CFOs and Blogging

Today’s technology demands an answer to this question … If I don’t exist in Google, do I exist?


Google has transformed the networking and career management landscape, and as I’ve covered previously, there is no going back. An online presence is a necessity for every executive today. We’ve covered Linked In and Twitter, but what about blogging? As Mark MacLeod commented in one of my previous posts, 

The most visible thing you can do to establish your credibility and voice online is to have your own blog.

He’s right. A branded blog can position you as a subject matter expert, naturally attracting an audience who wants/needs your expertise. Once you’ve built your blog, you can leverage the power of Google to create visibility. 

I’ll be adding a Blog Roll for CFO’s who blog … for now, here’s a few I follow:

StartupCFO

BeyondBeans

CorpFinCafe

CFO Strategist 

No Blogging Allowed

Another great question from the AFP conference …

How can I build visibility if my company has a policy against personal and/or corporate blogs?

Unfortunately this is a roadblock many people face. Obviously, attempting to get the policy changed is one approach. Since corporate visibility and credibility also boost your individual visibility and credibility, corporate blogging is really a win/win. A legitimate argument for corporate blogging might include what the competition is doing, or not doing, as a way for your organization to get onboard the Web 2.0 phenomenon.

If there isn’t a corporate policy against writing and publishing articles, especially for industry–related websites, trade journals, and magazines, that can be a great back–up plan for increasing online visibility by including a link back to your Linked In profile.

Failing those two strategies, think about visible leadership roles you might assume and then create press around the benefits of what you’re doing. These leadership roles might include presenting at conferences, chairing the local chapter of an organization, or even holding an officer position in a national organization.

The inability to raise visibility through publishing or pontificating increases the importance of a professional, branded presence on Linked In, Facebook, Zoom Info, and Ziggs.

 

Top Recruiting Tools

Recruiting Guru Kevin Wheeler lists the top four required tools for recruiting in his latest article, and they are …

Facebook and/or My Space
Linked In
Personal Blog
Twitter

Last year, 44% of unique visitors to Facebook were people over the age of 35 and 48% of the over-35 crowd visited MySpace. Linked In is the #1 business network. Twitter, a microblogging platform, gives recruiters (and others) a 360-snapshot of potential prospects. Because Twitter is relatively new, there are great opportunities for savvy candidates to get on the radar screen of those people who make recruiting (and hiring) decisions. And a personal blog can intentionally build credibility and positioning as a thought leader within your target audience.

At the risk of being redundant, whether you are a current or future candidate, creating a visible online presence is a “must-do” strategy for top-talent executives.