Digital Marketing

Naked Conversations, How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel

Recommendation

Successful blogger Robert Scoble and co-author Shel Israel push people in business to get involved with blogging as a means of communication and of staying on top of conversations that affect their companies. The authors summarize blogging’s history and provide examples of how companies have benefited from it, including interviews with high-ranking corporate bloggers. Their easy-to-read and easy-to-understand writing style ensures that even those who know little about blogging can grasp it. The book covers how to blog and how to participate in conversations, rather than always talking and never listening. getAbstract recommends it to businesspeople who blog or are thinking about it, and to executives who want to know why blogging is important and how it can build their companies’ bottom line.

Take-Aways

• About 70,000 new blogs start every day, says a Technorati survey.
• About 50 million Internet users regularly read blogs, a Pew study finds.
• Blogs are not considered a fad.
• Blogging gives customers human contact, input and responses to their concerns.
• Blogging has six abilities that distinguish it from other kinds of communication: it is “publishable,” “findable,” “social,” “viral,” “syndicatable” and “linkable.”
• Ignoring a product alert from the world of blogs cost one company $10 million.
• Follow relevant blog conversations even if your company doesn’t need a blog.
• Blogging, the ultimate word-of-mouth marketing machine, has helped some companies lower their ad budgets.
• No longer limited to text, blogging now includes such offshoots as audio podcasting and video blogging.
• Blogs are an international phenomenon. As of 2005, France had more than 3.5 million bloggers, including 10,000 business blogs.

Naked Conversations Book Summary

Microsoft’s Story

Customers distrust large companies, a syndrome that has especially affected Microsoft. Some people see Microsoft as a software monopoly or an unfeeling giant, rather than as a company where thousands of people make a living. Microsoft employee Joshua Allen started blogging in 2000 without getting permission from the company. He wanted to reach out and let the public know they could talk to him and, thus, to Microsoft. Lawyers worried about the risks and his boss got e-mails from other employees saying Allen should be fired. But, what mattered most is that customers were happy to be communicating with a Microsoft insider.

“We have entered a new era in communications.”

Technology evangelist Lenn Pryor joined Microsoft in 1998. When he met people, he got the same message: simply because he worked at Microsoft, they were surprised that he was nice. Pryor realized that Microsoft needed to bring humanity into its public equation. His brainstorm turned into Channel 9, an official Microsoft blog. Author Robert Scoble became Channel 9’s online interviewer. He led discussions on the video blog about the company’s internal workings. Within six months of the blog’s launch, about 2.5 million people had logged on to it.

“Blogging is customer evangelism’s most powerful date so far. But word-of-mouth evangelism is nothing new and predates the butcher, baker and candlestick maker by centuries.”

Mike Torres, a lead programmer for MSN Spaces, followed blog conversations through various Web sites. He responded to positive and negative comments about his blog. His presence took bloggers by surprise and they responded with respect. Torres took a risk when he posted an explanation of five things he didn’t like about MSN Spaces, but he showed customers that Microsoft employees pay attention to their programs, even after distribution. These experiences taught Microsoft that blogging could be good for business.

What Blogging Is About

With blogging, businesspeople are “naked,” that is, they talk directly to the public about their companies. Lawyers, executives and public relations departments ordinarily do not filter blog contents as they are posted. A blog is “a personal Web site with content displayed in reverse-chronological order.” When a blogger posts a new entry, it appears at the top of the page so regular readers see the latest content without having to scroll through old postings. Blogs often link to other blogs as references or suggestions. A blogger who is writing about the latest technology may link to a relevant Web page, or might counter another blogger’s opinions. As you click links from blog to blog, you’re traveling through the “blogosphere,” the world of blogs. The blogosphere is a large social network with many conversations and sub-networks. Bloggers often post a “blogroll,” a list of other blogs they read and recommend.

“Businesses need to join conversations because they build trust.”

Blogs differ from other corporate communications in six distinct ways, referred to as “Blogging’s Six Pillars.” Blogs are uniquely:

1. “Publishable” – Publishing a blog is easy and cheap. New content appears in an instant. A blog reaches many people at once, but setting it up costs very little.
2. “Findable” – Readers find blogs through blog-tracking Web sites and search engines. To increase your blog’s likelihood of being found on a search, add new posts frequently.
3. “Social” – Bloggers connect through posts, responses, links and comments.
4. “Viral” – Blogs spread word-of-mouth quickly; new posts often get noticed in minutes. Yossi Vardi, developer of the ICQ instant message application, describes it more colorfully: “Blogging is word-of-mouth on steroids.”
5. “Syndicatable” – You don’t have to click from blog to blog to find new content. Instead, use syndication software that shows you which blogs have updated their content. You can download free “RSS” software, “a data distribution protocol that lets you subscribe to almost any blog.”
6. “Linkable” – Every link leads readers to more blogs and resources.

“Blogging lets you listen to what people are saying about your product, company or category, and gives them the opportunity to respond.”

Search engines, especially Google, value regularly updated Web sites. Fast updates are easy to insert and increase your site’s search engine exposure. Customers dislike “interruption marketing,” those ads that appear repeatedly and disrupt reading. Blogs provide an alternative that builds conversations between companies and readers. Over time, readers learn that the company cares about their opinions and works to improve its products and services. If it doesn’t, the repercussions are harsh. Just ask Kryptonite, which manufactures bicycle locks. Someone figured out how to pick Kryptonite’s lock with a Bic pen. The person alerted the firm to the lock’s vulnerability and posted a warning on a biking bulletin board. The blogosphere picked up the tale, but Kryptonite ignored it – and is estimated to have lost millions.

Executive Blogging

Blogging lets businesspeople – whether their firms have blogs or not – easily find and participate in online discussions of their merchandise, services or industries. Companies use blogging to “feed the network,” that is, to release information. Soon after GM vice chairman Bob Lutz blogged about a prototype car, more than 100 bloggers began discussing it. Lutz’s initial goal was to “engage the public regarding our products and services.” Now, he says, “The blog has become an important, unfiltered voice…a direct line of communication.” His staff reviews the comments sent to his blog, so he can stay on top of feedback from consumers.

“In a crisis, listening and responding can prove infinitely more effective than any attempts to command and control the discussion about the situation.”

Sun Microsystems president Jonathan Schwartz says blogging “moved the whole damned compass.” A year after he started blogging, 1,000 of his employees started blogs. He credits blogging with improving developer relations. One Sun competitor believes that Sun was losing its power, but made a comeback thanks to its blogs. Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team, believes content on “BlogMaverick” spurred referees to behave more professionally and to treat basketball like a business. Tech expert Buzz Bruggeman, who is CEO of ActiveWords, a software utility company, says blogging helped generate about half of his company’s “100,000 downloads…on a six-year marketing budget of less than $15,000.” Though he spends little time posting, blogging boosted the firm’s public profile and press coverage.

“People will buy from you because what you write is useful and interesting to them, and they come to trust you.”

Not all blogs are public. Employees at Disney, IBM and other companies collaborate and share information on internal blogs. And, there are pitfalls: Intel CEO Paul Otellini uses his intranet blog to talk with Intel’s 86,000 employees, although an entry was leaked to the press the first year he was blogging – fortunately, a one-time problem.

“Unlike major league sports, where steroids have caused a multitude of scandals, word-of-mouth on steroids builds credibility, enthusiasm and customer evangelism.”

Blogging has even united competitors. Three patent attorneys with a passion for intellectual property concerns found each other through their blogs and started conversing by e-mail and phone. Soon they became friends. Now they collaborate through podcasting, a blog and a wiki (“a form of social software…that allows groups to collaborate” on a site).

Good Blogging

A blog doesn’t get traffic overnight. The blogger has to join conversations by reading other blogs, leaving comments and linking to their entries. For blogging success, use these five tips:

1. “Talk, don’t sell” – Entries that sound like press releases have a negative effect.
2. “Post often and be interesting” – Regular blog postings bring in more readers and boost your search engine rankings.
3. “Write on issues you know and care about” – When you share information that benefits readers, they’ll eventually trust you and buy from you.
4. “Blogging saves money, but costs time” – A blog can help cut your marketing and ad budgets, but not without taking up the blogger’s time. However, in the long run, blogging time is cheaper than a marketing budget and has a better pay-off.
5. “You get smarter by listening to what people tell you” – Negative comments from readers provide valuable insights into why your customers might be frustrated.

Launching Your Blog

Common wisdom and general rules about starting a blog are useful, but not strict, since blogging is still new and continues to change rapidly. Many blogs have succeeded without following these suggestions, but they may help get your new blog off on the right foot.

“Blogging provides two-way executive access and facilitates employee relations, customer evangelism, and interaction between companies and their constituencies.”

First, get an idea of what is already on the blogosphere by reading other blogs, especially those related to your planned blog’s topic. You’ll also find a few blogs that will make good resources for links, conversations and mutual entries.

The, carefully select a great name for your blog. Many blogs are already out there, and a name like “Joe’s Blog” doesn’t tell readers what your blog covers. Pick a clear name and add a tagline that alludes to the blog’s subject matter.

“Blogs humanize companies, or at least the people who work inside of them.”

When you write an entry, cover just one topic. People who want to link to your entry are most likely to be interested in a specific topic. A long entry with several different topics is difficult to refer to, so keep your entries simple and focused. Make your writing passionate and authoritative, so your blog is interesting. Provide links. Show that you have the knowledge and expertise to keep the blog from being dull or useless. Stories are the best way to share what you know and are more likely to draw people to you and your company.

“Companies that discourage blogging, such as Google, may start to lose talented people and already are revealing other cracks in their veneers.”

Always be honest. A business blogger can almost do no wrong by telling the truth. Bloggers have a talent for finding out the real story when they’re suspicious. Allow your readers to comment, so you establish relationships and build trust. A blog that does not allow comments sends a negative message. Make it easy for users to contact you; the busiest bloggers are reachable because providing access can lead to great opportunities.

“Businesses need to understand the power of blogging can help or hurt them.”

Attend conferences, meetings and other events because they are great resources for material for your blog. Finally, review your “referrer” log to see where people are coming from to visit your site. This tells you who has mentioned you on their Web site or blog. To expand the conversation, respond to these sites. Bloggers love it when other bloggers notice them.

The Blog Job

What can you do to ensure you don’t get “Dooced” (fired for blogging)? Rely on common sense and “do nothing stupid.” If you run your company’s blog, review your contract to see how that task fits your job description. Find out if the firm has a blogging policy and follow it carefully. Avoid any legal issues and stay in touch with your manager. Blogging does require time, so some companies contract out the job of running their blogs. This is a small cost, considering that more than one billion business-related blogs have been posted.

Blogging’s Dark Side

For valid reasons, managers worry about blogs’ openness, security, profitability and content, while business owners also tend to fret that a blog will draw negative comments (although such comments can appear anywhere on the Internet). Readers who post their comments on your blog are an advantage, because they give you a chance to address their issues. When GM’s Bob Lutz received a negative comment on his blog, 30 readers responded showing support. Even complimenting a competitor can pay off for a blogger. Author Scoble, a Microsoft employee, earned readers’ trust by praising Firefox and Apple’s iPod on his blog. Of course, this attitude reflects positively on Microsoft.

“For better or worse, the true power of blogging is clearest during times of crisis.”

One drawback to blogging is that managers prefer messages they can control, but bloggers tend to write what they want. However, business blogs can filter incoming comments, deleting those with expletives or irrelevant responses. Another concern is that corporate bloggers could reveal confidential information, although intellectual property attorney Stephen M. Nipper says that employees are more likely to leak closely held data through casual e-mails than through carefully thought-out blog entries.

How do you measure a blog’s return on investment? One example: Web browser Firefox got more downloads from its blog than from a two-page ad in The New York Times. Measuring goodwill isn’t easy, but blogging’s open door for responses offers good public relations. Word-of-mouth marketing is also hard to quantify, but a blog generates continuing circles of word-of-mouth contact. Blogging gives businesses the opportunity to connect and listen to customers. It is a low-cost tool that serves as “a crisis firefighter, a superior research aggregator, a tool for recruiting, a product builder, and a customer service and support enhancement

About the Authors

Robert Scoble started blogging for Microsoft in 2000. He helps run its Channel 9 Web site. Innovation expert Shel Israel helped launch many technology products, such as PowerPoint.

Video & Podcast

The Year Without Pants, WordPress.com and the Future of Work by Scott Berkun

Recommendation

What is it like to work for a company that breaks all the rules? Management expert Scott Berkun took a job at Automattic – the parent company of WordPress and WordPress.com – to find out. Office politics, hierarchies, production schedules and other traditional work structures do not constrain Automattic employees. They work remotely from around the world. They can be anywhere and work anytime since the firm judges them solely on the quality of their results. Berkun describes the positives and negatives of this revolutionary company and predicts how its example might influence the future of work. His witty stream-of-consciousness narrative engages, but leaves gaps – the reader must work to extract necessary management lessons. getAbstract recommends Berkun’s journey into the workplace of the future to entrepreneurs, investors, start-ups and leaders on every level.

Take-Aways

• More than 60 million websites use WordPress software; the blogging site WordPress.com is the world’s 15th-most-used website.
• Automattic, founded by Matt Mullenweg, runs WordPress and WordPress.com.
• In 2010, management expert Scott Berkun joined WordPress as leader of Team Social.
• “Transparency, meritocracy and longevity” form the basis of WordPress’s culture.
• Automattic employees work entirely online from locations around the world.
• “Automatticians” use P2s (team blogs), Skype and the chat program IRC for most of their communication. They seldom use email.
• WordPress programmers and designers can launch products at any time, without deadlines or production schedules.
• Employees gather at annual “meet-ups” to work together and “ship” projects.
• Berkun’s team identified two major work projects: the commenting system, “Highlander,” and a plug-in called “Jetpack.”
• Jetpack had a successful launch in March 2011, which was followed by phase one of Highlander that June.

The Year Without Pants Book Summary

Joining the Team

In 2010, Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress, asked management expert Scott Berkun to join his company, Automattic, which runs WordPress and WordPress.com. WordPress is the open-source software that powers 20% of the web. That translates to more than 60 million sites, including dozens of the world’s most popular blogs. Millions of bloggers utilize WordPress, the 15th-most-visited website worldwide.

WordPress

Matt Mullenweg, then an 18-year-old amateur photographer, founded WordPress out of frustration. He had an avid commitment to open source and wanted to “democratize publishing” by making it available to everyone free of charge. He had been posting pictures on photomatt.net via Cafelog. He used the open-source license to copy Cafelog’s source code. The site had a “copyleft” license called GPL, which allowed Mullenweg to “create a fork” if the software he developed remained open source.

“Bureaucracies form when people’s jobs are tied strictly to rules and procedures, rather than the effect those things are supposed to have on the world.”

When Mullenweg announced his intention to fork Cafelog on his blog, UK programmer Mike Little offered to work on the project. They released the first version in 2003. It gained 10,000 users within months. The number of volunteer contributors grew, and by 2007, Business Week and Time magazines listed Mullenweg as “one of the most influential people in the world.”

“Unlike proclamations about culture that are easy to put in speeches and emails, it’s the small decisions that define a culture.”

Mullenweg formed Automattic in 2005 to provide the WordPress community with a server “where anyone, anywhere, could use WordPress completely for free.” Toni Schneider joined as CEO in 2008. When the firm’s spam protection plug-in, Akismet, made money, they were able to secure venture capital. Berkun joined in 2010 as the 58th employee.

“The single-sentence vision for WordPress had always been to democratize publishing.”

The company’s culture and philosophy touted “transparency, meritocracy and longevity.” The firm made every conversation and decision public, and allocated authority based on work product. The project’s open-source license guaranteed that it would continue no matter who was in charge. Automattic makes money with “upgrades, advertising, VIP” and “partnerships.” VIP clients pay a premium to host their websites on WordPress and receive extra benefits, such as a dedicated support team. Mullenweg has a practical attitude toward revenue generation. But he can afford to be patient, because Automattic is growing steadily and places solidly in the world’s top 20 sites.

The “Happiness” Team

Automattic employees work online from around the world. The absence of geographical boundaries allows the firm to hire the most talented people, wherever they live. The hiring process doesn’t include résumé reviews or interviews. The company gives each prospect a real project and hires those who successfully complete their task.

“Instead of treating employees like children, which many executive staffs do, Schneider and Mullenweg explicitly desired an environment for autonomous adults.”

Before Mullenweg and Schneider created teams – each with its own leader – the company was completely flat. Every employee answered to Mullenweg. Berkun would soon head “Team Social,” which was charged with simplifying the writing and reading of blogs. But first, like everyone else, he began his training in customer support, as a member of the Happiness team.

“Two minutes into my first meeting, and I was already immersed in Automattic culture.”

Berkun signed onto Skype for his first training session from home with his dog Griz playing at his feet. Automattic culture encourages “Automatticians” to communicate with warmth, intelligence and humor via text messages on Skype and IRC, the employee chat program. If Berkun hit a snag, the manager of WordPress.com data centers could help from his home control center in Texas. By day’s end, Berkun had access and editing powers on any WordPress blog.

“The deal at Automattic was centered on quality of life, not just the quality of life while at work.”

Bloggers who encounter problems contact the Happiness team via email. In-house, these queries are called “tickets.” As Berkun worked on tickets, his trainers helped him or he posted questions on IRC. Employees responded to lend a hand in seconds. The firm tracked the customer service team’s progress, keeping extensive statistics on each “happiness engineer’s” ticket response and resolution. The demanding, relentless pace gave Berkun a valuable introduction to WordPress.

Online Meetings

The online nature of remote work affects how Automatticians meet and communicate. Team Social met at designated times on IRC and conversed via text. Anyone in the firm could view or participate in the conversation. Each team creates an internal blog, called a “P2,” where people post questions, comments or ideas. Automatticians use P2s for about 75% of their communication, IRCs for around 14%, Skype for some 5% and email only 1% of the time. Mullenweg supplements online communication with periodic “town hall” meetings via webcam.

“Once you have two or three like-minded people, a culture forms that attracts more people with similar values and repels those that don’t.”

Text-only P2s do not offer the insights people gain from nonverbal communication. If conversations become dicey on the P2, people work out problems on Skype. Scott saw that some conversations worked better in real time or with fewer participants. He had trouble interpreting a lack of response. Did silence mean agreement, confusion or acceptance?

Work Flow

Berkun met his team in person at the company “meet-up” in Seaside, Florida. The annual meet-up is the one time a year that employees work together. Meet-ups eschew agendas, name tags, flip charts and other typical event accoutrements. Every team works on “shipping” a project by week’s end. As their project, Team Social chose “Hovercards,” which enable visitors to view a “business card” by pointing a mouse at a blogger’s name.

“An amazing thing about our digital age is that the person next to you at Starbucks might just be hacking into a Swiss bank or launching multiwarhead nuclear missiles continents away.”

WordPress programmers and designers do not conduct prelaunch tests or pass a review board. They launch products, fix bugs and evaluate usage any time. Programmers coordinate launches with other teams and monitor projects for several hours to ensure a smooth release.

Work flow at Automattic follows a seven-step process. Teams pick a problem to solve or an idea to develop. They write a “launch announcement” and produce a support page. Writing the announcement forces developers to explain the feature in simple terms. Teams determine the data and metrics that evaluate the product’s impact on the user experience. Programmers and designers work on the project. Finally, they launch the feature, weigh the data and fix bugs.

Quality of Work

Automattic’s culture focuses on quality of work and results. Its distributed work arrangement challenges traditional workplace structures and traditions. The company has no dress codes, schedules, hierarchies or workplace status symbols. From the beginning, the firm made it clear that it prioritized – and evaluated people on – “the code [they] produced, the designs they made, the tickets they resolved, or the comments they wrote.”

“Like a puck on an air hockey table floating around aimlessly, ideas need something to work against, a mallet or a wall – to use as leverage.”

WordPress’s culture encourages employees to learn by doing, and it promotes experimentation. Managers support creative staffers to enable their best work. CEO Schneider explains, “Hire great people. Set good priorities. Remove distractions. Stay out of the way.”

Shortly after the Seaside meet-up, Berkun visited the Automattic offices in San Francisco. Headquarters, which resembles a comfortable student lounge at a university, is usually empty. Berkun missed the “passive data” people gain by working together. Online, you can’t read people’s body language or work style, or learn their patterns and preferences. People tend to filter themselves, posting only things that reflect positively on them or that they feel comfortable sharing. After several months working at Automattic, Berkun made note of the company’s habits and interactions:

• “Broken windows: good and bad” – Employees focus on fixes, and no one prioritizes tasks according to importance.
• “Big/ugly projects we avoid” – Incremental work sometimes bypasses larger, less attractive projects.
• “P2s have curious side effects” – P2s can create communication gaps.
• “Conservative ideas” – Automatticians tend to avoid “big ideas” or “big changes.”
• “Lack of usability methods” – The engineering-led design of WordPress adds unnecessary complexity.

Team Social

Team Social settled into an informal work schedule, meeting online Monday mornings, posting progress reports on Thursdays and relying on Berkun to nag and keep other teams informed. They produced and shipped features, worked out bugs and prioritized projects. At Automattic, the Happiness Team is the first responder to any problem. If they can’t fix it, members post on the P2s or report it via IRC to get programmers involved. Each team prioritizes issues and resolves important ones quickly. Berkun found that minor problems fell through the cracks at times. He tracked issues for Team Social by making lists and putting them in priority order.

“Anyone who’s an expert, guru, executive or coach has likely lost any real sense of what real work is.”

Berkun organized a Team Social meet-up in Athens. The team commandeered the balcony of a local café and spent the first night bonding over the local beer, Mythos. Mullenweg joined them for the fun. Berkun wanted to use the time to identify Team Social’s next big projects. First, they zeroed in on improving the design of WordPress.com’s commenting system. The company acquired the plug-in Intense Debate in 2009, but it did not share code with WordPress’s commenting system. Programmers had to duplicate improvements, fixes and changes on both systems. The team named the ambitious project “Highlander.”

“It was the community at work: people were willing to drop whatever they were doing to lend a hand to people they didn’t know.”

In a “double down” move, team members also decided to pursue one of Mullenweg’s pet projects, to allow any WordPress blog, regardless of the host site, to be able to utilize the special features available to blogs hosted on WordPress.com. Team Social took on the project, in spite of the scope of Highlander, calling it “Jetpack.”

Jetpack

Team Social made slow progress in the weeks after Athens. Team members met in San Francisco to organize their workload. They mapped it out in two-week increments, assigned priorities and responsibilities, posted the map on their P2 and asked for feedback. The team continued to struggle until one member launched a redesigned sync system on Intense Debate. This first major success re-energized the team members.

“You could have teleported us to different corners of the planet, and provided there was Wi-Fi, we’d continue working without a hitch.”

Mullenweg and Berkun agreed to launch Jetpack at the March 2011 media event South By Southwest (SXSW). The strict deadline meant changes for Team Social. They had to create work estimates, conduct server compatibility tests and bring in additional team members. Team member Mike Adams made six task lists from the original San Francisco map; that organized the flow and determined the next steps. The team held regular voice meetings, which they found more effective than IRC sessions. Each designer and programmer tended to the items on his or her spreadsheets to drive the project forward.

“While we have a universal measure of wealth called money, there is no comparable measurement for meaning.”

During the team meet-up in New York City in February, members worked out of a Soho apartment, released an alpha version of Jetpack and asked Automattic employees to test it and report bugs. By week’s end, they made great progress, and cranked up the pace over the next several weeks. Jetpack launched at SXSW, and has since garnered more than five million downloads; it is one of WordPress’s most popular plug-ins.

After the Jetpack release, Team Social renewed its efforts on Highlander. At the next team meet-up in Portland, they focused on launching phase one – to make a new user interface for blog comments. The number and variety of incompatible themes made the work difficult. They enlisted the help of the Theme Team. Many Automatticians participated in a “virtual barn raising,” temporarily dropping their own work to help Team Social test themes and sort out bugs. Team Social launched the first phase of Highlander in June 2011, and received 300,000 new comments on the first day.

About the Author

Management expert, blogger and speaker Scott Berkun is the author of Making Things Happen, The Myths of Innovation, and Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds.

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