10 ways to use your blog to manage a crisis

Your blog is a very important part of your personal or your company's brand image. While you have invested time in its development, have you thought about how you can use your blog to manage a crisis?

A blog offers several advantages compared with press releases, Web sites, or other social media channels.

Picture of Jeff Domansky of Fotolia.com, used with permission

It lets you control your communication without media filters. It speaks with authority that your "voice on the record". In a crisis, your blog can be a valuable internal and external communications. And, above all, with swift action, it may help that you have heard correctly in a crisis.

Here are ten valuable ways you can use your blog to manage a crisis:

Issue your holding statement and/or the first ' official ' response to a crisis as soon as possible on your blog. This prevents a vacuum filled by messages of critics, competitors, or opponents. Addressing the concerns of the most obvious. Be proactive. Provide facts. Reassure the community that you are working actively on the issue and that safety is of paramount importance.

Scott Monty shows how SeaWorld used its blog effectively in an employee of one of its Killer whales tragic death.

Use your blog as your company's voice when you cannot reach any easier in other ways. A fire or other emergency situation can prevent you from accessing your e-mail system, office fax machine or equipment. In this situation be your blog, your single communications channel.

Recently tried to MAKE using Twitter to defend itself against media attacks around a tax issue. It did not work. 140 characters isn't enough. With the help of GE blog would have been more effective for such a complicated system. GE has finally quit trying to "spin" their story after a poor media relations effort.

Quick, timely updates through your blog can be invaluable to keep employees, customers, regulators, fire and safety officials, media and public informed of new developments. Remember that your updates can be very short and factual. Most crisis managers know it is important to show that even if you have not yet resolved the crisis you are working to resolve it.

BP attempted to use a blog for the Gulf oil spill cleanup updates, but had pointed criticism for their attempts to paint recycling unrealistic. BP then shuttered this blog and remove posts, shows how transparent and objective, you must be a success.

Your blog is critical in correcting mistakes, respond to misinformation and to ensure that the audience has the right information. Move quickly to correct material errors that were detected, but not to sweat the small stuff.

Chrysler's Ed Garsten used his corporate blog to go on record effectively with facts about firing a consultant for dropping F-bomb in a business tweet.

In a crisis are employed your most valuable resource. Encourage employees to view your blog. Suggest they provide links to your blog to their contacts. It informs employees, controls their messages and helps them respond to family, community, customers, and other concerns with the correct information.

Whole foods market "blog, the whole story, with a series of food safety services which shows his caring and commitment to safe and healthy food.

In the heat of a crisis, it may be difficult to reach the media. Your blog can provide critical media information and links to press releases, fact sheets, FAQs, photos, video and any other reporter needs if they cannot reach a spokesperson. Check your blog address and 24-hour phone number contacts is available on all media information.

Craigslist founder Craig Newmark's blog, craigconnects, has a simple Press page that works well.

Use your blog to provide advice, direction, and basic information such as phone numbers and addresses of companies, fire and security contacts, and community organizations. Provide all employees with information such as the blog address. Add a recorded message on your answering service to ensure that information on your blog is available after hours. This will help ease the pressure, reducing incoming calls and show concern while your team about the crisis.

Remember that much of this information can be prepared in advance before you have a crisis.

Your blog is a great vehicle for Visual, multimedia, links, and many more votes to allow richer, more effective, more human responses in your organization. Be creative. If time permits, to use all the advantages that social media in blogging.

No surprise that Disney Parks blog is one of the best with visitors behind the scenes with wonderful storytelling.

Careful use of keywords in your post titles and content will help you rank higher in search engines and news aggregators, so that you can compete on a fair and balanced share of voice in crisis coverage.

Companies often forget to do a summary after a crisis has been handled. Community, your customers, employees, officials, authorities, media and the public all must know that you handled the crisis well. They need to be assured that they are safe and that they can trust to do the right things now and in the future.

The Discovery Channel did so very effectively after their hostage crisis in 2010.

Don't forget to forward planning so that your blog can be used outside the installation in the event of a fire or other emergency that prevents the use of your Office. Create an address list of VIPs, media, employees and customers with smart, useful content.  In a crisis, make sure to warn your readers with blog address using Twitter updates when speed is critical.

Here are ten, your real time blogging play an important role in helping you prepare for, respond to and manage a crisis. You earn respect for openly communicate and definitively establish confidence in the future.

Remember: do not fit all situations in a size of social media. Anticipate, plan for the worst of the crisis, as you can imagine and blog at best.

Have you had success Blogging in a crisis? What was your biggest challenges? I would be hearing from you.