I belong to a communications industry group, in which one of the members recently posed this question:
For orgs without a lot of blogs, what are some ways you’ve creatively thought outside the box to create content that is meaningful for audiences, besides sharing news from grantees?
This query mirrors a topic I addressed previously, about setting up your website.
If you played your cards right, your website has a blog component. And if you’re one of those Type-A sorts, you had five blog items written and ready to publish when you launched your business.
Next comes the hard part: continuing to feed the beast (also known as your blog). And we're doing a bit of heavy lifting for you here: writing the 7 Secrets for Successful Blogging.
Why Do I Need to Publish Blog Items Consistently?
OK, OK, I probably should tell you WHY you’re doing what you’ll be doing, before I tell you how to do it. If you already know the “why,” you can skip this part and go the seven bullet points below.
Your blog – if executed properly – is where you get to show your organization’s relevance. What sets your group apart? What’s happened in the news recently that your organization might have handled differently? What insider information would be helpful for your customers/clients to know?
If properly executed, blog postings are like letters to your best friends (or customers). You’re lifting the curtain that shows them a bit of how the sausage is made, how to make the best of opportunities, things not to do, and even things you just need to get off your chest.
Your blog should serve as a showcase for your subject matter expertise, and it should be written in an engaging, conversational manner. This is, after all, a note dashed off to a friend. If your organization is active, your blog posts should occur about every week.
You don’t want people to forget about you/your organization, do you?
Now, onto the 7 Secrets for Successful Blogging:
1 Write (About) the Wrongs: Allow Your Subject Matter Experts to Vent Their Spleens
Subject matter experts serve as excellent sources for blog topics. That’s because they’re immersed in their respective subjects during their waking hours. While they’re immersed, they see EVERYTHING. They see peers doing work they admire. And they see the inverse. I wrote this blog item for my website – about How to Write a Hammer-Resistant, Bullet-Proof Press Release – after working 30 years in the media, and seeing both the best and worst news releases ever written. I needed to vent my spleen.
The blog item performed two missions: 1: Improve the quality of press releases, so both the media and the public can get the information they need, in as short a time as possible. 2: Showcase my expertise in writing press releases, to drum up business.
So, if you need blog topics, buy your subject matter experts a cup of coffee and chat about what’s been on their mind lately. The resulting conversation will probably result in at least five blog items, which you can then schedule out.
Now, these blog items shouldn’t be an enormous Airing of the Grievances. They can be constructive and informational, and they can make your people look incredibly smart (because they are).
2 Write About Why You’re Here
This idea came to me while I was working on a blog item for a client who thought it was necessary to describe to the public why they’re doing what they’re doing.
Any organization worth its salt has a larger ultimate goal or reason for being. Hopefully, your organization’s reason for being is larger than any single person. Beyond simply describing what you do (which your website should already address), here’s your chance to tell your readers the WHY.
In the case of one of my clients, they wanted to discuss their problem-solving philosophies, their approach to handling fears and opportunities, and their desire to operate in a spirit of abundance, rather than scarcity.
It was an unusual writing assignment for me (I’m better with concrete subjects than abstract concepts), I think the end product was valuable for the organization and its potential clients. When published, the blog will help the public understand the incredible thought and reflection that go into my client’s products and work.
3 Blog About Who You Are
Good websites have bio sections describing company leaders. Great websites (and organizations) have blogs that describe the average day in the life of your organization’s thought leaders. This topic helps clear the fog left behind from the preceding, lofty blog topic of “Why Am I Here?”, with the answer to the question: How Do You Take Your Coffee? Granted, the answer to the question can be mundane, but who doesn’t enjoy a bit of mundane, especially if it’s not YOUR mundane?
How does your CEO’s military background figure into how they go about structuring their day? Definitely don’t limit content to what happens in the office. Is your CFO a runner? What are their favorite routes, and what’s their shoe of choice? How is your comms staff dealing with artificial intelligence? This is your chance to humanize your organization and make your thought leaders relatable to clients and potential clients.
There’s too little humanity in content nowadays and here’s your chance to shine with yours.
4 Blog About Your Superpower
No doubt, you have a competitor. I’m sure they’re fine. But they’re not you/your organization. Much like Iron Man, you have an origin story. Your organization has punched above its weight. It’s helped the Little Guy succeed against the odds.
A few years ago, a nonprofit I worked for entered a competition to be the National Chamber of the Year. The questions on the form were incredibly specific: What tangible impacts have you made in the community? What outreach have you done to benefit those in need? What challenges have you had to overcome in the past year? These answers to these questions, and your superpowers, are tremendous fodder for blog content.
And yes, my organization did earn National Chamber of the Year recognition.
5 Hey! We Did A Thing!
Was your CEO quoted as a subject matter expert In the Daily Bugle? Did your building just receive a platinum LEED energy-efficiency certification? Did you just publish a magazine summarizing the work of your higher education partners? Have your subject matter experts been honored for their accomplishments? Did you just release a video about a new organizational initiative?
Those, my friend, are what blog entries are made of.
None of us are in this alone. We’re all working with other organizations and partners to advance a larger mission. When a partner does good or wins First Prize, this is an opportunity to salute them. First, it helps amplify the good news for your partner-in-good. Second, that honor/prize carries a halo, and spreading the word casts some of that halo onto your organization. Better put, by Hada Bejar: “The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose.”
7 Hire a Writer
OK, here’s where things get mercenary. I admit I’m a recovering journalist who used to write three or four stories a day for the Daily Tribune (not kidding). There are people like me all over the place, roaming the countryside, looking to tell stories like those described above. Here’s a link to my blog item describing why you need to hire people like me (or me) to tell your story.
There you have it. If you need someone to write your blog posts (or to build your entire campaign), that can be arranged.
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