This isn't a new subject, Josh Bernoff of Groundswell fame has spoken about it previously. But it is a subject that crops up when speaking to clients and potential clients. Is it right to pay bloggers to blog about your product or service? Josh Bernoff'asserts that is OK, as long as the blogger is transparent (a key concept when operating in social spaces) about the fact that they are being paid, and that they can speak freely about it, i.e. if they think it's pants they can say so!

I agree with what Josh says (he always has a balanced view of brands operating in social media and I can recommend following his work). But I would extend this question further to reflect an issue many companies are having right now: how do staff internally make the time (and hone the skills) to blog themselves? Is it right or wrong to have an agency help you write your blog?

This is more dangerous territory as it threatens to undermine the very core principle of social media: authenticity. Here at Bright, we understand that people are time pressured and also lack the confidence to blog. We help people make the time by hosting weekly calls where we talk about what's going on in the community and suggest articles for blogs. Then we help facilitate the blogs themselves. This means we get the staff members to write the bones of the article, and we, if needed, tweak or suggest ways to improve it.

We want to encourage as many brands as possible to engage with their audience using social media, so if we can help them blog successsfully by facilitating content with them then that's fine with us. The content comes from them and we help them get it right. A perfect balance.