In an economy where top talents are highly-prized, this is certainly a testimony to the power of corporate blogging:

James Smith, MD of publishing house Alphabet Media oversees several magazine titles and industry events. He started a corporate blog in July last year to journal the day-to-day life in his company and to share with the world what goes on in Alphabet Media – what they do and why they do it.

Just yesterday, he just found out that one of his recent hires – a bright and talented young lady – had opted to work for him (at Alphabet Media) despite having been offered a very attractive job at one of the world’s largest IT company.

And the reason for her choice?

She read the company blog, fell in love with the culture, and decided that she would rather be part of this smaller outfit than the tech giant.

As someone who loves to hear of good things happening to SMBs, I love this story. No carefully-engineered marketing campaign, no call for submission of video ads, but the fruit of simple and genuine public relations.

I forgot to ask James what his immediate thoughts were, when he discovered how his blogging had led to the hiring of a fantastic new team member. But instead of sending this question to him via e-mail, I shall leave him to share his thoughts…

Btw, I love his advice on human resources: Staff shortage? Grow your own

Here’s some of mine:

• While we talk endlessly about establishing online communities, the best community you can ever build, is the one around you.
• A corporate blog doesn’t always have to sell your product. If your company has a terrific culture, celebrate it! You’ll be surprised at the results that follow.
• Good PR starts from within.
• A blog is merely a tool after all, not a strategy.

Trackback This Post | Subscribe to the comments through RSS Feed