Business Blogging Best Practice: CBS News
That may seem like a strange title, considering the history of conservative bloggers and Dan Rather, but I received an e-mail from a CBS News blogger that I would identify as a best practice for corporate bloggers.
Melissa McNamara sent me a note that the CBS News Blog had linked my post giving advice to Comcast on how to handle the technician who fell asleep on the couch controversy.
It was a short e-mail, simply informing me that they had linked my blog. It came directly from Melissa's address. Why is this a big deal?
1) E-mails informing other bloggers of your links are a courtesy. Melissa didn't ask for a reciprocal link. She provided me her link so I didn't have to look it up. She spelled my name and that of our blog correctly. If you look at the number of daily links in the CBS post, that's a lot of e-mails. It's a major inconvenience, but she does it anyway. That's good blogging etiquette, and in short supply.
2) She promoted her blog and mine at the same time. I've created a link back to her post, to show my readers that I was linked. It's perfectly acceptable to do so, but I did it because she didn't ask for it. Too many companies (and too many bloggers) focus on the link, instead of on the gesture.
3) She changed my mind about CBS with one e-mail and set the stage for future questions. I don't know anyone at CBS, and my knowledge of them and blogs is relegated to Rathergate. I had heard that they started a blog operation, but haven't checked it out because of a negative review from another blogger over a year ago. Knowing that they have a blog in operation, and a person behind it, means in the future, I will check her blog for mentions of stories about CBS. I'm also adding them to my reading list, so she increased their traffic.
There's another issue that's important. If anything major happens to CBS, I would be looking for the viewpoint of CBS as a counterweight to any other source I read. With one simple e-mail, Melissa has ensured that I will at least check the CBS version of a story before writing. If it's information I am reporting, I would contact Melissa to verify the story, giving them valuable lead time ahead of the blogopshere.
Do you get it? I may be only one blogger, but multiply the numbers of e-mails she sends out notifying other bloggers of links, and CBS now has an ear to the ground. No big story will catch them unaware, and they have the opportunity to counter false stories with their own viewpoint. If someone falsely accuses them, they will at least get the benefit of the doubt.
That's a huge PR win, for a small effort.
Yes, I'm happy CBS News linked my post and sent traffic my way, but more important, I'm impressed that they are using a Business Blogging Best Practice. Kudos to them.
Melissa McNamara sent me a note that the CBS News Blog had linked my post giving advice to Comcast on how to handle the technician who fell asleep on the couch controversy.
It was a short e-mail, simply informing me that they had linked my blog. It came directly from Melissa's address. Why is this a big deal?
1) E-mails informing other bloggers of your links are a courtesy. Melissa didn't ask for a reciprocal link. She provided me her link so I didn't have to look it up. She spelled my name and that of our blog correctly. If you look at the number of daily links in the CBS post, that's a lot of e-mails. It's a major inconvenience, but she does it anyway. That's good blogging etiquette, and in short supply.
2) She promoted her blog and mine at the same time. I've created a link back to her post, to show my readers that I was linked. It's perfectly acceptable to do so, but I did it because she didn't ask for it. Too many companies (and too many bloggers) focus on the link, instead of on the gesture.
3) She changed my mind about CBS with one e-mail and set the stage for future questions. I don't know anyone at CBS, and my knowledge of them and blogs is relegated to Rathergate. I had heard that they started a blog operation, but haven't checked it out because of a negative review from another blogger over a year ago. Knowing that they have a blog in operation, and a person behind it, means in the future, I will check her blog for mentions of stories about CBS. I'm also adding them to my reading list, so she increased their traffic.
There's another issue that's important. If anything major happens to CBS, I would be looking for the viewpoint of CBS as a counterweight to any other source I read. With one simple e-mail, Melissa has ensured that I will at least check the CBS version of a story before writing. If it's information I am reporting, I would contact Melissa to verify the story, giving them valuable lead time ahead of the blogopshere.
Do you get it? I may be only one blogger, but multiply the numbers of e-mails she sends out notifying other bloggers of links, and CBS now has an ear to the ground. No big story will catch them unaware, and they have the opportunity to counter false stories with their own viewpoint. If someone falsely accuses them, they will at least get the benefit of the doubt.
That's a huge PR win, for a small effort.
Yes, I'm happy CBS News linked my post and sent traffic my way, but more important, I'm impressed that they are using a Business Blogging Best Practice. Kudos to them.
posted by James Durbin @ 10:01 AM PERMALINK
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