Being a Little Bit Transparent is Like Being a Little Bit Pregnant

It seems that I can’t have a conversation about blogging without also talking about fear, legal liability, and transparency. Which I find somewhat ironic: as a business, most of our clients have tens, if not hundreds, of employees who are trained to talk to clients. Customer service reps. Sales people. Technical support. They’re trained in what to say and what not to say in emails, proposals, and other correspondence. Yet when it comes to putting it online in blog form, businesses clamp down harder than a snapping turtle on a chicken giblet.

Wow. Did I just write that?

Anyway, here’s an example from a while ago. Talking to a client, we wanted to figure out the editorial resource for their blog. I suggested one of two strategies:

1. They work with a very good editor to help their employees avoid tripping over themselves in writing, but who didn’t really “write” the blog.
2. They hire an editor with credibility in their field — above the board, in the open.

And like many clients do, they tried to split the middle and do both: throw ideas to a writer, and have blog posts be anonymous. Which would’ve been a disaster because the blog was supposed to be about — wait for it — transparency in their industry. It would’ve been a farce to talk about transparency like that.

Even if their hearts were in the right place, no one can be mostly transparent. You either are or you are not transparent. Being a little bit transparent is like being a little bit pregnant.

Trust Comes from Transparency

And for big companies, that kind of strident freedom feels so frightening to legal and PR and C.Y.A. management teams, that they’d rather not pick up the hot rock. But I believe that’s a mistake. Especially for the business that wants to win online. Why?

Wired and New York Times Magazine writer Clive Thompson explains the downside of sitting on the blog sidelines brilliantly.

“Reputation Is Everything: Google isn’t a search engine. Google is a reputation-management system… It’s better to be an active participant in the ongoing conversation than to stand off and refuse to participate. Because, okay, let’s say you don’t want to blog, or to Flickr, or to participate in online discussion threads. That means the next time someone Googles you they’ll find … everything that everyone else has said about you, rather than the stuff you’ve said yourself. … The only way to improve and buff your reputation is to dive in and participate. Be open. Be generous. Throw stuff out there — your thoughts, your ideas, your personality. Trust comes from transparency.“

That’s why Pop Art puts most search marketing in the hands of its copywriters.

Let your employees talk about who they are and why they’re there. While there may be consequences, there are many more opportunities. Employees will surprise you with how much they care about making your company and the world a better place.

A final bit of advice: Don’t fake it. Astroturfing is really bad: don’t fake grassroots. Don’t let the language get too marketing-y. And for the love of all that is digital, DO NOT SELL IN YOUR BLOG! Unless you have a product review site, selling in a blog really turns people off.

If you aren’t committed to transparent blogging the right way — all the way — then don’t do it. Do it halfway, and you risk burning goodwill (and extra PR budget) cleaning up.