An interesting aspect of blogging is that when you get something wrong, you are quickly called on it, oftentimes through public comments. While I hate making mistakes, I like the fact that it's easy to correct the record with an update to the original entry.

So I was glad to see the comment yesterday from Ann-Marie Murphy (here) informing me, and the world, that Quicken Loans has been publishing a blog for more than a year. Making them, not PayPal, the second major U.S. financial-services company to blog. And after looking at it, I was doubly glad she took the time to comment, because it's a top-notch blog and it gives me the chance to do something I've always wanted to do, work Dave Matthews Band into a blog post. I figured if Ron Shevlin can blog about the Grateful Dead four times (here), I can at least slip in one DMB mention.    

The well-designed Quicken Loans blog is called "What's the Diff" and is run under its own URL <www.whatsthediff.com>. It features stories written by employees, and guest bloggers, about making a difference in the world. Published entries win a slick t-shirt.

It just so happens that the most recent entry chronicles the experience of Quicken summer intern, Mark Messing, as he helped push stuck vehicles out of the mud-filled parking lot at the Cuyahoga Falls DMB concert (see note 1). It's well written and exudes a positive, can-do attitude that leaves the reader with good feelings about the company.   

The Quicken Loans blog is more of a recruiting tool than a marketing device. Notice the big red button on the right asking, "Are you the difference?" That's designed to attract high-achievers to apply for a position with the company. Clicking on the button brings job candidates to an attractive "careers" landing page that carries the same "The Diff" theme, and has its own URL <www.quickenloanscareers.com>. It's very well done. That attention to detail in the recruiting process no doubt helps it achieve its position in the Fortune and ComputerWorld 100 best places to work. 

The only gripe I have with THE DIFF is the 3-column layout with the blog entries in the middle. While not uncommon, blog readers tend to expect the posts to be in the far-left column. This non-standard layout makes it slightly harder to navigate for first-time visitors. But this layout does help expose more content, so it's not a terrible tradeoff.  

Grade: A+

Note:

1. Like Mark, I've been stuck in the endless line out of the parking lot at The Gorge here in Washington state, most recently this past Sunday night. But instead of waiting in line for an hour, we got out of our car and visited with some friends we'd met that night. Now that's not a good enough story to make the What's the Diff blog, but it does help me win a bet!