The Blogging CFO

S.R. Clarke set up a blog on Blogger, the free blogging software platform, and started posting about new property deals, building projects and expansions. “We wanted to show people that there were opportunities out there, and they had to be ready to fight for them,” Clarke says.

Though he didn’t realize it at the time, Clarke had joined a rather exclusive club of CFOs and other finance types who blog.

Though there aren’t many of them, finance executives who blog for their companies or themselves maintain it’s a good way to get publicity, build a personal brand, raise an industry profile, and even land a job.

“When you hear about a CFO blogging it does sound like a joke,” says Tom Klein of Digital Scientists, a firm that helps companies of all sizes with their digital marketing strategies. “At a public company it’s hard to imagine, given Sarbanes-Oxley, that you wouldn’t worry about that CFO getting into trouble. Could a blog be helpful? Yes, if a CFO can show expertise in a subject area and make their blog applicable and relevant, but there’s still some risk involved.”

If you’re considering starting a blog, the first step is identifying your goal. The following are several different approaches CFOs have taken.

Blogging to Promote the Company
Many CFOs blog to promote their companies. Stephen T. Zarrilli is one of them. Zarrilli is senior vice president and CFO for Safeguard Scientifics, Inc., a publicly traded holding company based in Wayne, Pennsylvania, that invests in technology and life sciences businesses.

Safeguard launched a blog in March to offer insight into the company’s strategy and performance and the markets in which it invests. Zarrilli is one of several Safeguard executives who contribute.

Zarrilli says he blogs whenever “it makes sense,” spending 20 to 30 minutes writing and posting a few times a month.

Though Safeguard is public, Zarrilli says his blog posts never cross into dangerous territory because he works with his marketing, public relations and investor relations teams to make sure posts augment the company’s overall message. The marketing department also alerts him to topics and trends affecting the business. “My blogging activity is coordinated with other executives so we have a relevant point of view out there from an investor’s perspective or the CEO’s broader perspective,” Zarrilli says.

Zarrilli’s posts are also crafted to avoid running afoul of Securities and Exchange Commission regulations governing public-company disclosures. Such mindfulness should be one of a blogging CFO’s first considerations, says Paul Burmeister, a partner at executive services firm Tatum, which counsels CFOs on governance and compliance issues. “That said, commentary is perfectly fine,” Burmeister says. “As long as you’re not disclosing anything that can give an investor inside information, undisclosed results or future prospects, your personal blog or company blog can be beneficial to everyone involved.”

Blogging to Make Connections
Some CFOs blog to connect with customers. At S.R. Clarke, the staffing firm, Clarke says he gets ideas for blog posts from clients as well as questions and comments from some of the more than 125,000 readers of the company’s email newsletter. He also keeps a running list of ideas gleaned from the two or three books he reads each week.

Clarke says the blog is good way to keep people coming back to the company’s website even after they find a job, making it more likely that if and when they need a new position they’ll turn to S.R. Clarke for help. “If they’re reading your blog every week you’re not a stranger. They read it, they call and they respond,” he says. “Blogging is today’s answer to relationships. The old sales guys used to go out and meet people, shake their hands, and go play golf. Today they are making all those connections over social media.”

Blogging also helps a company look and stay current, Clarke adds. “We’re really changing the way we’re doing business based on the way the world is moving,” he says. “Right now 25 percent of our placements come from LinkedIn. Another 25 percent come from Monster. People are online, and we needed to be online, too.”

Blogging to Network and Learn
Some CFOs blog to learn. Mark MacLeod, CFO at StatusNet, a Montreal-based enterprise microblogging software company, maintains a personal blog to increase his own knowledge and to network with other industry executives.

MacLeod says his blog, StartupCFO, helps him connect with technology startups and investors, something that is extremely important since his main focus is finding financing for the startups StatusNet works with. “I meet five new companies a week just by people contacting me and looking to develop a relationship,” he says. “I am out there and visible.”

MacLeod says he fits in blogging in the morning before leaving for the office, never spending more than 20 minutes on a post.

A blog can also create stronger connections between a CFO and other employees, says Tyler Hoffman, CFO of Gather, a Boston news and information-sharing social network that’s raised $25.1 million since 2004. “CFOs have historically had a tendency to hold information and haven’t really embraced transparency,” he says. “A blog can provide that transparency and bridge chasms between the finance department and the rest of the company.”

Blogging to Land a Job
Other finance executives have blogged their way into new positions.

When Jeffrey Ishmael lost his CFO job in October 2007, he knew he faced serious hurdles. The country was on the precipice of a recession and competition was fierce. “There were a lot of good people out of work,” he explains. “I had to find a way to get myself out there and show prospective employers more than they would see on a two-page resume.”

Ishmael’s solution was a blog he could use to share insights into trends and non-technical, finance-related topics.

The blog, called CorpFinCafe, made an impact, bringing in traffic, comments and two job offers. In the end, he took an offer that came not through the blog but from his professional connections and today is CFO at DC Shoes, a division of Quiksilver.

Ishmael has since put his blog on hold, but hopes to return to it soon because he misses the process, but also for the benefits it provides, including speaking opportunities. “I’ve been writing content and it’s sitting in the wings waiting to post at a later date,” he says.