1."If you?re trying to convince the powers that be...."

If you're working with a large group of people, which does not yet possess an organized ear for weblog commentary and similar discussion, then try emailing decisionmakers a weekly summary, with links and extracts, of what people have said about the company that week. Don't push an agenda, just collect and forward what you read.

It's hard to sell an unseen idea. But giving a little taste gets addicting.... ;-)

(I can understand if the article was actually prompted by the desire to sell a service... "how do i get them to buy a service?" is likely a different issue.)

2.That's an old technique I've used since long before the days of the Net, John. I'd simply route articles to management FYI until they got the idea. But executives are motivated by a desire to achieve business objectives. The ConAgra example would open a lot of management eyes: "You mean we could use this to anticipate trends and make money?"

3.a shel of my former self: Why monitor the blogosphere?
Conagra has learned a lot from monitoring blogs and message boards, including providing the customer with what they actually want - a shocker, I know. But, here’s a good article to point to ...