The oh-so-unhip world of business trade associations took a small shot at edginess Monday when nearly a dozen groups launched the blog BizCentral.org, aimed at Washington’s influencers.
In an Internet landscape littered with blogs, the modest venture might seem unremarkable except for the big names on the marquee: Business Roundtable, American Trucking Associations, American Petroleum Institute, CTIA — The Wireless Association, National Association of Chain Drug Stores, National Electrical Manufacturers Association, Nuclear Energy Institute, Organization for International Investment, Personal Care Products Council, Salt Institute and the U.S. Telecom Association.
But persuading the conservative, button-down business groups to enter the shoot’em-up world of blogging is a major advancement, said Pat Cleary, who pushed the idea from the start.
“It goes to all of business’ greatest fears and paranoia. Could somebody say bad stuff about us? You bet. What control do we have once it’s out there? None. Can people use this against us? Yup,” said Cleary, senior vice president of digital public affairs at PR shop Fleishman-Hillard. “It goes against every rule we follow. It’s in the DNA. It is a little bit of a leap to get into this space.”
Cleary preaches the importance of communicating through the Web with the zeal of a convert because he believes businesses ignore the Internet at great risk. Environmentalists, labor unions and other groups that have traditionally banged heads with Big Business have effectively used the blogosphere for years, Cleary said.
But those groups have more of a built-in readership for their blogs, he noted. Who would read a pro-business blog?
“Short answer: people who care about your issues,” such as congressional aides, lawmakers, reporters, policymakers and opinion leaders, Cleary said.
And that’s what drew the chain drugstores’ trade group to the project, said the organization’s spokeswoman, Chrissy Kopple.
“It is kind of a one-stop shop. You could probably find a wide range of issues that are hot on Capitol Hill that each of those organizations have a stake in,” she said.
The blog gives Kopple the ability to respond quickly to policy debates without relying on the media to get her message out. The blog also links associations with similar agendas and helps them quickly identify others who may be potential allies.
Another BizCentral.org member, the Business Roundtable, also blogs regularly on the environmental site Treehugger.com, said Roundtable spokesman Joe Crea. The organization’s posts there touch on sustainability and green business.
“They like having the business perspective on a kind of crunchy site,” Crea said.
Writing on BizCentral.org will allow the group to expand its blogging megaphone from environmental issues to other policy areas like health care, education and trade, Crea said.
Blogging is often an exercise in no-holds-barred communication. But this being a business blog, there is one commandment — “We don’t shoot at one another” — and one rule: “You’ve got to post once a week,” Cleary said.
Cleary got the idea for BizCentral three years ago while he was still an executive at the National Association of Manufacturers. When he moved to Fleishman, the firm gave him the resources to make it happen.
The blog is free to participants and helps Fleishman build its brand as “leaders in the digital space,” Cleary said.
At NAM, Cleary built Shopfloor.org to fight taxes, promote innovation and shake manufacturing’s reputation as an industry filled with dark and dangerous jobs. Two years after its launch in 2004, the blog had a million readers.
Now, Cleary is trying to build on his success with what he calls a first-of-its-kind business association blog. He’s working to use the blogosphere to build influence and drive policy, something business has not yet done in a meaningful way, he said.
“In an association town, every ... association that reads this will be like, ‘What? Let’s check this out,’” Cleary said.
Time will tell.
