Business Blog Wire

Let’s say you own a doughnut store chain.  You’ve started a company blog and things are going just peachy (doughy?).  The doughnut business blog lets people learn about your doughnuts, find company news, and offer suggestions.  But one day, someone discovers that your doughnuts contain way too much sugar.  (Humor me for a moment.)  Suddenly, the whole world is boycotting your stores, writing the White House, blogging about how your doughnuts cause everything from gum disease to infertility, telling their kids not to mention your name … you get the picture.  Gory.

What do you do?  You must respond somehow.  Don’t worry about non-blogging responses at the moment.  Just think about how you might use your corporate blog to put out the fire.

(Think this sounds silly?  Two words: Kryptonite lock.)

Here are my do’s and don’ts for easing the "doughnut dilemma" through corporate blogging:

DON’T ignore the controversy.  Pretending that nothing is wrong will only make the situation worse.  People will cry foul when they see that your blog says nothing about the scandal.

DON’T retaliate.  Resist the temptation to post a threatening statement to your business blog.  If you lash out at your critics, they will complain even more loudly.

DON’T wait.  Every minute, the blogosphere grows more feisty as it waits for you to post something, anything, about the problem.  Yes, it’s scary, but if you panic and hide, they’ll find you anyway and demand an explanation.

Talk about it.  Let customers complain on your blog, and then answer them individually in a polite, accommodating manner.  Some still won’t forgive you, but most probably will – especially when they see your willingness to discuss the problem.

Be specific.  Tell everyone exactly what the problem is – and what it is not.  Make sure your corporate blog makes the situation easy to understand.

Announce a plan.  Tell everyone exactly what you are going to do and then post constantly about your progress.

Either way, you’re going to get more press out of the situation.  Hopefully, you’ll use your company blog to respond quickly and effectively to negative publicity.  Then everyone can go back to enjoying your doughnuts!

How would you use a corporate blog to resolve negative publicity?  I appreciate your comments.  Thanks to Tim Stay and Niall Cook for their comments that fueled my thinking for this post.

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