Happy blogiversary, my friends. This humble blog made its debut on this date in 2005, under its original name, HybridTalk. That means you’ve been putting up with my nonsense for three years now. You might be wondering how you’ve stomached me for that long, but consider that my wife has been putting up with me for 23 years, and if she’s reading this, she’s probably saying, “Three years? Hah! Three little years, they think that’s tough? Pikers! Talk to me in five years, or 10! Or 15 or 20! Just wait!”
But I digress.
In those three years, a few BCCs (blog-contributing colleagues) and I have posted 883 items — an average of more than one per business day. We’ve also posted 1,840 comments, or more than double the number of original posts.
From my perspective, it’s been quite a conversation — at various times enlightening, entertaining, gratifying, frustrating, and most of all, engaging. Looking back, I want to thank Exchanges readers for your questions and comments, my business colleagues for helping me find the answers, my Web colleagues for keeping this thing working, and all of you for everything the conversation has taught me. Looking ahead, I want to share some of the lessons I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way), which I keep in the back of my cranium for future mining.
Go ahead, try it; it probably won’t kill you. When I first was talking up the idea for the blog, everyone was supportive, but I also heard numerous reasons not to blog. “What if you get critical comments?” “What if it’s a lot of work?” “What if you run out of things to say?” I had answers for every question; I would moderate the discussion; I would enlist help if the workload got too big; the market will never stop evolving and providing new things to talk about. But in truth, having never blogged before, I had no idea what to expect. All I was sure of was that I wanted to try something different, that we needed to try something different, that we needed a new way to talk with people and have them talk with us. All of the initial questions turned out to be good ones; I’ve printed critical comments, often had more work than I can really handle, and occasionally felt like I had nothing to say. Yet I’m still here, the company is still here, and I think that we’re better for the experience.
Most readers never write, and that’s OK, but… Some posts draw hundreds of page views but only one or two comments. My regular correspondents can be counted on two hands, and I love them because they ask tough questions or offer tough comments, which forces us to think about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. I also know we have a silent majority of readers who never write, and I blog for them as well. A number of sell-side traders have told me that they never write because it takes too much time to deal with their firm’s process for approving communications. I’m still surprised that NYSE Trading Floor Members don’t write, and that most of my staff colleagues respond only with e-mails, not posted comments. I think that cultural legacies are behind this shyness. Whatever the reason, all readers (and writers) are welcome, and I do want to encourage more comments. The more you put into a conversation, the more you get out of it.
You don’t know what you don’t know. Forgive my ignorance, but before starting the blog, I never knew that NYSE-listed stocks had a big following among traders at “proprietary” firms, and day traders. Comments from these folks have taught us about their perspective, enabled us to respond to some of their suggestions, and have taught me to look for and value every customer, no matter how large or small. And I’m constantly surprised by what people ask about on the blog, how they view our markets and products, and how they react to new developments. But better to be surprised (and informed) by hearing from them than to be in the dark.
It’s hard to enlist corporate bloggers. Going in, I thought that colleagues would be banging down my door, looking to blog about their respective businesses, particularly as our company has diversified geographically and product-wise. Instead, only a few have signed on, and even those contributions have been too sporadic. I need to be a better evangelist, and get in my colleagues’ faces a little more. I know, I know, you’re swamped, you have other priorities, you’re a terrible writer, etc. Welcome to the club. If I can deal with all that, anyone can. I’m here to help you, and in the next year, I’m coming after you.
“That’s where the money is.” Willie Sutton famously said that’s why he robbed banks. The same reasoning applies to why companies should talk with customers and the public online — that’s where the people are. And I don’t mean talking at them — via one-way communications such as press releases and annual reports — I mean talking with them, via blogs, message boards etc. that enable multi-way conversations. I’ve found that even people who can easily get someone on the phone here choose to use the blog in some way.
Blogging complements everything and replaces nothing. I don’t think blogging replaces press releases, newspapers, face-to-face or telephone contact with customers, or anything else. I do know from experience that it can help generate ideas and be a conversation starter for personal interaction. It can help a sales force or a help desk answer a question once for multiple customers. Blogging doesn’t replace other forms of communication, any more than TV replaced radio; but it is a different form of communication with its own unique set of properties and possibilities.
Conversation promotes trust and engagement. During 2003, when NYSE experienced a huge governance and compensation scandal as well as a trading scandal, we withdrew into a defensive shell and lost a lot of trust and good will among customers. I’d like to think the blog has been a small part of the road back. We needed to open up and listen better, and that includes responding to comments and questions on the blog. A number of readers have written that they disagree with some of the things we do (or everything) but that they appreciate our hearing them out. I also think that communicating in a personal voice on a regular basis engenders a trusting relationship that wasn’t there before. On occasion some readers have questioned my veracity (one even called me “Baghdad Bob”) but on the whole, I think that we’ve got a good thing going, and that blogging probably has a higher credibility factor than other types of corporate communication (though that probably isn’t a high bar to clear).
Don’t underestimate the Web’s ability to reach people. You never know who’s reading. Exchanges doesn’t attract the traffic of a Drudge Report, but I’m often amazed at who stops by. Before the blog, I had often read comments and articles from Jamie Selway of White Cap Trading about industry issues; now, unsolicited, he brings conversation here as well. A trader runs into me at an industry conference, sees my name tag and says, “Hey, you’re that crazy SOB who writes that blog for the Exchange!” In my treasure trove of trivia I mention an unknown band on an indie label (the Redundos), and get a note back from their drummer, who was scanning the Web for talk about the band. A new colleague tells me that before she joined up, she checked out the blog and it more than anything else told her that the place was on the right track. When you’re blogging, sometimes you feel like no one’s out there, but sometimes it feels like the connections you make are limitless.
Blogging is fun. Hard. Maddening. Cost-effective. Addictive. I’ve said it before: I wish I could do this full time. I enjoy providing information, applying my inimitable touch (that is, who’d want to imitate it?) and I love the interaction, though I do wish there were more comments and more balance among them. The research and writing can be exacting and time-consuming, but I’m gratified when people say that the blog helps them. Though blogging is labor-intensive, I’d say it offers the best bang for the buck of any form of corporate communication. After initial startup costs of several thousand dollars for software and development, we’ve reached many, many people inside the business and beyond. Blogging also is is way faster and more flexible than other forms of corporate communication. And the blog has become quite habit-forming for me: I know that on a day when I don’t post something, I find it harder to write press releases or focus on the rest of my “day job.” It’s like I need to check in with my pals before getting down to everything else.
The conversation is taking place with or without you. I shake my head at corporate marketing or communications people who talk about “controlling” their brand. Today, a company has input into its brand, but customers and the public have just as much control as anyone else. The Web has given everyone a channel, and nobody a channel: you have to earn your influence on others through transparency, engagement and delivering on promises. The world is talking online about your company, your product, your service; are you going to let that discussion happen without your participation? Are you going to monitor the conversation, join it, or try to lead it? If you’re not already there, I suggest getting in the game. After three years, I’m living proof that you might just learn something, and it won’t kill you.
Sorry for the looong post, and thanks again for your loyal participation. Your comments, as always, are welcome in the space below. In the meantime, happy Tuesday. And you know it wouldn’t be Exchanges without a dose of trivia:
Today in NYSE History (NYSE.com)
09 Dec. 1865 — The New York Stock Exchange moved into its first permanent home at 10 Broad St.
