ALL THAT IS GOOD

Ever since I joined Nokia in 2004, I’ve probably had a reason to blog: in fact the first product I worked on, Nokia Lifeblog, was one of the very earliest mobile blogging tools. Two of the awesome people I worked with, Charlie and Christian, used personal blogs as a very effective way to communicate about the product – they were way ahead of their time in terms of what we now call Social Media Marketing.

Charlie still writes his personal blog, but now is also in charge of the frankly very impressive Nokia Conversations blog – which, in my probably totally biased opinion, is one of the best corporate blogs out there (NB I’m not generally a fan of corporate blogs, but Charlie is getting the right mix of information release, real behind-the-scenes stories, and also authentic personal style). The blog is quite new, but it seems to be doing quite a good job. Perhaps it is getting it right because it followed the advice of listening first, thinking some, and then finally blogging last.

I actually did start to blog a couple of times, and wrote an internal Nokia blog for a while, but I didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel authentic. Basically, I think I wasn’t ready. I didn’t think I had anything useful to share.

So instead: I observed; soaked it all up; read voraciously; listened.

But now I think I am ready to start blogging for real. I am not expecting the blog to stack up against my blogging heroes in terms of reach or in terms of the depth of my analysis. But I do feel as though I can do the following:

1. Collect together my thoughts in one place. I have sent numerous emails to colleagues telling them about cool marketing project or a fascinating piece of research I’ve read, and I’ve often thought to myself: that should be a blog post. Well now it can be. And it can act as a memory/summary tool for me.

2. Perhaps most importantly, I can give some sort of inside perspective about Nokia. Obviously I’m not going to be leaking any products any time soon (and actually, I’m not the best person to ask about products anyway). But I can discuss marketing campaigns, strategies, how we engage with Social Media etc. I am also particularly keen to get involved in the discussions about Mobile Social Media – not just to help my 2009 prediction come true I think I am well placed to do that, and to talk about how Nokia is pushing things forward.

3. I now feel as though I can enter the conversation with validity. When commenting on blogs before I felt like a fraud, as I could never leave a blog address where someone could see I was a real person with real views. I have of course commented, but not as much as I would like. Also, I have always been worried about getting involved as a Nokia employee. It’s awkward to have to point out that I work for Nokia, but now anyone can see this (or indeed whatever company I am working for) on my blog.

4. Finally, I want to start writing in sentences again. I know that this is a list (and I am sure there will be many lists), but I at least want to try to do writing that does not fit neatly on to a bloody powerpoint slide.