We Are Media: Blogging

Presented by

Dawn CrawfordSocial Media & Communications Strategist at BC/DC Ideas

&

Leandra GankoWeb Designer/Developer for LeGa Design Group

1st Half

• Introductions• Why do you want to blog?• Getting Started• Wordpress Dashboard Overview• Superstars of Blogging

2nd Half

• Let's Get Blogging• Publish!• Blog Show and Tell• Creating a Sustainable Blog• Promoting Your Blog• Measuring Your Success

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.

- Harper Lee

Welcome AUTHORS!

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Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.

– Leo Tolstoy

Why Blog?

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• Share your amazing story• Thank volunteers, board members,

staff & supporters• Give supporters a behind-the-scenes

look• Give staff an creative outlet• Further your cause• Establish your expertise

All my life I've looked at words as though I were seeing them for the first time.

- Ernest Hemingway

Rules??!!

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Okay, there are no rules, but here are some guidelines• Update on a schedule• Grammatically correct• Write with substance• Link to other information• Tags and categories!• Add photos/graphics• Write intriguing headlines

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.

- John Steinbeck

What to Write About

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Idea BOUNCE!

• Pick a niche – talk about your cause• Outstanding donations• Classes/Education• Success Stories• Clients• News that affects your cause• Get others to guest post

All great achievements require time.

- Maya Angelou

Let's Dig In

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I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.

- Jane Austen

Who to Read

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• Museum of Life and Science – Department focused blogs written by employees– http://www.lifeandscience.org – http://mlsanimaldepartment.blogspot.com/2010/03/get-g

ood-look-now.html– http://blogs.ncmls.org/greg-dodge/2010/03/11/snakes/

• National Wildlife Foundation – Mission blogging– http://blogs.nwf.org/

• Colorado Health Foundation – Organizational blogging, lots of event blogging– http://coloradohealth.typepad.com/health_relay/

More Examples:ONE blog - http://one.org/blog/MOMA's Inside/Out - http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out

• We Are Media - http://www.wearemedia.org/ • Beth’s NPO Social Media Blog – http://beth.typepad.com/ • Kivi’s NPO Communications Blog - http://www.nonprofitmarketingguide.com/blog • John Haydon - http://www.johnhaydon.com/ • Wild Apricot - http://www.wildapricot.com/blogs/newsblog/default.aspx• Duck Call from Big Duck - http://www.bigducknyc.com/blog/• Pamela's Grant Writing Blog - http://www.pamelasgrantwritingblog.com/• Pulse and Signal - http://pulseandsignal.com/ • Have Fun, Do Good - http://havefundogood.blogspot.com/ • Just for fun:

– http://www.cuteoverload.com – http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/– http://www.dooce.com/– http://CrapIMake.Wordpress.com

The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.

- Ayn Rand

Get Writing!

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Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build & nobody wants to do maintenance.

- Kurt Vonnegut

Building a Sustainable Blog

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• Make an editorial calendar – content & publishing schedule

• Set-up a Google Reader or RSS• Assemble a team• Solicit guest posts• Blog in spurts• Create regular columns

Cut out all these exclamation points. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.

- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Finding Readers

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• Include blog address on all your collateral• Post on social media channels – Facebook,

Twitter, etc.• Add email subscription• Include a teaser article in newsletters• Guest posts on other blogs• Exchange links with your favorite blogs• List your blog on blog directories

It's a matter of taking the side of the weak against the strong, something the best people have always done.

- Harriet Beecher Stowe

Measure Your Success

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• Page views• Comments• Links• Employee, donor engagement

Now Get Writing!

Dawn A Crawford• dawnacrawford@gmail.com • 720-231-1930• http://www.bcdcideas.com• @SocMediaRckStr • http://www.Facebook.com/Dawn.A.Crawford• http://crapimake.wordpress.com (blog)

Leandra Ganko• leandra@legadesigngroup.com • 919.932.9366• http://www.legadesigngroup.com/ • @tlkativ • http://www.ericandleandra.com/ (blog)