I Write My Own Blog

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I just had a great chat with the Economist Intelligence Unit about Microsoft and blogging and finished with a phrase I couldn't help repeating:

I write my own blog and I read (and answer) my own comments

This came out of a discussion we had around what makes a blog succeed (see 1 and 3 below) and what makes others fail. Many people have written authoritatively on this topic so I won't dwell on it but my blog is now firmly a part of my job. It's not in my contract and not expected by my management but I have an audience who have fed back that they find it useful, engaging and sometimes even funny. Yep, Microsoft funny. Seriously.

I also talked about my Top 10 Tips for blogging which have been borrowed, edited and stolen from many other wiser folks than me but regardless, they drive what I do and I share them with new bloggers in my team and around Microsoft as my advice. I've changed the usual order actually based on a chat with Darren as I think authentic is top of the list.

1.Be Authentic

2.Be patient

3.Answer every comment

4.Don’t sell

5.Link. Link. Link

6.Traffic isn’t the goal, conversations is

7.Blog frequently

8.Expect criticism

9.Don’t blog when you’re drunk/down/angry

10.Blog Smart!

Finally....why do I blog? Why do I invest so much of my own time in it (check the hours I usually post)? This comment I got on a post a little while back says it all:

Steve, I am now beginning to enjoy Microsoft. Previously I , and I suspect millions of others, perceived MS as a leviathan without a heart. No pulse or warmth. Not a human in sight except Bill in front of a cold global software assembly plant staffed by humanoids. By blogging, you and your colleagues have opened up MS to reveal that the innards are indeed made up of warm, people with hearts, with families, have smiles and wow, you do have senses of humour! This is incredible. Who'd have thought that a corporation like MS was human after all!? We do now. All because you are engaging with us at our level and this is a conversation I relate to and like very much. I hope many more do too

I work for one of the best companies in the world. I just like helping people understand us a little more :)