“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.”
– Bill Gates
Robert Scoble and Shel Israel wrote this self-professed sequel to The Cluetrain Manifesto, focusing on blogging in the business world. As you might expect if you’ve ever read Scoble’s blog, the book clearly advocates blogging for companies, but they also point out some of the most common pitfalls and reasons not to blog (such as if you have something to hide). If you’re already a blogger, most of this will seem self-evident, but if you’re trying to craft a blogging policy for your company, or convince your CEO to blog, this book can be a huge help. In fact, I’m about to submit a blogging policy proposal to our company’s president based largely on what this has to say, and I’m loaning him the book, too. (If this book were a college course, it would be 200 level, with Cluetrain Manifesto as recommended reading.)
“Doing violence for the sake of violence, or shock for the sake of shock — that’s definitely a valid business model.”
– American McGee