Should CEOs blog?

As more companies, large and small, consider starting up a corporate blog the conversation behind closed doors often starts with the notion that the CEO should have a blog.

Is that a good idea? Smarter people than me have been tackling this subject on the Web for a few years now, ranging from the “Don’t do it!” crowd to those who promote it incessantly.

It is a good idea, if that CEO is already Web savvy, reads blog daily and can write.

It’s not, if the CEO never goes on the Web, thinks a blog is an insect and can’t write worth a lick.

If you have anything to do with the decision to have your company’s CEO blog, keep these four things in mind:

1. The CEO has to write it. Period. You can get away with minimal editing and some amount of corporate review. But if it’s John Doe’s blog, John Doe has to write it. It’s about honesty. If you get exposed as having a “fake” CEO blog, you’ll pay the PR price.

Ideally, the CEO should blog at least two or three times a week. But many can’t keep up that pace. Is a CEO blog worth the effort if the CEO can only “get around to it” a few times a month? CEOs are busy people. They shouldn’t blog if it’s going to take away from their work. But I would argue, it -is- part of their work if they are fit for the task.

2. The CEO needs to have a reason for writing the blog. It’s not about the family dog. But it could be about family life, sometimes. It’s not about corporate speak. But it could highlight key successes within the company and provide a glimpse into what the company’s priorities are.

But remember, if they have nothing interesting to add, to anything, they shouldn’t bother blogging in the first place. Yes, they should stay away from sensitive company information or tipping their hand to topics that investors will overreact to. But risks are low if the CEO understands what’s bloggable and what’s not. It helps to have another set of eyeballs review anything sensitive before hitting the “Publish” tab.

3. The CEO has to be ready to respond to comments to the blog, if necessary. Quickly.

You can’t “shut it down” over the weekend. You can set it up to have the comments that come in go right to the CEO’s email inbox – or someone in corp comm.

Whomever reads the comment during off-hours needs to decide if it’s worth a response and worth the CEO’s attention.

4. The blog’s audience is external, across the Web. Customers, media, critics and more. But it’s also a way for company employees to know what’s being kicked around in the CEO’s head. It can inspire employees, even motivate, if written well and consistently.

If you’re curious about how many CEOs – or people in various business leadership positions – are blogging, the NewPR Wiki has a list (scroll down to see the full list for the United States).

My favorite is Michael Hyatt at Thomas Nelson.. others worth noting are Jonathan Schwartz at Sun Microsystems, Bob Lutz at General Motors, Marc Cuban, owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and Phil Libin of EverNote, And for some fun check out Bob Parsons at GoDaddy who has a series of video blogs that play off the GoDaddy brand.