Blogs are a wonderful tool for organizations to communicate with the marketplace and their buyers. People often struggle to come up with content to populate their blogs which can be harmful in more ways than one can imagine. Remember, consumers come first, honesty isn't optional, and deception is always exposed. Here is a short list included in the New Rules of Marketing and PR to think about ethics and blogging:
-Transparency. You should never pretend to be someone you are not.
-Privacy. Unless you've been given permission, don't blog about something that was disclosed to you.
-Disclosure. It is important to disclose anything that people might consider a conflict of interest in a blog post.
-Truthfulness. Don't lie.
-Credit. You should always give credit to bloggers (and other sources) whose material you have used in your blog. Besides being good ethical practice, links to other bloggers whose ideas you have used helps to introduce them to your blog and they may link to you.
Using these rules as a guideline for your blog will provide yourself with the benefit of having a clean, well-kept blog.
You emphasize some good points about blogging practice. In addition to being honest and truthful, people quickly reject any overt selling that takes place in the blogosphere as well. A difficult task, be a part of the conversation but do not make a pitch.
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