose http://yourname.typepad.com. On WordPress, it will be http://yourname.wordpress.com. That way your blog will come up first in search engine results when someone types in your name.

What to Read

You'll want to read other blogs in the area you're interested in. Start with Alltop or the new Blogs.com. Here's a list of Milblogs on Alltop. And an index of Milblogs. (Although I don't know if that's what you want to blog about.)

How to Write Your Blog

One of my favorite resources is Copyblogger. Great tips on how to write compelling blog titles, etc. Another is ProBlogger. The free report I offer on my home page also has some good writing tips.

Will I Make Money?

Honestly, unless you're a really really good writer, devote inordinate amounts of time and fill a unique small niche that inspires a passionate following... likely you won't make more than spare change.

The bible of how to make money blogging is written by ProBlogger founder Darren Rowse: Secrets of Blogging Your Way to a Six-figure Income.

Good luck. And if you're in the U.S., have a great holiday weekend - the last gasp of summer!

A Little Late… Washington Post Highlights Marriott and Honest Tea as Local Corporate Bloggers

2008-08-25T12:38:00-05:00

In an article on the front page of today’s Washington Post Business section, reporter Sarah Halzack notes, several years belatedly, that Marketing Moves to the Blogosphere. She rounds up a few of the local suspects to comment on their corporate blogs, including Bill Marriott, Honest Tea and Viget Labs, the Web firm that created my new site/blog. She even quotes Viget designer Samantha Warren, who created the new look for debbieweil.com.

What’s remarkable about the article is that somehow the good folks at The Wash Post appear to have been oblivious to the explosion of social media and blogging as a new way of doing business here in town. To wit: The Washington Times ran a front page article (featuring the staged photo at right) on business blogging four years ago, on Aug. 14, 2004, titled What’s all the blog about?

It mentioned the Air Conditioning Contractors of America as one example of a local biz blogger.

I hope this article by the Post is the first of others to come, highlighting what Washington DC’s professional associations, non-profits and academia are doing in addition to businesses—cf American Red Cross, Georgetown Law Faculty, MACPA. Full disclosure: MACPA is a former client.

It would be interesting to be able to search the Post 200 for which local companies are using social media as a new marketing, communications and recruiting channel. Dan Beyers, are you listening?

Sarah kindly quotes me as follows:

Though blogs may not always yield immediate results, they can be part of a "halo effect" that ultimately gives a business a bigger online presence, says Debbie Weil, a corporate blogging consultant and author of "The Corporate Blogging Book." "I think that the really important thing about using a blog as a business strategy is that usually you cannot connect the dots directly from blogs to revenue," Weil said.

- The Washington Post, Aug. 25, 2008

MSNBC’s Take on Corporate Blogging and Bloggers-in-Chief: Corporate 2.0 Is In

2008-08-15T02:21:00-05:00

I missed this when it aired several weeks ago. Nothing new but fun to see it on network TV. Marriott tells the reporter that Bill Marriott's CEO blog is responsible for $4 million in bookings on the main site. That's not a huge amount given Marriott's sales, which are in the billions. But not bad for a little spare change from blogging.

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone: Whether It’s Social Media or a Painting Class

2008-08-14T18:34:01-05:00

For many companies and executives, the hardest thing to swallow about blogging or any form of social media is the unpredictability. The fear is that you might be opening a pandora's box. What will spur negative feedback? What will spark a controversy? Prompt a lawsuit? What if... you get no response at all?

Experimenting with blogs and wikis and online communities often means stepping outside your comfort zone. Luckily, there are more and more examples we can point to as proof that major brands know how to play in this space. Here are 35 mini case studies.

The ROI of using social media as part of marketing or PR is hard to quantify. But it's tangible and it's real. Like many others, I call it Return on Influence.

All by way of saying that I decided to step out of my comfort zone recently and take a painting class. I have no artistic talent whatsoever. I can barely draw more than a stick figure. So I figured... what the heck. I have nothing to lose.

The workshop was a blast! Here's the result: an acrylic painting of my garden. And yes it makes a nice screensaver.

China Reminds Us That What’s New in Web 2.0 Is Really Old

2008-08-12T23:43:00-05:00

I'm an Olympics junkie and confess to watching hours of coverage. Yes, on TV. So retro.

I'm also a China fan, having had the opportunity to visit Beijing and Shanghai recently.

All by way of saying that I watched the remarkable spectacle of the Opening Ceremonies and was struck, like so many others, by the perfectly synchronized choregraphy of several thousand artists, dancers, drummers, percussionists, etc. (image from The Boston Globe).

Harmony. Collaboration. Many as one. The power of the group vs. the individual. China couldn't have demonstrated the concept more elegantly or with more historical resonance. (Although James Fallows points out that many of the performers were soldiers, which is a bit unnerving.)

In the New York Times today David Brooks makes some interesting observations about individualist vs. collectivist societies. Namely, that inhabitants of these different societies literally see the world differently. He cites the example of showing an American a fish tank: the American will pick out the biggest fish. Show a Chinese (or Japanese?) person the same fish tank and he or she will describe how the fish swim together.

My epiphany of the week...

Makes me wonder if we haven't happened onto something totally obvious in Web 2.0: Communities and collaboration are powerful. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And so on.

Of course, a key difference between China's collectivist bent and the collaborative spirit of social media is that our emphasis is on innovation, on the unexpected and on new ideas bubbling to the top. Whereas in China, the government's emphasis is on conformity and duty.

Still, food for thought...

Addendum: my friend James Fallows, currently living in Beijing, points out that David Brooks' observations about China's collectivist, harmonious society are oversimplified. Yes, of course they are. But there's still enough truth in them to make some interesting comparisons.

One of the most obvious points is that China is more crowded. It has roughly ten times the population of the U.S. You feel it everywhere (at least in the big cities I visited). Wall-to-wall people on the street, in the subway, inside department stores like H & M. Everything about China says more and many. I loved the energy. Most notably, it feels very American.

The Lost Art of Writing With a Fountain Pen

2008-07-30T14:54:00-05:00

I noticed Chris when I was walking through National Airport in D.C. yesterday. Sitting at Starbucks, he was writing in an old-fashioned ruled journal with a fountain pen. Nearby, at the ready, was his ink-stained blotter. At the adjacent table was another guy with, predictably, an open laptop.

I was so astonished that I circled back and asked if I could take a photo. Chris was quite agreeable. "It’s my sanity," he said. He had on green sneakers and was on his way to Aspen, CO.

Can you remember when you kept a journal? I wrote one for years but never mastered the art of a fountain pen. Wish I had asked more about what he was writing but I didn’t want to intrude.

Want To Join Seth Godin’s Pre-Release Tribe For His New Book?

2008-07-30T02:34:00-05:00

Update: I've just received my invite. I'm member #505 of Seth Godin's Triiibe on Ning. Not sure why there are three "i's" but looks good.

You've got until 11 AM Eastern July 30, 2008. Follow Seth's instructions here. As I understand it, you need to pre-order his new book: Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us, to be published in October. Forward the email receipt to him. Then wait for your exclusive invite. As always with Seth, this is clever. Scarcity creates urgency: gotta have it! Hope I get one...

As he explains it:

This online community will live on a site we've created that will feature blogs, forums, social networking, comments, photos, videos and a job board. And it's by invitation only until October. Spots are limited and early members get privileges and bragging rights.

Members get a password and the privilege of meeting each other, posting thoughts, connecting to big ideas or projects and more. The site will include excerpts from the book as well as a chance to contribute to a new jointly-authored ebook, with full credit and links to the contributors. The contents of the tribe forum won't be posted to the public until October, so it's really the only way to participate until then.

Seth Godin (July 29, 2008)

Lots of Changes: New House, New Site, New Thinking

2008-07-29T09:16:00-05:00

My new integrated blog / site went live today. The first thing you'll notice is the lack of clutter. The talented folks at Viget convinced me that less is more.

So... no endless stack of widgets in the right-hand column of my blog. No "Digg this" or "Technorati" icons under each blog entry. We thought about this long and hard and I'm glad we did it this way. Note that there are icons for LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and del.icio.us in the footer of each page.

It's been a busy year. We (my husband and I - not the Viget team!) moved to a much smaller house, decluttering and downsizing after 20 years. We love it! No regrets. Finally, I'm thinking about a new direction for my business. I'll continue to consult and speak in the meantime. Stay in touch!

If you see anything amiss on the new site, do let me know. We're still working out a few kinks. If you're curious, the new site is built on Expression Engine.

Q & A With Best-Selling Author David Meerman Scott

2008-07-24T11:05:00-05:00

I’ve known David Meerman Scott for several years. We’ve presented together at a conference. He cheered me on when The Corporate Blogging Book was published in 2006. I watched in awe when his New Rules of Marketing & PR was published a year ago in June 2007 and rocketed to best-selling PR book on Amazon.

Turns out New Rules is David’s third book and he has a fourth coming out if you count the just released Tuned In, of which he is a co-author. What happened to his first two books? Why has New Rules become a best-seller?

As an author I find this kind of stuff fascinating. Maybe you will too. In any event, it gave us a chance to have a long phone conversation and catch up.

I typed as we talked. These are David’s responses, more or less verbatim, with a bit of editing to smooth out transitions.

Q & A With David Meerman Scott

Tell us about your first book, a novel

David: My first book was a novel called Eyeball Wars. It was self-published. I call it the first thriller about an Internet start-up co. It came out in 2001 just as the dot com boom collapsed. So it was too late for the frothiness of market and way too early to be a nostalgia piece.

I found an agent, but a novel from a first time author is one of the most difficult to sell. Every month it didn’t sell to a major publisher it was less fresh—given the topic. I got some nibbles, but after three months I decided to publish it myself.

I started a publishing company, Fresh Spot Publishing. I hired an editor and a designer, got an ISBN number, lined up national distribution through Midpoint Trade Books and got it into Barnes & Noble stores in April 2001, before 9/11.

How much did self-publishing cost?

Ballpark, it cost $30,000 net to self-publish. I did make some money selling the books. I spent two years writing it, starting in 1998. Publishers’ Weekly wrote about it, twice. Paramount Pictures read it as a possible movie. It got good reviews and sold pretty well. [Ed note: I’ve read it and it’s terrific.]

Basically I looked at it as a personal branding investment. It sold in the thousands. (He declined to say how many copies exactly. No author will tell you that, BTW.)

I will do another novel. BTW, writing a novel is the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. With a novel every single thing has to work: character, plot, conflict. If you can write fiction your non-fiction is going to be better because it means you’re good at creating conflict. If you can put conflict into your non-fiction work it makes it much more interesting.

After Eyeballs came out, David found himself without a job. He’d been working for Newsedge which was sold to Thompson. So he started his own business in 2002 as online marketing consulting.

What’s the story behind your second book?

In 2002 – 2003 the idea of a book began to jell. Cashing In With Content (focuses on why) the most important part of a site is the content, not the technology. I sold it to a small publisher, Cyber Age. It was a practical approach of "let’s get it done." It was a small publisher so there was not that much distribution. It came out in 2005.

What was the genesis of New Rules?

January 2006 is when my life changed. Now I knew I could write a non-fiction book and I felt like I had more say to say.

A free e-book, The New Rules of PR, led to the book. It proved the market. It was downloaded 50,000 times in a month and publishers were competing for it. People wanted to work with me.