Another reason to blog: post important news pronto!

Posted by Laura Bergells

February 15, 2007

Consider this true story:

I received a W9 form from in the mail yesterday. The accompanying letter asked me to fill out my personal info — you know, name, address….

…and Social Security Number!

The letter asked me to fax the completed form to a fax number I did not know, or to alternately mail the completed form to a PO Box I had never heard of. The letter claimed to be from a company I had been working with for years!

Now, I have had a W9 on file with this company for ages. And there was no name attached to the letter. To me, the letter seemed like a phony.

So I checked my client’s website. No such fax. No such address.

Suspicious, I contacted my client to warn him about a phishing scam involving his company.

But instead, my client told me that the letter was indeed legit. At the request of his accountant, he had set up a special fax and PO box to to handle new W9 requirements.

Now, if my client had posted that bit of information at his site, he would cut down on quite a few phone calls from vendors like me!

The new contact info and new IRS rules were definitely not press release worthy — but they WERE impacting his company (he has thousands of vendors.)

Imagine a vendor blog… By posting an update about the new contact information and new W9 requirements, my client could have quashed vendor fears. A blog post is a terrific way to post necessary, searchable information quickly and easily. And while I might misplace an email from the company or have my spamblocker dismiss it as spam, I can always choose to search a company blog for relevant news items that affect my life and livelihood.

Plus, the new info will enhance his online reputation. It’s not cool to be associated with phishing scams!

It IS cool to be informative and proactive. If you have important company news that affects thousands of people, you might want to post it!

And of course, letting the public know how to get in touch with you just plain makes good marketing sense!