Blogger Stories: Debbie Weil

Debbie Weil has always been ahead of the curve. But when she started her first blog, to learn how this new medium as a business tool, little did she know what was in store .. a book, international friendships and helping others.

Blogger Story Teller: Debbie Weil, BlogWriteForCEOS, The Corporate Blogging Book

I started my first blog, www.debbieweil.com, exactly three years ago in June 2003, for a very practical reason: It was clear to me that blogs were going to become a business tool. And I needed to know how to use this new tool. I figured blogging myself was the quickest way to get up to speed -- and then get ahead of the learning curve of most
business folks. How could I advise clients or write knowledgeable articles if I wasn't doing it myself?

Not a sexy reason to start blogging, I know. But I can dig a little deeper: why do I blog? It's simple. I have an urge to write. I was a journalist for several decades. Now I'm a marketing consultant. But I'm really a recovering journalist. I still have the urge to "report," to clarify, to offer perspective. And the elegance and simplicity of blogging software gives me a way to write short entries quickly and easily.

I'm a huge procrastinator when it comes to writing. Not coincidentally, the software and Web interface behind a blog make it ideal for procrastinators. Writing a 750 or 1,500-word article is a daunting task. But a quick blog entry takes less than a minute. And yet the ripple effect is significant. I've gotten calls from Fortune 100 companies saying they've read my blog and was I available for a presentation.

Now I blog at BlogWriteForCEOs on the topic of corporate blogging and CEO or senior exec blogging. (Yes, it's a TypePad blog!). Lately I haven't been blogging as often as I'd like. I've been busy with launch preparations for my new book, "The Corporate Blogging
Book: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know to Get It Right." It will be published Aug. 3, 2006 by Penguin Portfolio. And of course there is a companion book blog at The Corporate Blogging Book... where I invite you to download a free chapter!

So what's the essence of my blogging story? Blogging has connected me to dozens of smart and generous people (Toby Bloomberg among them!). Good blogging is good writing and it makes me do more of that. And finally I'm truly gratified that my blogging "tips" have helped others get started. People come up to me at conferences all the time and tell me that. And I think wow... who woulda thought!

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