Click on here for the exact article I have referenced in this podcast. Thanks. Rick
NOTE: Zappo’s. Your not included in this list because you are one of the few large corporations that really care not only about their retail clients, but you treat your staff extremely well. Good for you.
I am going to find the biggest soap box I can and shout this mantra at the top of my voice. “Corporate America, You’re Blog Awful”. I’m even writing a book about this exact subject. So, why the dramatic title? Well, just put this particular phrase in Google and see what happens. ___________ sucks. Now, on the line, put in your favourite large American company and be prepared for some interesting reading.
Let’s face some hard, cold, cruel but true facts. If there are customers out there that have taken the time to go on the internet and blast your large corporate company so anyone can see it, that’s a form of blog, and it doesn’t look very pretty standing out there like a huge sore thumb. Do you realize just how damaging those negative comments can be? They have the power and authority to sway, influence and downright push prospective clients away from almost any company, and if corporate america doesn’t wake up and smell the blog’s soon, they are going to continue to let negative comments chip away at their credibility.
Even if the comments aren’t warranted or true, negative comments if allowed to pile up over time can devastate your bottom line. Do I have your attention yet big business? What’s that? Ahhh, your not worried or concerned in any way. That’s great. You just keep doing what your doing and keep shovelling buckets full of money trying to keep the clients you have, and or scrambling to add new clients to the list of your ever shrinking database of disasters.
What happened to the internet media intelligence of the large corporations. Did it get lost in all of the board meetings, team building exercises or marketing launches? Was it sanctioned by anyone or did it just creep up unannounced? Were you not just paying close enough attention or is it that you just plain ‘don’t care’. I’m guessing that it’s probably a combination of all of the above, and that should scare the crap out of you. Do yourself a favour and get your digital house in order because as technology changes as fast as it is, you don’t have a second to lose to recover from your mistakes.
I picked just one of the largest corporations in America. Did you know that Wallmart has their own ‘Wallmart Suck’s Facebook page? It appears that Wallmart has a huge target painted on it, and it’s not flattering. Just so you know, some of those comments are completely unfounded, ridiculous and just plain sad. Lets say that 25% have nothing to do whatsoever with complaints. As a matter of fact, let’s just throw them out of the window shall we? That still leaves 75% of the complaints that need to be dealt with on some level (or not).
I think that I will attempt to put together a weekly blog spot on this subject. I’ll pick one large major corporation each week and give you the straight goods on their ‘digital media report card’. Here is what I personally think. If the large American corporations really want to shine up their image, they should allow their own staff to start blogging for them so they can tell their side of the story. In a way, I’m here to help facilitate and or suggest that the best way to undue the legitimate damage is to fight back using the truth and some facts.
Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, My Space, Spreaker, Blogger, WordPress and dozens more are fantastic platforms that can be used to either tarnish an image or improve it. Here is the question I have for large corporations. What is stopping you from allowing your best and brightest from blogging? You have at your disposal someone who loves working for you, don’t you? If you don’t, you should be very worried because, quite frankly its your responsibility to ensure that your employee’s love working for you.