First: the slides.

Second: The outline

5 reasons to blog

1. Creates a human connection - business is about people
2. Helps spread marketing buzz - easy to spread on the Internet - take advantage!
3. It helps search engine users find you
4. It allows you to own (not control!) the conversation about you
5. It positions you as an expert in your industry

5 ways to royally screw it up

1. Let it become managed by you as PR professionals (it must have an authentic voice - that can not be faked. It also has to be fast, if you're vetting/polishing, it won't be).
2. Use it as a promotional tool (don't endlessly promote yourself - remember, this isn't an advertisement, nor a captive audience)
3. Be boring (have the CEO or similarly passionate and knowledgeable person do the blogging, not a hired PR gun)
4. Have a high noise to signal ratio (stay on topic, every post counts)
5. Be selfish (be generous and honest)

5 tips for getting started

1. Use TypePad (link) (cheap, easy, excellent).
2. Integrate it into your web site
3. Get a head start (spend a month or 2 blogging before you launch - gives you time to practice, find voice, plus first visitors have something to read.)
4. Read and study other blogs (helps you be a better blogger - see Technorati 100 - these are the most popular blogs, figure out why).
5. Be patient (building a successful blog takes time, don't give up!)

Third: Notes that didn't make it into the presentation

Links of some (big name) business blogs:

• Mark Cuban (brilliant, ace blogger): http://www.blogmaverick.com/
• GM: http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/
• Microsoft (they have thousands, here's an internal one started by Robert Scoble, whom I mentioned): http://channel9.msdn.com/
• Sun: http://blogs.sun.com/
• Google: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/
• GoDaddy's President, Bob Parsons: http://www.bobparsons.com/

Must read books (in order or importance):

• Seth Godin: Unleashing the Ideavirus
• Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba: Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force
• Seth Godin: Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable
• Malcolm Gladwell: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Additional helpful links:

• www.cluetrain.org - Welcome to the new world. This sets bar.
• Technorati blog growth report
• Think your company can't do it? Top ways to defend the status quo.
• Robert Scoble (rock star blogger I mentioned who use to blog for Microsoft) his Corporate Weblog Manifesto.
• Technorati: http://www.technorati.com/
• Bloglines: use this to follow your favorite blogs via RSS feed

5 Bonus Tips - How to pitch to bloggers:

1. Help them help their audience
2. Help them look like an expert, and insider, a bigshot
3. Don't make it hard (spoon feed it to them)
4. Don't be "slick" - the backbone of blogging is authenticity, compromise this and you'll be ignored or (worse) reviled.
5. Be moderately persistent. Bloggers have busy lives too - a second, final, friendly follow-up reminder - if you've obeyed 1-4 above - is fine.

If you have any questions or would like me to help your organization get started with blogging, drop me a line.

Note: slide deck css shamelessly stolen (then tweaked) from Jeremy Keith