I have an interest in rhetoric, the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion.

No, really…this IS interesting, please read on:

My studies of rhetoric have made me fans of those who have mastered the art of persuasion, and one of my favorite examples is the official DreamHost blog. Which is massively entertaining and written by Josh Jones, one of the company’s founders. It was the winner of Blogger’s Choice Awards winner for “Best Corporate Blog - 2007″.

According to DreamHost: “This is our official company blog! We use it to post funnyish, behind-the-scenes goings on at DreamHost! … Think of it as the lighter-side of DreamHost!”

Topics range from gadgets, business, tech news, to DreamHost news and announcements. But some of the best posts fall under the category of “foobars” where DH is fabulously indiscreet when things go wrong.

A foobar post is not what you might expect from a corporate blog when they make a mistake; a large company would do it’s best to apologize and minimize the bad publicity. Whereas DreamHost tackles their own mistakes by taking responsibility for them, apologizing, and then explain why they think a foobar happened, what they did/are doing to fix it, and how they will avoid the problem in the future. And they manage to do all of this in an entertaining way. Actually, let’s take a life lesson from the DreamHost blog. If you make a mistake just follow these steps:

1. Admit the mistake, and take responsibility for it.
2. Apologize.
3. Figure out WHY the mistake happened.
4. Figure out HOW to fix the problem.
5. Plan ahead on how to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

(Remember to smile and work some pop-culture references into your pitch.)

A lot of companies could learn a thing or two about corporate blogging and communication from the DreamHost blog.

I’m sure you’ll dig the DreamHost Blog even if you have no interest in corporate communication, ethos, pathos or logos — so check it out.

Suggested Reading:

Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion