The goal of this blog is to not only tell our story, but hopefully to also share ideas with other company founders so we can support each others success.

At Collar Free we have started 4 company blogs and we hold a 30 min weekly discusssion for training and to learn from each other.

We have found a great way to build viral traffic, a strong community, and corporate transparency is to not only create a corporate blog but to have specific blogs written by our staff.

There are 2 keys to making this successful.

1. Make sure your staff is writing about a topic they are interested in and that overlaps with their job duties. This will ensure the blog is authentic and attracts readership and they enjoy it. Plus, when your staff is surfing the web they are more often working than zoning out. Our designers write Design Fix, one of our staff writes about lifestyle and fashion topics on The Rack, and my business partner, Patrick Dillon, writes Branding is in the Details.
2. Training is key. Anytime you want your staff to take on a new role make sure you provide them with the knowledge to be successful. Self-study is important but can be a distraction. Delegate jobs, not training! For blogging we have had 4 -trainings: Blogging 101, Blogging Etiquette, Managing your Blog, What to write? How to write?. The first topic outline is below and I’ll add the rest over the next few weeks. Some of the thoughts are my own, but most are from great sources like Marketing Profs and Guy Kawasaki.  

Here is the header from Branding is in the Details:

Blogging 101 Outline:

Topic: Blogging and Commenting 101

Date: 7/23/08

1)       Our goals

a.        # 1 Traffic = sales

b.       Social Capital

c.        Collar Free Brand

d.       Your Brand

2)       The key to good blogging is reading

a.        What is RSS?  Really Simple Syndication

b.       Setup 8 – 10 top blogs in your expertise within Outlook or Google Reader

c.        Use Technorati (Blog ranker)

d.       Del.icio.us – download in your browser to bookmark articles for later

e.       Set aside reading time

3)       Awareness is built through commenting and commenting back

a.        When you read good articles leave comments

b.       When someone comments on your post, comment back

4)       Key Terms

a.        Social Capital

b.       RSS – tracks your readers

c.        Blog roll – links to your favorite bloggers

d.       Tag Cloud – bunches of tags

e.       Vlog – Video blog

5)       3 Things to focus on in your blog

a.        Main Topic

b.       Secondary Topics

c.        Pictures or video

d.       Your personality

e.       Ex: Fashion Trends, Social Media, and My View

6)       Linking to other bloggers is the biggest compliment

a.        They see this in Google updates and then comment and read our blog

b.       If they like your content they will put you in their blog roll

c.        This builds your ranking and social capital

7)       Incentives

a.        20% of Ad revenue

       Your Theme

a.        Jimmy – Life of a First Time founder

b.       Michelle and Mel – Design Fix