Blogging: The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test…

In early January, 2006, I was sitting at my desk working on how to implement a customize email template for 35K home based travel agents when the phone rang. It was one of my company’s owners who asked me “…Hey, what’s a blog and how can we implement one for our Members? Can you jump on that and get one up and running before Friday?”

It was Thursday.

18 months and 10 blogs later, I find myself at the beginning of a major blog initiative at my new company. It’s exciting but scary at the same time.

When preparing to implement a blog within your company, remember the people you work with most likely are clueless to blogging. They have probably heard of the concept and most likely have a MySpace page.

Here’s what I suggest:

Start sharing links that you find interesting with these individuals. The below post is a sample of what I send a group of employees every week and my distribution list is growing. It’s a great way to get everyone thinking outside the box of normal business thought.
Find a blog platform that anyone can easily use – like WordPress, Blogger, etc…
When you identify individuals committed to try something new by writing posts, have them start by reading a book or two. I recommend The Cluetrain Manifesto and Naked Conversations.
Set them up with a RSS Reader, like NewsGator. Then help them subscribe to blogs that teach you how to blog or discuss topics similar to what they are going to write about. Make sure that they understand that not only will they be writing posts but also reading and commenting other blogs.
Build their blog, but don’t make it public just yet. Spend the first 2 to 3 weeks by having them write “practice” posts.
When everyone gets comfortable, unleash it.