Working With Blogs and Bloggers

What We’ll Cover

• Some Numbers• Types of Blogs• Types of Bloggers• Why People Blog• Why Blogs are Relevant• Trustees of This Movement• Should You Blog?• Glossary• Step-By-Step Guide

Some Numbers

• 133,000,000 – number of blogs indexed by Technorati since 2002

• 346,000,000 – number of people globally who read blogs (comScore March 2008)

• 900,000 – average number of blog posts in a 24-hour period

• 1,750,000 – number of RSS subscribers to TechCrunch, the most popular Technology blog (January 2009)

• 77% - percentage of active Internet users who read blogs

• 59% – percentage of bloggers who have been blogging for at least 2 years Source: http://technorati.com/blogging/state-of-the-blogosphere/

http://thefuturebuzz.com/2009/01/12/social-media-web-20-internet-numbers-stats/

Types of Blogs

• Personal– Reflect on life, share opinions, use as a creative

outlet• Nonprofit/Advocacy

– Current work, campaign updates, laws that affect their issue

• Corporate/Business– Communications, marketing, publicity, products

• Topic/Issue– Travel, political, music, design, niches, immigration,

health care

Types of Bloggers

• Professional– Former/current journalists looking for a new medium or

new audience• Activist

– Citizen activists honing in on stories not covered by traditional media

• Identity– Folks motivated by a desire to connect with others like

them (i.e. mom bloggers, LGBT bloggers, etc.)• Hobbyists

– Folks motivated by a desire to share information with others who share a passion (i.e. sports bloggers, UFO bloggers, etc.)

Why People Blog

• Share thoughts/opinions, information/content, news stories

• Participate in community/conversations and talk about agreements and disagreements

• Cover what mainstream media isn’t covering

• Give exposure to a topic/issue

• Comment on and/or help spread breaking news

Why Blogs are Relevant

• Timely

• Informative

• Engaging

• Participatory

• Community-driven

President Clinton’s Keynote @ Netroots Nation

“You hold the seeds of a genuine revolution in our public life, and you do it by mobilizing people, and generating emotion, but also getting people to think.

People trust you. Even people who read you but who don't agree with you, they believe that you believe what you put down.

You are trustees of this movement… We can't be in the peanut gallery. We have to be actors.”

President Clinton’s Keynote @ Netroots Nation

http://www.youtube.com/v/c6Iv13jnCnk

Should You or Shouldn’t You Blog?

You should blog if:• You have something to say that’s worth people’s

time• You’re interested in inviting conversation• You have time to write articles that are engaging

and useful• You’re willing and able to respond to

comments/questions and engage with your readers

• You’re eager to read other blogs and participate in the blogosphere

Should You or Shouldn’t You Blog?

You should NOT blog if:• You’re interested in distributing press releases to

a new audience• You’re uncomfortable getting feedback through

public comments• Your organization has several layers of

bureaucracy to publish public-facing information• Your organization is slow to issue information or to

break news

Not sure? Start small and read other blogs to get an idea of the blogosphere and its various communities.

Glossary of Terms

• Blogroll = list of blogs that a blogger recommends and is reading

• Trackback = notifies a blogger that someone linked to or referenced their blog article

• Permalink (permanent link) = the specific, permanent URL of a blog article

http://www.frogloop.com

Glossary of Terms

• RSS (really simple syndication)– Web feed of your blog (or other website content)

that is read through an RSS reader or aggregator(e.g. Google Reader)

• Vlog = video blog

• Vlogger = video blogger

Step-By-Step Guide

1. Internal Organization

2. Goals

3. Software

4. Blogging

5. Participate & Engage

6. Promote & Track

1. Internal Organization

• Who’s going to be the blogger/voice of your org?

• How much time do they have to dedicate?

• What kind of review process do you need?

• How does this fit into your communications calendar?

• How can you coordinate with other departments to help generate story ideas?

2. Goals

• What do you want to accomplish by having a blog?

• Who’s your audience?

• Who do you want to engage with?

• How often will you update it?

3. Software

• Can your current CMS publish blogs?

• Do you need to explore free software?– WordPress– Moveable Type– Blogger– TypePad– Tumblr– Weebly

4. Blogging

• Don’t just recite/re-post a press release

• Be engaging and exciting; give readers a reason to return

• Headline and first paragraph or two are important to grab a reader’s attention (just like with an email blast)

4. Blogging

• Use a natural voice and casual tone

• Post frequently and be ready to comment on breaking news

• Pose a question and encourage people to leave their thoughts/opinions

• Respond quickly to comments/questions

5. Participate & Engage

• Introduce yourself to other bloggers in the space

• Read/comment on other blogs

• Participate in the blog community; don’t just plug/advertise your blog

• Understand “gift economy” – give scoops, interviews, etc. when appropriate

5. Participate & Engage

• Ask guest bloggers to write for your blog

• Places to find blogs– leftyblogs.com– technorati.com– blogsearch.google.com– blogrolls (on other

sites)

6. Promote & Track

• Promote the blog– Website– Social networking sites– Email blasts– Friends and family– Colleagues– Appropriate listservs– Related organizations

www.one.org home page

6. Promote & Track

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10ch/

• Track the metrics– Views– Comments– Posts– Trackbacks

• Listen to feedback

• Learn from your success and failures

Contact Info

New Organizing Institute(202) 558-5585info@neworganizing.comwww.neworganizing.comwww.twitter.com/neworganizing