Bloggin Ads

The following post is submitted by a Bloggin-Ads author, Luis Sandoval Jr. of Daily Slackr.

More and more businesses jump on the social media bandwagon. We are seeing the traditional business model turned upside down by the community that becomes involved. Whereas the old business model put all the power of what is right and wrong inside the hands of the businesses, today’s model allows the customer base to have influence on the direction of a business. Now not all have become open to the idea of listening to the people, but for those that have, a tremendous community has lead these businesses to success; Dell, Starbucks, H&R Block, & JetBlue to name a few.

What I’d like to look at is the people that are designated to be the voice of the company and the responsibility they carry with that honor. If any of the readers blog for a business, I’d like to hear your thoughts on the charge you’ve been given. Maybe you blog for your own business. I’d also like to hear how you handle community interaction, both positive and negative.

Personally, I blog for the non-profit that I work for. My immediate position involves handling of the programs and events for our location, along with working with volunteers, but attached to it is the maintenance of our online community of supporters, prospective volunteers, and city as a whole. Sounds like a lot of people to keep happy, and it is.

Never assume that what you write will please everyone, whether they be in the community or in the business you are a part of. To assume that is to set yourself up for a major disappointment when you are called to account for your posts. Nevertheless, if you stand firm by what you write, there is no reason why you cannot intelligently discuss the topic of the post.

More often than not, businesses will allow the community aspect of their business to run open ended with little to no heavy handedness with regards to involvement. Dell for example allowed negative posts to be available for all to read, but they accurately and professionally responded to them in order to show that communication was indeed traveling both ways. For some it would have been more appropriate to simply squash the negative comment and move forward as if everyone was happy with the company and it’s product. Instead they remained open and honest, and that deserves a lot of credit.

If a business blog attempts to put a face on the business that is controlled behind the scenes by the “machine,” the community will become aware and lash out. The backlash of the dishonesty can severely hurt the brand of the business and in today’s connected society negative word of mouth will spread like wildfire. With so much at risk, it’s amazing how much businesses want to maintain their hold on their community relations by encouraging dishonesty in order to maintain a positive public image.

Be honest, build community, admit your failures, learn and grow. These fundamental ideas which some businesses are undertaking is gaining them a huge following with regard to customer base. When you go to your favorite site, Amazon.com, Target.com, Nike.com, take a look a the blog, read the comments and see if you can determine whether the community is free or if the business has a hand in what is shared.

This was submitted by Luis Sandoval Jr. of Daily Slackr and author for Bloggin-Ads. He is a graphic freelancer that runs a small firm that helps other small businesses, while continuing to expand his knowledge of social media.