Part III: Write Up the Corporate Ladder

It is interesting that even companies who seem to be more technical – Canon, Citigroup, Motorola – all place a high value on good writing.  All say it is very  important to be able to communicate clearly and in a persuasive way through writing.  Writing is not as stressed in business courses so it is rare to have really great business writers today.  Most companies had tests or other processed in the interview to assess the quality of candidates speaking and writing skills.  For employees, the companies offered classes to improve skills.  Poor writing costs companies time and money, so they actually spend some money making sure that that does not happen.

Another interesting point is that there is so much competition right now for the written word: e-mail, tv ads, newspapers, etc.  So it is especially important today to have good writers that can make a piece stand out and communicate in an efficient, concise way.  Because e-mail and other forms of communication are spontaneous, writers need to be developed to where they don’t have to spend a lot of time rewriting, and general grammar rules should be up to par because there may not be enough time to go through editing before it is published on the web.

Part II of Write Up the Corporate Ladder

The interviews were all very helpful – I wish I had read this before I took my business writing class! I will definitely keep this book, though, to refer to in future business writing situations.  Out of the ten people interviewed, some tips were mentioned by all:  have many rough drafts and constantly get feedback, in most situations try not to be too formal: have your voice be heard through your writing, don’t stress on grammar rules: as long as the communication is there and bad grammar doesn’t distract it is ok, the only way to get good at writing is to practice a lot, and finally: know your audience.  Also, what I thought was very helpful was to not be afraid to writie a horrible first draft- just get your thoughts out on paper.  Don’t edit as you go along either, leave that for later.

Some interesting things: Many authors said to not be so elaborate: make your point concise and straight forward.  One author, Marcus Buckinham, actually has a rule to not use adjectives.  This is the opposite of what we learned in elementary English classes!  But I do completely agree with making your point in a clear way and to not fluff it up.  People don’t have time to figure out what your saying if it is not written clearly.  Businesses are all about saving time; time means money.  This also goes back to write the way you talk – Gail Evans does this so that her personality shows through.

A good tip from Richard Bolles was to stop midway through a piece you are writing to edit.  This allows you to see where you have come from and know where to go in the rest of the paper.

I like what Ken Blanchard said: before he writes he tries to put his ego out of the way: not everything you put down will be perfect especially not the first draft.  Just get started on writing!

In regards to not stressing over grammar rules, Greg Farrell makes a good point.  In many ways, writing is like driving: we know the rules, but don’t necessarily pay attention to all of them: how many people actually come to a full stop when they stop at a stop sign?  This doesn’t mean we are swerving all over the road, we are still effective drivers.  This goes to writing, following every single rule isn’t always necessary.

Finally, Michael Lewis says that good writing is having something compelling to say.  Most the authors interviewed did not think they were good writers all their lives.  But they each had something important that they wanted to communicate to others.  Business writing is really just communicating. 

Possible interviewees

I think interviewing in a marketing job in a business environment will be useful for me.  The book only has interviews with people who write books and are actual published writers.  While the information they provided was useful, it did not tell me about writitng on a day to day basis in a marketing career.

To get candidates, I think I will talk to my marketing teachers and ask them to refer people with marketing careers. I do not really have anyone in particular in mind at this point in time.  But I do know what questions I will ask and what I want to learn.  I want to know how much writing is really involved in their jobs?  Is it just mainly e-mails and that type of communication?  If so, how much time and effort do they put into e-mails?  How else do they communicate?  What are their opinions about the shape of business writing and the importance good writing has in their career? 

I am assuming I’ll conduct the interview by e-mail, and perhaps do it in 2 parts: In one I’ll ask about their job overall and what a typical day consists of.  Then I’ll compile a bunch of questions for them to answer.  If necessary, I’ll send out a third e-mail if I need to ask any follow up questions or questions I need more elaboration on.

Last Thoughts on Naked Conversations

The end of the book discussed blogging during a company crisis.  The authors make a point to blog throughout the crisis and not wait until the end when the company has all the information.  I bet a lot of people would be reluctant to do this, but the point is to build trust and relationships with the customer.  Write what you know when you know it.  In the end, everything will probably clear up.  The authors also make note of all the recent web advancements especially with blogging, like RSS.  This does not surprise me, technology gets increasingly better daily.  It is all beyond my comprehension now, but I am sure I will understand it someday when I need to.

Overall, this book brought up some valid points backed up by real life examples, especially at the beginning with Microsoft.  I think I would like to keep this book around so that if I do get a job that makes use of blogging, I can refer to it.  Right now, I think a lot of people are skeptical about the need for blogging.  But isn’t that how are technology starts out?  Nobody really sees the need for it at first, but soon enough, everyone is using it.  It always takes a few people to notice what is going on and make note of the positive aspects of using it.  I do believe that because some companies are using credibility, especially in regards to what is said in marketing campaigns, that blogs will be used to build the credibility back up and build trust.  The authors did a good job at convincing me that business blogs will be everywhere in the near future - probably sooner than later.

ch10-12

The first set of chapters in the book had mainly focused on presenting the authors’ arguments on why blogging is good and useful.  They presented an overwhelming amount of example.  Now, assuming that the reader is convinced that blogging is a good thing, these chapters (10-12) focus on the do’s and don’t of blogging and other tips.  This is the most useful section of the book, especially for people who are unfamiliar with blogging.  I have never blogged before this semester, but I always thought of blogging at a place to type out some semi-personal thoughts for your friends to read and respond to.  Now that I am learning that some companies also use blogging, I would not be sure how to go about doing this if I worked for a company who encouraged blogging.

 The authors say there are no actual rules, but they list some guidelines that if not followed, the blog will go unnoticed and be useless.  The main thing that I think the authors are trying to get across is to be honest and yourself….but be careful.  One employee got fired writing negative things about her company in her blog (this is termed “dooced”).  At first I thought this was not write, employees should write what they want.  But when I think about it, if you just hate your job and everything about it, why are you working there? The company probably just is not a good fit for you.  And because blogs can be seen by everyone, why would you want to hurt your company?  An employee cannot succeed at an unsuccessful company.  I think employees should be honest when blogging, and point out flaws.  Blogging shows the human-side of companies, and all humans have flaws.  But be careful when writing about them.

 ”Character blogging” is when a fictional person is made up behind the blog to help with the company’s marketing and image.  The authors are quick to call this lame, and say others will be able to tell and it will hurt the company greatly.  This is another reason why today’s consumers are very skeptical of marketing and many believe that what marketers put out there are just lies.  Being a marketing major, this is a frustrating idea, but can be solved with honest blogs.

ch4 – 6

The authors are very strong in sticking with their points regarding blogging.  They use example after example, but I think the examples are concluding the same thing: blogging is good and useful for companies to use.  There didn’t seem to be many new points presented that were not already talked about in the first three chapters.  Also, although the numbers are there (the number of people blogging, the increasing percentages), I am still not so convinced that I will become a regular blogger any time soon.  If I was really interested in a product and making a big purchase, I may search online about it and company blogs may show up.  Then I would read the blog.  But as for a regular basis, I do not see the need to enter the blogosphere.  I do think that blogging can not hurt a company, it can only help.