Chris Brogan: The Big Risk for Corporate Trust Agents
Connie Bensen
· 1 year ago
Chris you do make me blush... For your readers benefit: My blog is separate & has been. I learned that the hard way when I was given a serious lesson about Intellectual Property in regard to tutorials. All of my contracts now specifically state who owns what IP & and that my blog is distinctly separate from my work.
And since coming online I've learned a new term called 'talent management'. I really like the concept. My interpretation is that HR and management need to recognize who they value & then make efforts to ensure that they are providing that employee with prof dev't & fulfilling more than just providing them with an income. The people that you listed above (including myself) are working because we love to. Deloitte has a great study that lists the additional items that we require/crave.
Communication & relationships are going to be even more important than ever for exactly the reasons you state. My prediction is that the Gen Y'ers are also going to hold job satisfaction high on their list. So this will put the pressure on employers to provide a workplace that's stimulating including internal social networks, flat rather than siloed, transparency, & customer-centric. So I think that a lot of the responsibility falls on the organization because it is a choice. If their employees are happy they won't get whisked away, right?
I also totally agree with you on uplifting potential talent. You've set such a great example for that. As people attain a proficiency in their niche they need to reach down & help the next upcoming set. (I guess I should've written a blog post, huh?)
Jeremiah Owyang
· 1 year ago
Thanks Chris. My blog has become a way to help clients, support them and even find new ones. As a result, I recently found out that I'm the top 4th referrer to Forrester.com.
chrisbrogan
· 1 year ago
@Jeremiah - but let me ask you: if Forrester said to you, "You must make the blog forrester.com/webstrategist" , would you? And if that's too close to home, feel free to generalize. Would you counsel another person in our space to keep their own real estate?
Scott Monty
· 1 year ago
Great points - and ones that I'm prepared for. Luckily, I built my brand before Ford recruited me, and it will continue to be my brand. Yes, Ford is the beneficiary of the credibility that I built up, but I'll be working hard to transfer some of that credibility to the company while maintaining my own.
It's definitely a delicate balance and one fraught with subtleties we never dreamed of 5 years ago. But that makes it all the more challenging and exciting, doesn't it?
julien
· 1 year ago
@chrisbrogan i certainly wouldn't. i see that as the main value behing having a blog of your own BEFOREHAND, because it comes with the package.
Todd Jordan
· 1 year ago
Now I'm wishing I had a social media job. :) Good to be thinking ahead with the realization that nothing is written in stone. Seems odd to have a brick and mortar job where most folks just expect to work there until they die or retire.
As for protecting your brand, I'd say that's easier for some than others. Having your own shingle outside of your employer's definitely makes things easier.
Thoughtful piece.
JeanAnnVK
· 1 year ago
And is this discussion really any different than it was before blogging? It is always a balance of personal vs business branding. When a company hires a high profile person, they are banking on what that person brings to the table...Their visibility, connections,etc, are what makes them a great candidate...that's all personal branding...and that belongs to the employee...
Their personal brand is sometimes the only career insurance these folks get...firing the person at the top (especially if you aren't uber famous, just locally famous) is easier than firing anyone else. Your brand is what ensures you can get another job.
I have several social media clients that I help manage their social media campaign. I do talk about them on my social media shouts because sharing the cache helps increase the rate of their success...but they do not take over my established connections...hell no...those are mine!
And the relationships and visibility we build in between will benefit both of us in the end...
Adam Singer
· 1 year ago
Right - I think what you're getting at is look out for your career, not for your job.
Building career security and personal brand security, not job/employer security, is vital.
Great advice, I'm with you!
Carolyn S. aka @wadesmom
· 1 year ago
I always think of Forrester as "that place where Jeremiah works" and that's your point, isn't it? But if he moves on will I think "that place where Jeremiah used to work" or attach a new personal brand to him and to them? It's a tricky situation.
Jeremiah Owyang
· 1 year ago
Chris, good question.
Web Strategy is my career blog, it goes with me from job to job, in fact, it's part of me, my being, part of jeremiah. It's one of the perks in hiring me.
With that said, I have cross posted quite a bit on the Forreter interactive marketing blog, and I continue to promote our research. If we pulled my blog closer to corporate, it would likely be less effective.
We've hired quite a few Gen Y researchers, many of them come with their own blogs too --we can't expect an entire generation of 'creators' to rebrand their blog any given corporate brand, it's not feasible, doable, or cost-effective.
Hope that answers your question!
Juan David Londono
· 1 year ago
Chris,
As a young professional working at an agency, I find this post very useful. Having encouraged the agency to start a blog as a tool to build new business, this Friday they've decided to move forward in that direction.
Guess where this post hits home is that over the past few months, after researching and spending time reading and commenting on different blogs, I have decided to begin my own blog.
My question is how do I keep the agency's brand separate from mine while still being responsible yet essentially looking to do the same thing at the same time.
Thanks
Juan David @juandlondono
Ann
· 1 year ago
I'd love to hear Jeremiah's answer regarding moving/starting a blog under a corporate blog umbrella.
I think it's fairly clear that blogs started prior to employment, and maintained under a non-corporate name, belong to the blogger. But what if a company asks someone to have a blog, provides the space, the training, the address? What is a fair separation policy? Is it acceptable for the blogger to post their new 'home' and let their followers move on with them? Is it acceptable for a company to forbid the blogger from posting their new URL? Worse yet, can a company take down the blog when they take back the corporate ID and escort the ex-employee out of the building?
robin seidner
· 1 year ago
Great point, Chris. I've been telling this to a friend who is the representative of her company's brand for a long time (in this case, its because this person needs to get a significant raise for all the work done to infuse the company brand with value).
That is another piece of it actually which you also address. Companies ought to pay more attention to the value brought by company bloggers.
mark_hayward
· 1 year ago
Hey Chris - as someone who might be searching for employment in the near future (me)...I feel your blog/social media network might also be what attracts a particular company to you. Has anyone put a value on pre-existing social networks yet (a future post for you perhaps?)?
Before I hit publish or post on anything, even guest posts, I am keenly aware of the value that it might add to, or detract from, any future employment searches.
Hope you're having a nice weekend! MH
MikeDriehorst
· 1 year ago
Chris, Great points about the corporate vs personal branding issues that all individual bloggers (whether a superstar or not) and their employers need to be aware of. When things are going well, both sides benefit:
> The employer from the additional exposure and the capabilities of the talent.
< The blogger from the support of the employer and the new professional opportunities the employer offers.
And, there are many others.
As social media becomes more prominent, the role of the individual will stand out more, not just from a customer POV, but from a corporate branding and marketing POV as well. There are no easy answers, but as long as blogger and employer are aware of the risks and rewards, the relationship should be mutually beneficial. Take care, -Mike
Bryan Person
· 1 year ago
Chris:
This is a point that hits home for me. I'm now blogging on LiveWorld's new SocialVoice site, while also trying to maintain my own brand and presence on BryanPerson.com. And the subject matter for the two blogs isn't all that different (social media marketing). So if I write the post of my life, does it go on my blog or my employer's? It's a tricky balance.
--Bryan Person | @BryanPerson
Connie Bensen
· 1 year ago
I did something new, I clicked the box to receive comments by email. I am liking having the conversation delivered to my inbox! I definitely recommend it! Great community buiding tool, Chris.
Juan, it's quite easy to create your own. In fact you'll find that the freedom on your own is liberating. You can write about whatever you like. You can focus as narrowly or broadly on your topic. And as someone pointed out, you can establish yourself as specialist/influencer on the topic. The nice thing is that if you change employment your archives are yours.
How to keep them separate? On your personal one put a disclaimer. And take examples for your industry & generalize them. That was a hard bridge for me to cross, but probably the most valuable. How well you can do that is what allows your readers to apply it to their own situations. Chris is a master of it. But in the process it removes the company's brand. If that doesn't make sense, let me know & I'll clarify.
Finally, in having your own blog you are investing in the company of you. You are paying yourself forward. Invest in yourself.
Justin Levy
· 1 year ago
Chris,
I relate with this post since one of my blogs is a company blog though I don't post specifically about my company, That's Great PR. Instead I post about topics that surround what we do (internet PR) as well as other topics that are similar such as internet marketing, social media, etc. While the blog is branded with some of my company information, all content and other aspects of the site are mine and build my personal brand. No one else posts from my company except for me. Therefore, if/when I leave the blog will probably die off or at least not produce the same content. I would of course recreate the blog into a personal site like others have but I do fear the prospect of semi-starting all over again.
However, my other blog, Prime Cuts, is something that my best friend and I have put together to discuss everything related to food, grilling, tips/techniques, etc. This comes from our knowledge of being in the restaurant industry for over 10 years and now owning an Argentinean steakhouse together. Whether or not we have the restaurant in the future, we will continue to develop the separate brand of Prime Cuts and our separate personal brands.
I have considered starting a personal blog which would continue to build my personal brand to make such a transition easier. It would also allow me to post on anything I wanted even if it didn't fit into the neat package of internet PR/marketing or food. However, I already have 2 blogs and don't want to lose quality on either of those.
What are your thoughts? Should I start a 3rd blog just of personal musings, interests, etc. or just continue developing my personal brand through my 2 current blogs?
-Justin
josh fialkoff
· 1 year ago
chris, Great post. I'm wondering what you (and Jeremiah) think about an employer who asks a blogger to post a certain percentage of his/her posts on corporate blog (vs personal blog)? -Josh
chrisbrogan
· 1 year ago
@Josh - In my case, the way I dealt with it was to offer them my RSS feed for a specific tag. That way, I can ensure the blog keeps updating and they get enough of my content there to share with our constituency.
The real question is this, in regards to your question: what value is that blogging offering your company? WHY are you blogging? What will happen after someone reads a post you've written? Work back from the answers to that and you'll know whether you should post it on the corporate blog or not.
Gia Lyons
· 1 year ago
You've brought this up in a previous post, and it really helps me clarify a related idea that Stowe Boyd and I talked about in Boston last June: that, in many respects, companies hire "artists" to paint a compelling vision for all to see. These are the cool hunters you speak of (and thanks for the shout out!). Who benefits from my "art"? Who owns it? Why must it be owned?
chrisbrogan
· 1 year ago
@Gia - in this specific case, the "ownership" is more a matter of bits and addresses. If your best work is up on canvasses in the Louvre, you can't just walk in and unhang them. You might replicate them, but then the web discounts those as copies (Google would get all fussy that you duplicated content).
So in this case, it's a great analogy, because your original art should be "on loan" to the big museums, not installed in their permanent collections. Most times.
adam christensen
· 1 year ago
Chris - nice post and good job bringing to light some of the issues people in social media should be thoughtful about.
I'd like to offer a different perspective - from the perspective of the company brand. What you are talking about is really important - that there's an implicit connection between the individual employee's interactions with his/her social sphere and the perception of a brand.
It's something I'm thinking a lot about at IBM. The more we encourage employees to become their own rockstars, the better for IBM. Because if we only have a few rockstars, the brand suffers when they leave. And since, in this space, the brand is merely a composite of the interactions that individual IBMers out there are having with everyone, we are much better off having lots of rockstars, rather than just a few. So it's in our best interest to have a decentralized approach to social media and encourage more and more individuals to be active.
And, in my opinion, it doesn't matter where they do this. In their own blog, on a company hosted blog, etc. That's their prerogative. If we can appropriately aggregate the voices, then it doesn't matter where they happen to be engaging.
Sorry for the long comment. Great post.
John P. Kreiss
· 1 year ago
Everyone should develop a personal brand. I remember people I knew in the early nineties getting layed off from their jobs having no marketable skills. It was ugly.
Spending many years with one company and having no back-up plan is dangerous. Companies can get into trouble quickly and when they do, you can find yourself on the wrong side of the door. Did anyone think Lehman or Washington Mutual would go under? Many of their employees probably didn't think so either.
Looks like Jeremiah Owyang is now going through this, but having his own web real estate (blog) already makes the move simpler from that perspective. Forrester helped him to build a reputation and personal brand, but now he'll have to separate like Charlene. He's gonna knock it out of the part, no doubt.
I'm on the side of the fence where I'm helping my company build a web and social media presence. I don't have a personal blog, but I do have a personal Twitter (and many other) account. I struggle with putting up a personal blog just due to the time it will take to make it ROCK! Posterous is a tool I've been looking at -- following the Steve Rubel path.
This post pushes me a little further towards a personal blog. You think that's the right thing to do?
All Comments
For your readers benefit: My blog is separate & has been. I learned that the hard way when I was given a serious lesson about Intellectual Property in regard to tutorials. All of my contracts now specifically state who owns what IP & and that my blog is distinctly separate from my work.
And since coming online I've learned a new term called 'talent management'. I really like the concept. My interpretation is that HR and management need to recognize who they value & then make efforts to ensure that they are providing that employee with prof dev't & fulfilling more than just providing them with an income. The people that you listed above (including myself) are working because we love to. Deloitte has a great study that lists the additional items that we require/crave.
Communication & relationships are going to be even more important than ever for exactly the reasons you state. My prediction is that the Gen Y'ers are also going to hold job satisfaction high on their list. So this will put the pressure on employers to provide a workplace that's stimulating including internal social networks, flat rather than siloed, transparency, & customer-centric. So I think that a lot of the responsibility falls on the organization because it is a choice. If their employees are happy they won't get whisked away, right?
I also totally agree with you on uplifting potential talent. You've set such a great example for that. As people attain a proficiency in their niche they need to reach down & help the next upcoming set. (I guess I should've written a blog post, huh?)
It's definitely a delicate balance and one fraught with subtleties we never dreamed of 5 years ago. But that makes it all the more challenging and exciting, doesn't it?
Good to be thinking ahead with the realization that nothing is written in stone. Seems odd to have a brick and mortar job where most folks just expect to work there until they die or retire.
As for protecting your brand, I'd say that's easier for some than others. Having your own shingle outside of your employer's definitely makes things easier.
Thoughtful piece.
Their personal brand is sometimes the only career insurance these folks get...firing the person at the top (especially if you aren't uber famous, just locally famous) is easier than firing anyone else. Your brand is what ensures you can get another job.
I have several social media clients that I help manage their social media campaign. I do talk about them on my social media shouts because sharing the cache helps increase the rate of their success...but they do not take over my established connections...hell no...those are mine!
And the relationships and visibility we build in between will benefit both of us in the end...
Building career security and personal brand security, not job/employer security, is vital.
Great advice, I'm with you!
Web Strategy is my career blog, it goes with me from job to job, in fact, it's part of me, my being, part of jeremiah. It's one of the perks in hiring me.
With that said, I have cross posted quite a bit on the Forreter interactive marketing blog, and I continue to promote our research. If we pulled my blog closer to corporate, it would likely be less effective.
We've hired quite a few Gen Y researchers, many of them come with their own blogs too --we can't expect an entire generation of 'creators' to rebrand their blog any given corporate brand, it's not feasible, doable, or cost-effective.
Hope that answers your question!
As a young professional working at an agency, I find this post very useful. Having encouraged the agency to start a blog as a tool to build new business, this Friday they've decided to move forward in that direction.
Guess where this post hits home is that over the past few months, after researching and spending time reading and commenting on different blogs, I have decided to begin my own blog.
My question is how do I keep the agency's brand separate from mine while still being responsible yet essentially looking to do the same thing at the same time.
Thanks
Juan David
@juandlondono
I think it's fairly clear that blogs started prior to employment, and maintained under a non-corporate name, belong to the blogger. But what if a company asks someone to have a blog, provides the space, the training, the address? What is a fair separation policy? Is it acceptable for the blogger to post their new 'home' and let their followers move on with them? Is it acceptable for a company to forbid the blogger from posting their new URL? Worse yet, can a company take down the blog when they take back the corporate ID and escort the ex-employee out of the building?
That is another piece of it actually which you also address. Companies ought to pay more attention to the value brought by company bloggers.
Before I hit publish or post on anything, even guest posts, I am keenly aware of the value that it might add to, or detract from, any future employment searches.
Hope you're having a nice weekend!
MH
Great points about the corporate vs personal branding issues that all individual bloggers (whether a superstar or not) and their employers need to be aware of. When things are going well, both sides benefit:
> The employer from the additional exposure and the capabilities of the talent.
< The blogger from the support of the employer and the new professional opportunities the employer offers.
And, there are many others.
As social media becomes more prominent, the role of the individual will stand out more, not just from a customer POV, but from a corporate branding and marketing POV as well. There are no easy answers, but as long as blogger and employer are aware of the risks and rewards, the relationship should be mutually beneficial.
Take care,
-Mike
This is a point that hits home for me. I'm now blogging on LiveWorld's new SocialVoice site, while also trying to maintain my own brand and presence on BryanPerson.com. And the subject matter for the two blogs isn't all that different (social media marketing). So if I write the post of my life, does it go on my blog or my employer's? It's a tricky balance.
--Bryan Person | @BryanPerson
Juan, it's quite easy to create your own. In fact you'll find that the freedom on your own is liberating. You can write about whatever you like. You can focus as narrowly or broadly on your topic. And as someone pointed out, you can establish yourself as specialist/influencer on the topic. The nice thing is that if you change employment your archives are yours.
How to keep them separate? On your personal one put a disclaimer. And take examples for your industry & generalize them. That was a hard bridge for me to cross, but probably the most valuable. How well you can do that is what allows your readers to apply it to their own situations. Chris is a master of it. But in the process it removes the company's brand. If that doesn't make sense, let me know & I'll clarify.
Finally, in having your own blog you are investing in the company of you. You are paying yourself forward. Invest in yourself.
I relate with this post since one of my blogs is a company blog though I don't post specifically about my company, That's Great PR. Instead I post about topics that surround what we do (internet PR) as well as other topics that are similar such as internet marketing, social media, etc. While the blog is branded with some of my company information, all content and other aspects of the site are mine and build my personal brand. No one else posts from my company except for me. Therefore, if/when I leave the blog will probably die off or at least not produce the same content. I would of course recreate the blog into a personal site like others have but I do fear the prospect of semi-starting all over again.
However, my other blog, Prime Cuts, is something that my best friend and I have put together to discuss everything related to food, grilling, tips/techniques, etc. This comes from our knowledge of being in the restaurant industry for over 10 years and now owning an Argentinean steakhouse together. Whether or not we have the restaurant in the future, we will continue to develop the separate brand of Prime Cuts and our separate personal brands.
I have considered starting a personal blog which would continue to build my personal brand to make such a transition easier. It would also allow me to post on anything I wanted even if it didn't fit into the neat package of internet PR/marketing or food. However, I already have 2 blogs and don't want to lose quality on either of those.
What are your thoughts? Should I start a 3rd blog just of personal musings, interests, etc. or just continue developing my personal brand through my 2 current blogs?
-Justin
Great post. I'm wondering what you (and Jeremiah) think about an employer who asks a blogger to post a certain percentage of his/her posts on corporate blog (vs personal blog)?
-Josh
The real question is this, in regards to your question: what value is that blogging offering your company? WHY are you blogging? What will happen after someone reads a post you've written? Work back from the answers to that and you'll know whether you should post it on the corporate blog or not.
So in this case, it's a great analogy, because your original art should be "on loan" to the big museums, not installed in their permanent collections. Most times.
I'd like to offer a different perspective - from the perspective of the company brand. What you are talking about is really important - that there's an implicit connection between the individual employee's interactions with his/her social sphere and the perception of a brand.
It's something I'm thinking a lot about at IBM. The more we encourage employees to become their own rockstars, the better for IBM. Because if we only have a few rockstars, the brand suffers when they leave. And since, in this space, the brand is merely a composite of the interactions that individual IBMers out there are having with everyone, we are much better off having lots of rockstars, rather than just a few. So it's in our best interest to have a decentralized approach to social media and encourage more and more individuals to be active.
And, in my opinion, it doesn't matter where they do this. In their own blog, on a company hosted blog, etc. That's their prerogative. If we can appropriately aggregate the voices, then it doesn't matter where they happen to be engaging.
Sorry for the long comment. Great post.
Spending many years with one company and having no back-up plan is dangerous. Companies can get into trouble quickly and when they do, you can find yourself on the wrong side of the door. Did anyone think Lehman or Washington Mutual would go under? Many of their employees probably didn't think so either.
Great post!
John P. Kreiss
MorganSullivan, inc.
http://www.johnpkreiss.com
Looks like Jeremiah Owyang is now going through this, but having his own web real estate (blog) already makes the move simpler from that perspective. Forrester helped him to build a reputation and personal brand, but now he'll have to separate like Charlene. He's gonna knock it out of the part, no doubt.
I'm on the side of the fence where I'm helping my company build a web and social media presence. I don't have a personal blog, but I do have a personal Twitter (and many other) account. I struggle with putting up a personal blog just due to the time it will take to make it ROCK! Posterous is a tool I've been looking at -- following the Steve Rubel path.
This post pushes me a little further towards a personal blog. You think that's the right thing to do?
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