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 ,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:

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 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 Netroots Nation

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

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 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 – blasts – Friends and family – Colleagues – Appropriate listservs – Related organizations home page

6. Promote & Track Track the metrics – Views – Comments – Posts – Trackbacks Listen to feedback Learn from your success and failures

Contact Info New Organizing Institute (202)