Be Transparent So Your Fans Can Advocate For You

WordPress software rockstar Matt Mullenweg wrote something in a recent blog post at WordPress.com which I thought was worth calling out:

We haven’t done as good a job as we used to about blogging the constant improvements being made to the site. (We deploy changes to the site anywhere from 5 to 20 times a day!) It’s something I think we can do better in the rest of December, and hopefully keep up the good habit through 2008.

I’m a big BIG fan of WordPress and all the things they’re doing.  Generally, when companies I like do cool things, I like to tell people I know.  I’ll blog about, pownce about, tweet about it, and talk about it.  I’m a cheerleader for companies that have served me well.

I think WordPress realized something BIG.  If they’re not transparent with what’s going on in their company and their product, when they do cool things, their cheerleaders and fanboys can’t advocate for them, which is exactly what they want.

I wonder how many companies work really hard and wonder why no one notices.  Could it be that you’re not telling people about what you’re doing?

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be Transparent.