I read a must read book Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble/Shel Israel. After reading chapter 4, I walked away with a basic question that I'm still pondering. Do blogs really build relationships? This question came to me after reading a quote from Sun's Schwartz (pg 52): "Good bloggers are chatty and are into relationships."

I agree, I'm chatty. I like to talk and I love to write. That is why I'm a professional speaker and a published author. This blog is another way for me to write in a personal journal. Only this time, I write for everyone to see. When I speak to audiences small and large, my aim is to "connect" with the audience. I do the same here and with my eZines. But...does that form a relationship?

Don't get me wrong. I think blogs are a great vehicle, especially for my different businesses. I also recommend in my consulting practice that companies, small and large, start blogging. Blogging brings the business closer to the customer. It helps them connect...but does it build a relationship?

Blogs can be collaborative as a team works together towards a goal. Blogs can be a means of teaching where the initiator is the teacher and those that participate are students. Blogs are really "an ongoing vehicle to share thoughts and observations" that allow participation...but, does it build a relationship? [paraphrased from pg 61 quote from Intel CEO Paul Otellini]

I'm going to ponder this a little more before I write down more thoughts. Feel free to add your comments. Understand that the scope of a relationship to me surrounds the building of a relationship between IT and business. Yes, a connection can be made but is it a relationship?

When I was on Chapter 6 of Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble & Shel Israel, I was still pondering how blogs can improve the business and IT relationship.

Yes, blogs help collaboration between individuals with "like" interests. A "like" interest could be a specific project under development. Participants become trusted friends with a common interest of the success of the project. Does that work when you have a business person and IT person without the project in common? Business and IT have different mind-sets and many times different interests. So, by having a blog, do you improve the relationship with business and IT.

With this in mind, should blogs be used to improve business and IT relationships? After reading page 91, I believe, the answer is "yes". A blog should be developed by either business or IT individuals as a "get to know me" type blog. It would behoove IT to initiate the conversation.

Relationships are built on an emotional level. Blogs allows for a business person to see who you are as a person. This builds trustworthiness. The famous quote by Jeffery Gitomer says it all. "All things being equal, people want to do business with their friends. All things not being so equal, people STILL want to do business with their friends." Good business relationships have an emotional connection. They are built on a friendship level.

Blogs create long-term, sustainable word-of-mouth discussions. This is the basis for building a relationship. Relationships are not built in a day but by working at it every day. Many blogs post daily or at least weekly. If IT folks have a blog that talk about themselves; it provides a mirror into their work ethic and belief system. The business community can see how you work, as well as your approach to different problems. Discussions between IT on technical topics can illustrate your ability to handle negative and positive critics. When a business person googles you, a blog post may come on the first page. They can read your posts and see what kind of person you are and whether they want to work with you.

Self-promotion is a bad thing in the blogworld. It is also viewed negatively by the business community. If you self-promote through your many posts, business sees that this is the kind of person you are. If you self-promote all the time, then you will be seen not as a contributor but a taker. Blogs are about showing who you are as a person. Successful blogs give value without expectation of return. That is the type of individual business wants to have work on their big projects.

To answer my own question, "Do blogs help improve the business/IT relationship?" I say "yes" because it shows the type of individual you are. It provides insight for the business community when they select with whom they want to work on a project. It can only hurt if you are the kind of person that doesn't give value first or argue for the sake of arguing. Since a business person could be just a lurker, you may never know if they read the post or not. Your post may never be read by a business person, but, I suspect, someone will and that person will provide an opinion to the business person based on that post.

What type of person are you? If you are arrogant and/or a self-promoter, you will not be able to hide that over the long run of a relationship-building blog. Deceptions occur because you really can fool some of the people some of the time. Since relationships are built not in a day but day-by-day, the true you will come through in a pattern on the type of posts you provide or comments you add to blogs. How you handle yourself will be transparent to the business reader. Be careful how you discuss a comment left by anyone. You can have a point of view but present discussions with the collective hearts and minds. Remember to watch your tone. You may be surprised to learn who is lurking and studying you.

Show your true self through a blog.

SBDi speaks both Business and IT languages. Bring SBDi in to help communication between both organizations. Let us help you find the right flexible solution that will help business increase revenue.

Pat Ferdinandi, Chief Thought Translator