Dell’s IR team finding blog rhythm

DELL Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) launched its investor relations blog just over two months ago, becoming the first major corporation to use a blog to communicate specifically with its investors.

IR Magazine posted a story this week by Anna Snider saying that the Dell Shares blog is “gaining momentum,” which I think is an accurate description.

However, it didn’t look so good there for a while. The early posts were a bit too long and perhaps a little oversimplified . I have a problem being long-winded and condescending so I don’t mind saying so of Dell.

Two recent posts stand out

Other than a technical hiccup that posts comments out of chronological order, I think that Dell’s VP of IR Lynn Tyson and IR Director Robert Williams are finding their blogging feet just fine in their more recent posts. Two in particular stand out.

The first was a quick response from Tyson to a comment about Dell not paying dividends. Quick responses to topical issues are just what blogs are designed for. Dell’s IR staff usually will respond to comments within the comment thread, which is the correct approach in most situations. But in this case, Tyson posted a reply as a main post and linked to the relevant comment. It was the right call because the dividend issue was pertinent to many shareholders and was a voting item at the shareholder meeting.

The second post that stands out is Williams’ post about the cash conversion cycle impact of Dell’s new retail strategy. It is both educational for retail shareholders and informative for professionals. Educational posts are the hardest to do well because there’s always a risk that you’ll come across as talking down to people. But Williams hit exactly the right tone and level with his post. I’m sure the post is going to be a useful resource for the IR department for years to come. In fact, I see he linked to it in a post about CES this week.

It’s still early days, but Dell is showing that blogging can be a valuable tool for IR departments. If you haven’t already, I suggest you subscribe to their blog to get ideas for topics you can blog about when you start your own.

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