By Will Ruch, Versant CEO and Managing Partner
year ago I was convinced by our technology team to start blogging. I had to ask them what that meant. Today, I am not only comfortable blogging but I am actively promoting it to other business-owner colleagues of mine and clients. For me, blogging is like having our own Versant media channel – a channel that creates conversations with people inside and outside the company. It’s inexpensive, effective and puts our brand front and center in a very complex business world.
I see results from blogging.
What I’ve learned about blogging this past year is that it allows prospective associates (future hires) or clients (past, present and hopefully future, too) to find out more about my leadership vision and values, and what this place is about. I have learned to write openly on all sorts of topics that are relevant to our business. I have become comfortable using this technology to let those prospects inside Versant to find out what kind of thinking is occurring from this office and what we are learning and doing along the way. I do not write on personal issues, however, because I do not believe that would do much for brand Versant – although I think I have an interesting albeit crazy life with four kids.
Back to business.
Newsweek said last month, “It’s about the We in Web.” That sure makes sense to me. So yes, I have more than embraced blogging as it solidifies what our brand is all about – people! Our people create dialog through blogging. They share ways we function as a team, think and communicate, and the way we partner with clients. We don’t need a search engine to tell me about our core business – it’s relationships. The blogoshpere adds more personalization to the relationship side of Versant. That translates into more opportunity for dialog and less monologue. It has increased the value of our brand because it showcases how we are managing our own communication channels with this technology and putting the power to the people, so to speak.
This week some of our key associates were interviewed in an article on blogging (PDF). The old days of passive communications don’t seem very efficient, effective or attractive to our associates or clients as you can tell. I hope you can take a moment to read the article. Quite honestly, our technology team is ahead of the game as it relates to helping clients apply the new technologies to business and business development. It works for Versant and it is working for our clients.
The innovation of new technologies in the communication space is huge and growing. I am thrilled to be a part of it and would like to hear what you think.
