Blogging as an Innovative Strategy To Develop Emerging Nurse Leaders Background Blogging Best Practices Editorial Lessons Learned Reader Comments Special Thanks Blog Statistics The original aim of the blog launched in October of 2011 was to engage emerging nurse leaders in discussions about nursing leadership with the goal of encouraging them to seek nurse leader positions. Today, the blog is read by emerging, new and experienced leaders – including leaders outside of nursing. Key elements include:  Blogs on a variety of leadership topics grounded in evidence-based findings are published twice each week (Monday & Thursday).  Most blogs include a Read to Lead list and access to free supplementary materials.  Readers are encouraged to comment on the blogs. The Pew Research foundation reports that 70% of Blog Readers are members of Generation Y. Blogs offer a unique opportunity to reach a global audience of nurses who might not have access to traditional journals. Best practices include the following: ●Blog a minimum of twice each week with content between 600 and 1000 words. ●Begin with a self-hosted blog for maximum versatility. ●Install analytics packages such as google analytics to track reader usage. ●Learn about SEO (search engine optimization. There is nothing more satisfying than to have readers tell me how much the blog is helping them in their practice. Some of my favorite comments include: “I sometimes feel that you must be lurking in our hospital just observing our challenges because your blogs are so on point and timely. It seems that I have a problem then you publish a blog on it.” “ I am a new manager who is really struggling – I read your blog and I know that I am not alone. All of us have problems.” “We call ourselves your blog groupies.” – the leadership team at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara “I really appreciate the information in your blogs. When I started my nursing leadership career, we had few resources to guide us.” “ I somehow stumbled on your blog while doing research for my master’s thesis and I love it. I am not a nurse but am working hard to create change as an administrator in a small rural hospital. “ (( 376 blogs have been posted on a wide variety of leadership topics. Blog has subscribers who receive blog postings by . Monthly unique visitors to site averages between 11,000 and 13,000 with many international users. Blog is used by some organizations in their monthly leadership meetings and training. Blog is part of an academic assignment in a number of nursing programs. Linkages to the blog are on many nursing organizational websites such as the ANA Leadership Institute, the Colorado Center for Nursing Leadership and the Florida Center for Nursing. Several blog topics have reposted with permission in nursing and leadership publications.  Blogging is a significant commitment of time and economic resources.  Attendance at blogging conventions and reading about blogging is essential to understand best practices.  Google is a powerful driver of blog traffic so SEO is important.  Blogs can be easily hacked and taken offline by malware so installation of sophisticated firewalls is essential.  I have evolved in my role as blog editor and now see myself as a curator of leadership content – using the best research, literature, blogs and videos such as TED talks out there.  Developing new blog content is challenging – I use everyday interaction with nurse leaders as a source of inspiration. 561) Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN Florida Atlantic University Blog Editor To my Dean – Dr. Marlaine Smith who was supportive of this venture from the beginning. Many in academia see this type of writing as a waste of time. I believe there is more than one way to achieve impact.