Ed Brill is one of the voices of IBM and the Lotus brand. His personal blog http://www.edbrill.com is very well known in the Enterprise 2.0 and Notes world. Ed will join us by video conference and will speak about his personal experiences and career at IBM as a Corporate blogger. His speech and the discussion afterwards will be in English.
Contains experiences, results, and recommendations for social media success.
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re:publica 1 April09 "My career as a corporate blogger"
1. “My career as a
corporate blogger”
Ed Brill
Director, Product Management
IBM
2. IBM Software Group | Lotus software
Ed Brill
•Director of Product
Management, IBM Lotus Notes
•15 years at IBM Lotus
•20 years in IT industry
•Academic study in business/
marketing
•Loves travel, photography
•Never in my job description to
author a blog
•Not a celebrity
3. IBM Software Group | Lotus software
Overview of my blog – edbrill.com
Started in December, 2002
3,700+ blog entries...average of 1+ per day
40,000+ valid comments (with a near-flawless anti-spam filter)
Typical visits = 2,000 per business day
Typical pageviews = 2,500/day
Peak visits/pageviews = 10,000+
Estimated RSS traffic = 10,000+ subscribers
Sources:
– One-third each: Referrers / Direct traffic / Search engines
4. IBM Software Group | Lotus software
Visitor map -- edbrill.com
Majority reach in English-speaking countries, plus Germany and France
Japan = 10% of my product's market, <1% of blog visits
Lesson learned: Blogging can only be one source of input
5. IBM Software Group | Lotus software
Blogging motivators
Why I started blogging Why I still blog today
As an outlet for creative To share timely information
writing with my customers, partners,
industry, and IBM colleagues
To share information with my
– and counter bad information
customers
To aid in decision-making
– and counter bad information
To build relationships, To influence the marketplace
network, and connect with
To build and strengthen
people while working from a
relationships
home office
– but this is now also
Some ego
happening on Twitter,
Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
No sense of pioneering, it just
happened To learn about the world
10. IBM Software Group | Lotus software
What has been the impact of blogging @ edbrill.com?
Business success:
– At the time I started blogging, Lotus Notes was in a challenging
period, both from a business and mind-share perspective
– Over the last four years, the Notes business has grown significantly
(>10% per year). Blogging is not at all the whole story, but it has
been been a contributor:
• Customer quote: “edbrill.com has helped decrease the distance between
IBM and me”
– My competitors have been forced to completely change their tactics
Personal success:
– My career at IBM has clearly benefitted
– However, for a while, I was typecast as the public face for my product
(though again, it was never my “job”)
– And many IBMers know me as a blogger first, despite my successful
career and other contributions to the business
17. IBM Software Group | Lotus software
Keys to social media success
Successful engagement cannot look/feel/read “corporate”
– Authentic voice
Interactivity is key
– Participate in the interaction
Regular updates required
Be an authoritative information source
Don't be afraid to admit mistakes publicly
Don't expect praise
– Humans are more apt to criticize than to compliment
– Accept and engage critics...to a point
Demonstrate responsiveness – reader impact
Link to others
Provide ways to contact offline
18. Thank You
ed_brill@us.ibm.com
www.edbrill.com
Twitter: @edbrill