My CEO won't blog or tweet. How can I get him to do it?

Don't.

CEO's blogs when personal or boastful are bad enough,
but a 'reluctant' CEO blogger (yuk!)

Some C level Execs are best kept away from customers:
http://brianmaciver.blogspot.com/2010/08/should-top-execs-visit-customers.html

"Manage" the reluctant Blogger or Tweeter, by ghost-writing for them!
(Most of them have been doing this for decades anyway)

I remember ghost writing a "motivational" speech for my CEO ,
who later claimed to have 'devised' (because he said it)
a well known quote from Churchill ;-)

It's not for everybody. For many CEOs and others in leadership or influential positions, getting them to participate (if not lead) via the social Web may be an ongoing, uphill battle.

But I'm talking with more and more CEOs that truly want to give it a go, to engage with their customers and other key constituents more actively via social channels, to accelerate their own thought leadership and personal brands via more frequent writing.

For those CEOs - the ones who should be more active and have a propensity to do it - here are six tips to get them motivated and moving.

1. Make it easy to get started
Break down the start-up process into small, bit-sized steps. Sit down and walk them through the basics if necessary, or point them towards guides that take just a few minutes per step. Then give them a deadline to get it done. Especially if they want to get it done anyway, they might need it made easier plus a little accountability (deadlines) to make it happen.

2. Leverage peer pressure
If the CEO should be more active, it's likely their leadership team thinks they should be too. Get others to reinforce the value and priority of getting started. Find the other members of the leadership and management team who are already doing it, and showcase some of the results they've already achieved for themselves and the business in general.

3. Translate the ROI
Point out the specific business value of being active, not just overall but specifically based on the business priorities the CEO has already focused on this year. Demonstrate clear lines between activity, performance and business results. Show examples of how this has worked for other CEOs and other companies already.

4. Point out their peers
Pick a handful of CEOs in the same industry who are already active on Twitter or regularly blogging. Show the impact it's having on their brand, their visibility, their perception of leadership. This sometimes is motivation enough.

5. Do a 30-minute idea brainstorm
For blogging specifically, sit the CEO down with a whiteboard and walk her through a brainstorm of possible topics. What does she have to share, unique to her position or perspective? What will customers want to hear from her? I can almost guarantee you'll fill the whiteboard in less than the allotted time, and having specific topics will make the CEO more motivated to convert ideas into content.

6. Hire a ghost writer
Even if the CEO is a good writer, don't require her to sit down and draft herself. Hire a ghost writer to listen to the CEO pace in her office and talk, then translate that perspective into a solid first draft. Over time, she may want to do more of her own writing. But to get started, and see the early results, make it easier and faster.

If the CEO doesn't want to blog or tweet why do you feel it's important? If he doesn't want to do it you shouldn't force it, but you could show him some great examples of other CEOs, give him some links to intriguing discussions and a list of mentions about the company or even himself that might strike a spark.
Still a reluctant writer is usually not the best option. Isn't there someone else who could write for the company? Maybe that person could do some interviews with the CEO to get his words out without ghost writing or forcing him to do something he doesn't have the time or inclination to do.

Fortunately, such a creative medium has a fresh new audience or else the tools would have not been created at all. If others before us refuse to support our generation who had fresh ideas on how to creatively communicate with others regarding all we have to offer and bring, then a lot of us today will refuse to co-exist professionally. God bless.

Ghostwriting is not the answer. If your CEO has any charisma at all, or any passion for the company, podcasting is the best way to go. But...don't just hand them a microphone. Get someone to interview them on a regular basis. We offer a service that is designed for this exact scenario. It's called Shortcut Blogging. We handle the interviewer, we edit the audio, we transcribe, we repurpose it into a readable blog post with SEO value. It could certainly be parsed out into tweetable chunks as well.

I agree with Brian MacIver completely. Most successful CEO's have a pretty good idea of their strengths and weaknesses and written communications may be one of several weaknesses the boss has. He may feel he is too busy to do a blog or tweet justice or even seriously questions the value of those forms of social media.

Social media is not for everyone and those who choose not to participate should not be labeled dumb, old fashioned, out of date or uncooperative. Ghost writers can come with their own set of hazards like really not communicating company values or understanding the core business(es) of the company. They can be far more damaging to a company's reputation than avoiding social media all together.

I have to ask a similar question; why, exactly, do you want your CEO blogging? Help us understand your end game, Steve, and perhaps we can be more helpful to you.

Together, let's put the fun back into work!
Belldon Colme
belldoncolme@gmail.com

It all comes down to the CEO being true to his or her nature. The real question is one of what messages need to be communicated to whom, with what outcomes expected.

If the CEO as a source is vital to credibility and gravitas, and the CEO is comfortable in the role, by all means do whatever it takes to make it easy. If the material needs to be ghost-written, it is better done by someone internal who can be true to the company's mission, vision, and values. Good writing by an outsider is, frankly, not authentic, and authenticity is more valuable than quality of prose.

If someone else in the company is a good communicator and can craft and deliver the messages, don't force the CEO into clothes that don't fit. Not blogging or tweeting is not necessarily a sign of laziness, fear of technology, or being stuck in the last century.

And, do think through the sudience(s) and how they will react/respond to a tweet from the top.

How likely is the CEO being the voice on Twitter going to help the brand, versus a marketing staff member? If the CEO is tied directly to the brand (Steve Jobs) maybe it matters. Otherwise, it's enough to have the brand's presence on Twitter.

Does she/he also not Facebook - or scrawl inane messages in public bathrooms? Tweeting and its ilk are, in fact, inappropriate for many companies, and for nearly all C-level execs of mid-to-large businesses. Just because it has become extremely popular for what seem to be the brainless, does not mean it is appropriate for seasoned execs.
"but" you respond "our President blogs". I rest my case.