Free Whitepaper And Corporate Blogosphere (Corporate Intranet) Software

21Publish, a niche provider of blogging software for turnkey blogging communities (as contrasted to personal blogging platforms), has just released a free, new whitepaper (note: PDF file) on selecting software for corporate blogospheres (i.e., blog intranets).

Whitepapers are used to help people understand the tradeoffs when attacking certain problems, whether this is selecting an embedded database, email solution, or message queue vendor. Whitepapers try to do this with an unbiased approach as much as possible – the goal of a whitepaper is to show thought leadership and help people. Not to sell software directly. If it does, great.

In any case, in my work as a consultant to 21Publish, I’ve learned that there are different value propositions and functional features that one should look for in a community publishing solution as compared to personal blogging platforms, and such aspects are laid out in the whitepaper.

The whitepaper release is also on the heels of release of a new pricing plan that provides free use for communities of up to 100 users. I’ve started to suggest use of the software for certain classes, alumni groups, small companies, and schools as a communication platform. Take the step to introduce one of your non-profit or commercial communities to blogging. They may also find that the 21Publish solution is appropriate for their use. Help spread the word by emailing, talking, or blogging about it. Thanks!

Free Version of Software For Small Blogging Communities

According to Stefan Wiskemann, 21Publish will introduce a free version of its software for small blogging communities.

Although the details of the pricing plan and the version of the software have not been announced yet, the currently available 21Publish platform has a number of unique
features ranging from secure intranet, comment tracking
(unique for those that post comments across blogs), and an administrative "workbench" covering all bloggers
within the community. As a number of readers have enjoyed my post about the value of MBAs working with non-profits, perhaps this will serve as a good opportunity for non-profits.

In the interest of disclosure, I am a consultant to 21Publish.

Steve Shu