Blogging - Social Media 2007 :: Atlanta Real Estate Forum

Blogging - Social Media 2007

Day one of the Social Media Conference was very informative. Marilynn T. Mobley, Senior VP with Edelman presented an excellent session.  She encourages anyone thinking about launching a blog to think like a CEO and to review the following items:

• Why do we need to do this?
• What’s the real cost (launch & employee time)?
• What’s the ROI - is it going to make us $$ of save us $$?
• How will it affect our credibility?
• Who is ultimately responsible for it?
• What happens if we don’t do it?
• What is the competition doing?

There are many answers to Why launch a blog.  Among them:

• These conversations are going on anyway, why ignore them
• To showcase your firm’s authenticity
• Demonstrate a willingness to be transparent
• Instant publishing on your own terms
• No need to rely on mainstream media to disseminate messages

What’s the real Cost?

• Technology costs are minimal — most blog software is free, for instance this blog is built in Word Press
• Human resources to man the blog — this varies depending on how many people are posting & how often
• Existing content can be repurposed from press releases, speeches, collateral and white papers

What is the ROI?

• Biggest answer is the opportunity to listen to stakeholders 
• Opportunity to have conversation with others involved in a specific marketing niche
• Improve visibility to mainstream media (several speakers commented today on how their blogs had attracted interviews from mainstream media)
• Test product or service changes (again this was a major theme! Corporations can use blogs as mini focus groups)

Ok, I hope this gives everyone a bit of a taste for what we covered today. 

Some sites to visit

www.blogpulse.com

www.ceoswhoblog.com

www.womma.org

www.edelman.com/insights

Enjoy!

Related posts:

• Social Media - blogging & podcasting:  I'm participating in a 2-day seminar on Jan 30 & 31 presented by Business Capital Edge. Called ...


• Trulia’s Rudy Bachraty to Speak at REtechSouth:   Rudy Bachraty Social Media Guru at Trulia.com will speak at REtechSouth on March 27, 2008. He i...


• Come to REtech South:  For one day only, you have the opportunity to learn why social media has made such a huge impact on ...


• Announcing TopBuilderBlogs.com:           Web 2.0 working for you! Annoucing TopBuilderBlogs.com, a new e-marke...


• Flammer Relations Welcomes New Social Media Manager:  Flammer Relations is pleased to welcome Laura Everett as Social Media Manager. Flammer Relations is ...