It all started in January 2005 when I attended an AMA “Hot Topic” program on blogging taught by Toby Bloomberg and Dana VanDen Heuvel. With their encouragement, I started this blog on Feb. 12, 2005; here are a few excerpts from my first post, “Warm & Fuzzy Marketing? Get Real!”

Since this is my first post on the new Quality Service Marketing blog, I wanted to tell you about my concept of internal marketing. It’s a philosophy and corporate culture … based on the premise that the way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel.

What’s amazing to me is the reaction I get from some executives when I talk about internal marketing. You can see their eyes glaze over as they say to themselves, “Here it comes, the old ‘warm & fuzzy’ stuff.” On the contrary, it’s not ‘warm & fuzzy’ but crystal clear in that customer relations mirrors employee relations. Here’s the bottom line: if your employees don’t feel valued, neither will your customers! 

Unfortunately, too many organizations claim employees as their number one asset, but don’t walk the talk. In this day and age where employees are expected to create a positive experience for customers and deliver on the brand promise, managers can no longer afford to pay lip service to employees. Employees can tell the difference and so can customers!

Ten years, 500+ posts, two books and an e-book later, I’m still writing about internal marketing and all things related to creating a engaged workplace dedicated to employee and customer care. I’m delighted that my words have stood the test of time and this blog continues to be relevant.

Why blog?

Back in 1999, blogging was about “personal publishing.”  As Biz Stone wrote in Blogging: Genius Strategies for Instant Web Content (2002):

“Think of all the great writers and artists … struggling to be heard. Beyond that, there are talented people who would write more if they had a forum. There are also people who are experts in certain areas, and all that potentially valuable content stays trapped within them because they don’t have an outlet. They don’t have access to the [traditional publishing] ‘machine.’

Actually, they do. Blogging is the easiest way to bring yourself to the Web and make your voice heard. I began blogging simply because it was so easy … If my words had evaporated into a void, that would have been the end of it.

But they didn’t. They were ingested, perused, and linked to. Commented on, emailed about, and repeated. All this was very exciting … I had an audience. Out of the woodwork came opinions, editorials, and thoughts on things I hadn’t realized I even had thoughts about.

Today’s Web has become fertile soil for personal publishing. Not only is it easy to get your voice out, but your voice is heard, acknowledged, and in many cases, responded to by interested, intelligent readers who have found your work most likely because they sought it out and are happy to have found it.”

That’s why I keep blogging, despite that fact that I find writing to be a painful process. As a platform, it’s enabled me to expand my reach to help others interested in creating an engaged workplace. Equally important, my blog has connected me with many other thought leaders, writers, and blog readers around the world who are a tremendous resource of encouragement and continued learning. While we communicate primarily through social media, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some of these people face-to-face. I value each and every relationship that has come about through my blog, and I salute all of you in helping me reach this blogging milestone.

[Image courtesy of birthday-clip-art.com.]