Ego motivates thought leadership blogs

Marketing guru and author Seth Godin puts it this way:

"I don't blog to make money. I don't run ads on my site. I don't even blog to win awards. I blog because it pleases me to see my ideas spread. I like it when I see people talking about one of my ideas--without even mentioning where the idea came from. That means it's the idea that spread, not my brand. Which is the whole point."

Not to quibble with a provocative statement about the role ego plays in marketing... but I think there's a teeny little corollary here. When your ideas spread because people talk about them, it's usually because you're smart, your ideas are provocative and people respect what you have to say. Seth, that's part of your "brand," isn't it?? So willy nilly you are creating your brand when you blog.

Got a CEO Thought Leadership blog?

I'd love to hear about it. Leave a comment below or email me at wordbiz @ gmail DOT com with the URL. If it's reasonably coherent - and you're really a senior exec with a large company - I'll gladly add it to my CEO Thought Leadership or Corporate Blogging lists at right. Just learned today about a Red Hat Executives blog by Michael Tiemann, Red Hat VP of Open Source Affairs.   

Are you an exec who can't tolerate risk? Don't blog.

Thanks to Steve Rubel for a pointer to this article by Lucy Kellaway writing in the FT: Why executives should steer clear of the blogosphere.  Bottom line... most CEOs and top-level execs can't tolerate risk.

Blogging your way to a book

Microsoft's best-known blogger Robert Scoble is teaming up with PR consultant Shel Israel to write a book about... you guessed it... blogging. They've set up an intriguingly transparent blog to document the process of writing the book, The Red Couch. Another example: a young CEO I know, Brian Caroll of InTouch, has parlayed his Start With a Lead blog into an eponymous (love that word) book. Hey, Brian, I like the snazzy new header on your blog!

More CEO bloggers

Here are some new CEO or top exec blogs: Rich Marcello, HP Senior VP and GM;  Andy Lark, Sun Microsystems' VP of Global Communications; David Kistle, IABC chair; David Krane, Google's Director of Corporate Communications; and Bob Lutz, GM's Vice Chair. Thanks to Toby Bloomberg writing in the AMA's new blog for the tip.

Blog is Word of the Year

You're not surprised, are you? Blog (er, "blawg") was the most frequently looked-up word in 2004, according to Merriam-Webster Online. Followed by (you guessed it) incumbent, electoral... and peleton at #7. DMNews editor-in-chief Tad Clarke notes "it's too bad" we have to wait til 2005 to see the word in Merriam-Webster's print edition. Scrabble, here we come...

Bob Bly is bored with blogging...

Yup. After only one week. Bob Bly (he's a highly respected B2B copywriter) emailed me this morning: "Deb, A full week in the blogosphere ... already bored with the whole thing ... tell me again why you like this? How much time per week do you spend writing your blog, checking your blog, and going to and reading other blogs?" Bob, great questions all. And they deserve a considered reply. So here goes...

Featured in "Blogger's Block" article in Entrepreneur Magazine

Much as I advocate using a blog to "circumvent" traditional media for publicity, thought leadership, etc., it sure is nice to get written up in a national magazine. Entrepreneur called me back in August and interviewed me on the topic of "Blogger's Block" - their idea, not mine. And of course it makes a great title. Get the scoop on Blogger's Block here. It's on page 32 of the December issue of the magazine.

Bob Bly is blogging!

Take a look at B2B copywriter Bob Bly's new blog. It went up today. Yes, this is the same Bob Bly who said blogging as a marketing tactic is a bunch of hooey in his DMNews column that was published exactly three weeks ago today. It raised a firestorm of rebuttal. (Here's mine. It ran as a Letter to the Editor in the Nov. 9, 2004 DMNews.) Bob is not defecting to the blogosphere, mind you. At least that's what he said in an email to me a few moments ago. The point of his blog, he wrote, is to "(discuss) why I believe direct marketing beats any other type of marketing for producing immediate sales results." It'll be fun to see how this plays out in the blogosphere. Anyone care to comment?!

Good numbers + good words = impact

... even if you're a small company. Take a look at this cool graphic on Dana VanDen Heuvel's blog about Internet marketing & sales.