Bill Gates may be the most obvious public face of Microsoft, but Robert Scoble is giving him a run for his money. Scoble is a tech evangelist at Microsoft who has played a big part in helping the company win at 'the new PR' of the blogosphere. And here he is, giving some free advice to Southwest Airlines on the content with which they should be filling their blog:

Some other things I'd love to know? Is there free WiFi near their counters anywhere? What's the best restaurant in each airport? Who makes the most reliable luggage? Some craft definitely have funnier crews than others. Any way to know whether you'll be on one of those flights? ...What are their favorite online travel resources? (Flight trackers, etc). Where do they go when they want to have fun on a layover?

When I talk to groups or individuals about blogging, I often hear the same statement from at least a few people: "I don't know what our company could actually say on a blog that would get us millions of hits."

Scoble poses only a few questions here, but they shine a light on the kind of value that a company's employees can give through blogging. He has had quite a lot of practice doing just that for Microsoft. But if you start by asking yourself what people tend to ask you when they find out who you work for/what your company does/what your role entails, the ideas for what you could possibly say on a blog start to roll thick and fast.

As for the 'millions of hits'...Well, do you really want to appeal to as many people as possible, or just the people who are most likely to be your customers, potential customers, and industry peers? Most smart businesses have a niche (or a few) that they attempt to cultivate offline; online is no different. Social media just allows for much more rich and far-reaching cultivation and conversation. More on that in future posts.