OPEN

Ever since Jeff Jarvis saluted the company’s turnaround I’ve been thinking a lot about the Dell blog and its social media innovations in general. The company went from social media zero (“Dell Hell”) to hero in a year or so (witness Ideastorm and the Direct2Dell blog).

Well, the Direct2Dell blog’s been going for a year now and Lionel Menchaca, Digital Media Manager has written up an incredibly valuable post to mark the occasion.

Here’s a truncated list of his learnings – the full post is naturally a must-read:

• Customers really are in control—and it’s okay.
• Ignoring negative issues is not a viable strategy in the blogosphere.
• Maintaining a blog is a difficult balancing act.
• There are no shortcuts. Building a successful blog requires some long hours…
• If you open the lines of communication, customers will tell you what is wrong with your business. [He’s talking about the battery recall here folks…]
• Innovation matters, but a little luck doesn’t hurt…
• Probably the best time to launch a blog is when things aren’t going so well.
• Sincere apologies are welcome if you learn from (and correct) your mistakes. Without both, you lose credibility fast.
• From a customer’s perspective, you can always do better. We’ll continue to build our digital media tools around them.

The list brings to life and validates many things that have been discussed since the time of the Cluetrain Manifesto, lessons hard-learned by someone who had the courage to take social media models deep into an organisation many thought beyond the pale.

The post serves not just as a useful proof point, a case study for how powerful blogging and wider engagement with social media can be: it is a challenge to anyone and everyone to embrace new models of brand communications.

I have to say I deeply admire the Dell team for the incredible work they have done. And – rightly – Lionel is keen to point out that there have been downs as well as ups, and that there is much more they can still do to improve.

Once more, via the unstoppable Buzzmachine…