Why corporate bloggers sometimes have trouble

Super-blogger/speaker/productivity “thought-leader” Merlin Mann posted a “twitter” the other day that stuck in my head - for days and days. Then last night I received an email from a person that works at a big, Fortune 500 company that wants to meet with me to talk about blogging. This would be the fourth or fifth person that I met with there over the course of 3 years, and they still have no blogs or “social networking” program worth mentioning (none that I know of). Then I remembered Merlin’s quote.

The people I’ve met with have been awesome, funny, over-worked, and have cool hobbies, terrific families, and a bazillion “insider” stories. The makings of a damn good blog. So, why is there no action? My theory is that, at work, their personality has been beaten out of them. In an environment where keywords and phrases like ”synergy”, “leverage”, “branding”, and “net net, at the end of the day” are rewarded, there’s no room for a real personality when it comes to “work”.

Plus, there’s a “fear factor.” Not Joe Rogan challenging you to eat cockroaches for a $500 Visa gift card. The “I’ll get fired” fear factor. There’s the occasional story about the perfect employee that was shown the door after their personal blog was discovered. Nobody wants to lose their job, health benefits, or office pals over some stupid blog, right?

So, what’s the solution? I think there are a number of options:

Do nothing. Play it safe. Hope that the next round of cuts miss you. Unfortunately, this never works - just ask Seth.
Go rogue. Start a blog and go wild. Reveal shit you know you shouldn’t talk about and eventually get fired. Then you can blame your lack of a career on the Internet.
Take your “at meetings” personality and put it online. Load your posts with corporate buzz words and bullet points that pimp your products. You, and the guy in the cube next to you, will LOVE it!
Be yourself. Are you a cyclist that works in technology? What’s that like? Maybe you’re a mother of two that works in book publishing. Be a human being online, slowly grow your audience, and build a lasting relationship because you have a common interest.

Here’s another bit of wisdom from Merlin that is inspiring.