Blogging Policies, Does Your Business Need One?

Weblogs or Blogs as they are more commonly referred to, have become extremely popular in the last several years. So popular in fact that many large businesses are letting some employees post Blogs on their corporate websites. While many businesses are jumping on the Blog bandwagon for use as a creative marketing technique; a few businesses have fired employees for what they posted on a Blog. These businesses accuse the employees of allegedly disclosing trade secrets, proprietary information, and making statements that showed the employer in a bad light.

First it may be important here to explain what exactly a Blog is. A Weblog or Blog is a website not unlike a diary that people post their ideas, views, daily events and opinions on. These Blogs in most cases are able to be viewed by anyone with access to the internet. It is for this reason that you may want to consider a Blog policy for your business.

Blogs have even become a part of the underground news media, especially since the last election in the United States. They are even getting the attention of the large global news media that now on occasion report on what the bloggers are saying. The point is, like it or not, it appears Blogs are here to stay.

The best thing a business can do to protect themselves and the interest of the employee is to create a Blog policy for all employees. This policy should include specific topics that employees should not mention within the Blogs on a business website. Employers should also have policies for people that have their own weblog that they control and run themselves as well. It is essential that these policies be created so that there will be no confusion as to what the employer deems as inappropriate for its employees to post on the Internet. This policy will also protect the employer from possible future lawsuits that may arise from the publishing of Weblogs as well.

If you are considering implementing a Blog policy for your business, please be sure to consult with an attorney as to what exactly you should place in your policy. This policy should include any topics that the employer deems as inappropriate, proprietary, secretive and in conjunction with any confidentiality agreements and "blackout periods".

People who choose to blog on their own personal Weblogs should be sure in the very least that they include some type of disclaimer on the Website that is easily visible to all of the people who visit your Website. The disclaimer does not have to appear on every page of your Website but, should be displayed in such a way as to be seen by the people who visit, such as on the home page or the about me page. The disclaimer should say something along the lines of:

The views expressed on this site or Weblog are mine alone and are not necessarily that of my employers.

Along with this make every effort not to disclose information that would violate any confidentiality clause of your employer. Also take the time to review this clause if you have one before you post to avoid any confusion as to what this clause states.

The use of a Blog policy by businesses will go a long way to prevent any problems on either side of the issue if and when one should arise because the policy will clearly define what cannot be posted on Weblog. Happy Blogging!

© Keith Erwood, Dynamic Network Technologies, 2005 All Rights Reserved

Keith Erwood is the head consultant and owner of Dynamic Network Technologies, a computer consulting and services business in New York City. Visit us at http://www.dynamicnetworktechnologies.net

---

How Yahoos Recent Facelift Can Mean More Traffic To Your Site

It even surprised me. Yes, even though I have... Read More

5 Easy Ways To Use RSS On Your Site

You hear so much talk about RSS these days on... Read More

17 Mistakes Professionals Make with Their Blogs

Are you getting results from your business blog? Is it... Read More

Why It Took Me So Long To Blog

When I saw my first blog, I wasn't impressed.The first... Read More

The Key To Marketing With Blogs

I've spent months answering questions from marketers about blogs and... Read More

Superbloggers Secrets

Blogs are extremely hot right now. Everyone is starting them,... Read More

Five Ways A Blog Helps You To Market Your Business

Want to advertise online without spending a fortune? Get a... Read More

RSS: A Really Smart System For Sending And Receiving Content Online

"RSS" stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS is a standard... Read More

How to Use Blogs for Free Targeted Traffic

One of the Number 1 traffic building secrets is adding... Read More

What Is A Blog? - A Beginners Guide to Understanding Blogs

A blog is short for weblog, which simply means a... Read More

Avoid Bad Manners While Blogging

Blogging, the hottest trend in online publishing right now, is... Read More

Blogs: The Hidden Ace Up Your Sleeve

If it wasn't for my blog, I wouldn't make any... Read More

How and Why to RSS

RSS feeds and blogs (and blog and pinging) are part... Read More

Blogging for Personal Benefits

While there is a lot of debate about blogs replacing... Read More

10 Reasons to Put RSS on Your Site!

RSS and Blogs are the topics of the moment. Seems... Read More

How To Build Traffic To Your Blog

With the growing interest in blogging as... Read More

Marketers Still Dont Get RSS Metrics - How We Really Can Measure RSS

Even after all that's been written and explained, even reputable... Read More

Small / Medium Business Blog Process Outsourcing as a Website Traffic Building Service

You are a small or a medium business owner. You... Read More

An Appeal To The Bloggers!

Blogging is smart an art. Blog sites are the nicest... Read More

How to Get a Blog on the Internet

Of all people in the world I was easily one... Read More

If an RSS feed is the Yahoo Backdoor, is a Blog Googles?

Though the answer is in a book I wrote this... Read More

3 Tips to improve your RSS marketing

3 Tips to improve your RSS marketing You have... Read More

Using QuickSub To Make It Easier For Your Visitors To Subscribe To Your Feed

You can make it easier for your visitors to subscribe... Read More

RSS and Blog Marketing for Real Estate

Earlier this month, Realtor Magazine announced that they would be... Read More

How to Build a Niche Site With a Blog

Building niche sites is all the rage these days.The basic... Read More

RSS Round-Up: Whats Happening with Simple Syndication?

Have you been following the explosion of RSS -- Really... Read More

Blogging For Business Bible

The items covered here are:1) Don't Wait before Blogging.2) Using... Read More

How To Make A Cool Xanga

A xanga is something akin to a blog. It all... Read More

Blogging - Whats It All About

A blog usually is a web page that contains brief,... Read More

Content Syndication Through RSS Feeds

Delivering regularly updated content to website visitors is easier through... Read More

Blogging Is Not Important - Its Crucial

It has been established that having a 'blog' helps your... Read More

Update Your Websites Content Automatically 24/7 Using RSS(Real Simple Syndication) and RSS Feeds

RSS(Real Simple Syndication) is the newest form of content syndication... Read More

Marketing With Blogs - Part 4

In the first three parts of this article series on... Read More