Photo: nettsu on Flickr

What is the deal with blogs?

Blocks: weesen on Flickr

•  By the end of 2011, the Nielsen/McKinsey company had tracked over 181 million blogs around the world, up from 36 million in 2006

Staggering Stats

Source: blog.nielsen.com

•  There are an estimated 31 million bloggers in the United States

•  There are 70 million WordPress blogs & 39 million Tumblr blogs worldwide

Staggering Stats

Source: blogging.org, July 2012

Source: webgranth.com, July 2012

•  More than 50% of all internet users read blogs at least once a month

•  Social media sites & blogs reach 80% of all U.S. internet users

Staggering Stats

Source: thedataoctopus.co.uk, September 2012

Source: webbiquity.com, August 2012

Source: blogworld.com, May 2012

•  There are over 1.4 million new blog posts per day

•  Blog readers average 23 hours online each week

•  6% of the entire US adult population has created a blog at one time or another

Staggering Stats

Why Would My Organization Want A Blog?

marketingmama.com Co-founder Minnesota Blogger Conference

Missy Berggren

“Blogging is NOT just a marketing tactic to get your message out. Approach it as a conversation.”

•  Blogs about a specific topic are tend to be more successful.

•  Blogs with passion stand out.

•  Most nonprofits are built around a central mission. Connect these dots.

•  Blogs encourage sharing and advocacy. Again, what nonprofit doesn’t desire that?

•  The cost of entry is very low compared to the potential benfits.

Nonprofits Should Blog IMO

•  Can a blog help your organization achieve a goal you desire?

•  Are your goals realistic?

•  Do you have the human resources to support a blog?

•  Be honest. You won’t hurt my feelings.

But you might want to stick around to hear the rest of what I have to say…

But Is It Right For You?

•  Act as a fundraising tool?

•  Share news about your organization?

•  Provide resources?

•  Tell your story in a new way?

•  Engage and activate supporters?

Does Your Blog Have a Goal?

“There are no magic wands, no hidden tracks, and no secret handshakes that can bring you immediate [blogging] success, But with time, energy and determination

you can get there.”

problogger.net Author of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog

Darren Rowse

Be Realistic

•  Visitors won’t come overnight. Don’t be discouraged by your site analytics at first.

•  Little or no comments are normal. Pay more attention to social sharing activity.

•  Building engagement is a foundation. Give the cement time to cure.

•  Someone should be directly responsible for the blog, it’s content, & maintenance.

•  Ideally, this person is in-house, very knowledgeable about your organization & a supporter/advocate

•  This role will represent a very public extension of your organization. Choose wisely.

Who’s Doing It?

You Can Do It!

Choose a Blogging Platform

Blogging Platform blogger.com

Blogging Platform wordpress.com

Blogging Platform tumblr.com

Blogging Platform posterous.com

Blogging Platform wordpress.org

Content Considerations

Make Some Decisions

Look at other blogs. Take notes on what you like and don’t like.

Some must-haves for Nonprofits:

•  An about page

•  A “Donate Now” button

•  E-Newsletter sign-up

•  Social media icons linking to your active organizational accounts

How Often to Post? •  Start with one post per week.

•  Work up slowly to two.

•  Create a 3 month calendar of topics and types of posts. Stick to it.

•  After that, set a time to review/revise/adjust/augment your process.

•  Don’t give up. Keep going!

“There is no magic number. Daily, weekly, monthly, blogging

is not dependent on how frequent, but more on how impactful.”

unmarketing.com Author of The Book Of Business (Un)Awesome & UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging

Scott Stratten

Anatomy of a Post •  The title is the most important

element. Make it good, relevant, & compelling.

•  Pictures are worth 1,000 Words. Use them.

•  What’s your story? Tell one.

•  Include links if needed.

•  End with a call to action

Source: Five Critical Components of a Blog Post, lockergnome.com

“One remarkable idea is better than many small ideas.”

chrisbrogan.com CEO & President of Human Business Works Author of The Impact Equation & Trust Agents

Chris Brogan

Show Don’t Just Tell

•  Include photos, video (and even audio if applicable) from your organization’s activities whenever possible

•  It’s never been easier. All you need is a smart phone

•  Set up accounts on social sites dedicated to specific types of media (Instagram, Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) and connect them to post updates on your blog.

Content Ideas (for Nonprofits)

•  Share & comment on breaking news

•  Post calls to action

•  Share stories, photos, & videos from events

•  Provide organizational updates

•  Share stories from the field

•  Interview experts

Source: 11 Blog Content Ideas for Nonprofits, nonprofitorgs.wordpress.com

Content Ideas (for Nonprofits)

•  Allow guest bloggers to post commentary & share their expertise

•  Share resources and useful tips

•  Solicit feedback & direction from supporters

•  Write numbered Lists

•  Highlight special donors & volunteers

Source: 11 Blog Content Ideas for Nonprofits, nonprofitorgs.wordpress.com

Repurpose Your Content

•  Use your blog to help feed social accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest)

•  Streamline your email newsletters: link headlines to full articles on your blog

•  Link, link, link (to your sources)

•  Give credit whenever quoting or excerpting text

•  If the photo doesn’t have a credit, chances are it’s being used without permission. Don’t use it.

•  Ask to use anything that seems ambiguous.

•  Pay attention to copyright & stated licenses

Don't Steal

•  Simple, standardized method of permission to share and use creative works

•  Change copyright terms from “all rights reserved” to “some rights reserved”

•  Work alongside copyright, enables creator to modify your copyright terms to best suit your needs

creativecommons.org

•  Learn the different licenses/symbols & RESPECT them

•  An ever-growing collection of photos, video, music and more is CC-licensed and available online now

•  Keep it growing! Use CC licenses for your creations

Google Image Search It works like magic.

What could possibly be wrong with…

Don’t Even Think About It!

Simply culls relevant images based on search terms. Very hard to determine photo credit, license, etc.

Flickr to the Rescue Search CC-licensed photos

(wait for it…) by intended use!

Search 101

•  Google pays more attention to blogs because the content is (usually) updated more often than static sites. Use this to your advantage.

•  Learn about basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

•  Then use your blogging platform's SEO tools to optimize each post

Search 101

Each posts should include:

•  Meta page title & description

•  Relevant keywords in copy

•  alt tags for images

•  proper link text etiquette (be descriptive, avoid “link here”)

•  Always choose an appropriate post category

“Blog with passion. Passion spreads.”

unmarketing.com Author of The Book Of Business (Un)Awesome & UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging

Scott Stratten

Make Sharing Easy sharethis.com

RSS Serves Your Content for You

•  RSS feeds automatically push updates to visitors

•  They can choose between a feed reader or email delivery

•  Keeps them connected without having to visit site.

•  This is a good thing

Google Reader google.com/reader

Measure Smartly google.com/analytics

“Do NOT get hung up on the tech. Get hung up on passion.”

chrisbrogan.com CEO & President of Human Business Works Author of The Impact Equation & Trust Agents

Chris Brogan

Who’s Doing It Right?

Success Stories charitywater.org/blog

Success Stories blog.2harvest.org

Success Stories blog.amnestyusa.org

Success Stories unitedwaytwincities.org/blog

Success Stories blog.redcross.org

Tools & Resources

Tools & Resources razoo.com

Tools & Resources blogactionday.org

Tools & Resources nptalk.co

Tools & Resources chrisbrogan.com/my-best-advice-about-blogging

marketingmama.com Co-founder Minnesota Blogger Conference

Missy Berggren

“Blogging gives us the opportunity to engage with our communities at a very deep level… if we are willing to be deep.”

Your turn.

Questions? Comments? Let’s chat.

Mykl Roventine myklroventine.com @myklroventine

Thank you!

Headshot: Glimpses of Soul Photography