5 Reasons to Start a CEO Blog

Publish or perish!  We hear about it in the context of academia all the time.  In order for would-be professors to be considered for tenured positions, they need to regularly showcase their brilliance through publishing relevant scholarly works.  I would argue that CEOs should follow the same advice though they need not regularly publish doctoral-thesis-worthy communications but rather compelling blog content which can advance their business and personal interests.  Below are five reasons why companies should embrace the CEO blog:

Puts a face to your organization.  A CEO is almost always the best single human asset that a company has, particularly start-ups and smaller companies.  Yet many businesses hide their top asset behind a marketing curtain.  A short website bio, usually without contact information, makes most CEOs appear inaccessible.  If your goal is to be a customer-facing and customer-focused organization, a CEO blog can create a public face for a company.  Showcasing your company’s personality can go a long way to defining your values.

Explains your vision to multiple audiences.    A CEO blog opens communications with audiences both internal and external, offering an unfettered channel to deliver clear messaging.  Every CEO has a variety of audiences and some may be more critical than others, depending on the situation and the current business goals.  A blog can used to explain the company’s latest plans for employees or show-off accomplishments for potential partners or investors.  The clear, unobstructed communications channel is a powerful tool.

Cues you up for thought leadership.  All CEOs have a vision for their company, but they don’t always have a platform to articulate that vision.   In most situations, CEOs want to differentiate their company from their competitors and explain that their approach to business is industry leading. Companies that wish to position their top executives and management team as thought leaders are missing an opportunity if they aren’t using the CEO blog as a tool.  When written well, a CEO blog with broad appeal can be picked-up for publication in an industry media outlet or consumer channel.  This may not happen right out of the gate, but showing a track-record of solid writing and messaging helps pave the way for invitations to contribute content to thought-leading outlets.  We have helped clients post hundreds of articles in trade publications as well as secured opportunities to regularly contribute to outlets like Forbes.com and Huffington Post.  These outlets remain selective and your content must have value, but CEOs often offer the kind of insight these outlets seek.

Builds a reliable communications channel.  Every CEO believes that they should be regularly communicating with key audiences, but many fail to practice it.  A CEO blog can create an excellent communications channel that audience members both respect and enjoy.  Creating an authentic channel can also pay-off down the road if the company must explain unpleasant news such as lower revenues or something worse during a crisis.  In such situations, it’s best the first time key audiences hear from a CEO isn’t just when the news is bad.  It may seem counter-intuitive, but a regular channel of authentic communications, even if it is typically good news, can be helpful in times of crisis.

Positions the CEO’s personal brand.  Let’s be real here.  Every CEO will say that a blog needs to promote their business goals, but an ancillary benefit is that it promotes the CEO’s personal brand too.  Many CEOs are looking for ways to differentiate themselves and make the leap to super stardom.  A CEO blog can help elevate an executive to the next level, which may lead to the next great assignment or challenge.  Of course, a blog won’t make a CEOs dramatically better at their jobs, but it may help showcase an executive as a leader and an up-and-comer.  Any CEO who isn’t promoting their personal brand is skipping the trappings of the digital marketing age.  You either want your audience to know you are a star or you don’t.  My guess is the former.

For CEOs wishing to get started, I recommend establishing an overall strategy, schedule and rough editorial calendar.  A CEO blog is most effective when it is part of your corporate website, but many ancillary channels currently exist to push your content out.  It may seem like a daunting task, but the CEO blog challenge can be overcome with planning and some editorial insight.

–John