Employee Blogging
Many companies that have upper level execs blogging also encourage their employees to blog. Be sure to set your blogging boundaries so your employees aren't revealing proprietary information or other details you don't want leaked.
Former Google employee Michael Jen learned that lesson the hard way. Jen was fired after he posted complaints about his pay and other company info in his Google blog.
More and more companies are adopting blogging policies to allow employees to speak as freely as possible without divulging the company's private details. Jen now works at Plaxo, Inc., where he helped develop the company's blogging policies.
Blogs Can Go Wrong
Raging Cow, a Dr. Pepper/7 Up product, is tagged as a fiasco in the blogging world. Teens were the flavored milk's target audience. Dr. Pepper/7 Up hired Richards Interactive to get the buzz flowing via blogs.
They did so by bringing in a group of teens, briefing them on the product, telling them not to mention they'd been briefed and then instructing them to go out and blog about the product. The teens blogged about Raging Cow as if it were their own discovery. Richards Interactive still maintains there was no wrong-doing but hardcore bloggers found the tactic dishonorable to the blogging community and called for a boycott.
Blogging can be a very effective tool for your company or even you as an individual. Just be sure your blog is real without masking it a blatant advertisement or your message will be transparent and your blog won't be read.