I’m building a custom CMS for a client. On the page where you add blog users to the account (no admin privileges, just blog for the company), I included the following paragraph:
Some general advice about blogging for business: choose staff you trust, define their limits and let them write. Don’t create an approval process. Just let them write. Many companies find this intimidating — “What will they write?!” — “How can I trust them to show the best face of the company?!” Many companies are surprised by the quality and insight that occurs when they allow an open dialog. If there are issues that emerge, then you can deal with them or revoke their blogging privileges if need be.
I really believe in this. And most business owners have the screws so tight, they would really be uncomfortable with employees posting to the blog without approval. At my old job, we were all supposed to write for the company blog. I wrote a good piece about usability. It never saw the light of day because the slackers I submitted it to never got around to reading it and posting it. if I could have just posted it myself, there would have been a new voice on the blog, a new idea, inspiration for other employees to write and everyone would have been happy. But the review process—instead of encouraging trust and openness—brought about resentment and apathy.
Trust your employees to carry the company flag until they prove they aren’t trustworthy. You’ll find out you have some great talent you kept in the well.
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