My earlier comments on Dell's jump into the blogosphere and the reaction it got from some of the blogerati got quoted (with a slight mis-spelling in the attribution) over at MarketingProfs, by B.L. Ochman of the WhatsNextBlog. As a fan of both the publication and the writer, I'm pleased. Although "Wrongo!" wasn't exactly the reaction I was looking for :-)

Her reaction to the passage of mine she quoted, suggests that she thinks I agree that the Dell episode should convince non-blogging companies that the water isn't yet safe. That was not my intent and if my writing wasn't clear then let me expand on it here; I was trying to suggest it would be unfortunate if this episode slowed the acceptance of blogs, although I feared that it would. My point was one that has now been made all over the net, that giving Dell a little credit for trying and slack while they get up to speed, might have been a better approach.

Ochman is deeply in the camp that wants (or wanted) Dell to somehow jump smoothly onto the cluetrain from a standing start. She's upset that they apparently sought what I'm sure they assumed was professional assistance in their efforts to start a blog. And she advises that what Dell should be doing is:

...inviting customers to tell them what they really love and hate about the company. Ask customers how to move forward. Your customers are incredibly smart, and remarkably creative. Trust them! They can create a far better marketing message than you can. Let them do it.

In the week or so since Dell started blogging I think they've handled themselves, and the initial firestorm, nearly perfectly. They've expanded the range of posts, directly engaged their critics, and included an entry titled 'Real People are Here and We're Listening' (which was incidentally written 2 days before BL posted her 'advice').

The Dell matter has been beat-to-death (giving them the chance to learn that blogging tradition quickly), so there's no need to dive further into the counter-points. I'm glad to have played a part in the conversation. Time will tell, but now I'm betting on a case study that continues the ascent of the business blog.