Posts tagged blogging best practices
The World’s Best Non-Profit Blogs
May 8th
Blogs and social media are critical communication tools for non-profits. In fact, according to research by the University of Massachusetts, a higher percentage of non-profits have active blogs than any other category. And it makes sense. Blogs are a cost-effective way to tell stories and build a consistent emotional connection with constituents. But how are they doing? What are the best in the world?
So I embarked on an ambitious project in partnership with Helen Brown, founder and president of The Helen Brown Group. Helen knows non-profits and has devoted her career to teaching some of the biggest organizations in the world how to raise funds more effectively.
We examined more than 250 blogs from some of the largest and most important charities anywhere. We looked for the blogs that were engaging an audience, offering superb content, and aligning with the organization’s strategies. Last year, when I compiled a list of The Best Company Blogs in the World, I noted that it was a depressing experience. Most company blogs aren’t that good and I’m a little sad to say we had a similar experience with the non-profits. Helen summed up our experience in one word: “DRECK.”
But we did find inspiring blogs out there. Here, in no particular order, are the best non-profit blogs in the world.
This is simply one of the best blogs you will find anywhere, profit or non-profit. It has it all:
- Superior content
- Non-intrusive yet effective calls to action
- Good use of multi-media such as photography and video
- Superb use of story-telling to align with objectives
- Attractive and functional design
- Convenient social sharing
- Features that involve key stakeholders
This blog is a role model for any organization.
This is a wonderful, interesting blog. Of course it serves as the place to go in the event of a disaster, but it is also an entertaining read. As a good example, read this post about the historical role of The Salvation Army in the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Another post features a “fashionista” getting her clothes from a Salvation Army Thrift Shop. Not only is this type of post great story-telling, it connects readers with the history and rock-solid foundation of the organization in an entertaining way that cuts through the noise.
While a good-looking and well-organized blog, inexplicably, it seems to stand alone from the primary Salvation Army site. There is no easy way to connect directly to the organization or donate money right from the blog. Missed opportunity.
Holland Bloorview Childrens Rehabilitation Hospital
This blog brought tears to my eyes. If you’re a parent, it will probably have the same affect on you.
Bloom is about parenting special needs kids. It isn’t fancy. In fact it’s just on Blogger. But what it lacks in sophistication it more than makes up in courage and heart. Writer Louise Kinross has something unique and personal going on here. She has nurtured an active, loyal community and with good reason … this is blogging at its best.
Check out this gutsy, effective blog. With My Own Eyes is a firsthand, photo-journalism account offering users the opportunity to see some of the most devastated, disaster-ravaged and previously inaccessible places in the world, as well as a look at Operation Blessing’s efforts to help people that live there.
This multimedia site features video footage, photos and the personal diary entries of some of the team leaders from more than 25 countries including China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru and the U.S. Each blog post provides concrete ideas on how to connect and help.
This blog just began in 2011 so we’ll have to check in later to see if they can sustain what is starting out to be an excellent blog. World Vision works with impoverished children and their families throughout the world and is also effectively using eyewitness accounts to connect to constituents.
Some of the hallmarks of this journal are fantastic, colorful articles that pull you in to the organization and its mission. This blog seems to have jumped out of the starter’s gate quickly — some of its daily posts are already getting more than 1,000 shares. While the design of the blog is quite busy, check out the beautiful and effective design of the main website while you’re visiting.
Simply put, The Broad Institute is creating methods, tools and massive data sets and makes them available to the general scientific community to rapidly accelerate biomedical advancement.
The charming thing about their blog — Broad Minded — is that it frames complicated subjects in accessible terms. I’m partial to science literature any way so this blog was a delight. I mean how can you miss with a blog post titled “Lifestyles of the Fungal and Famous” or another that explains unraveling mysteries of DNA as a Julia Childs recipe.
This is a lively, stratight-forward blog that is exceedingly well-aligned with the mission of the organization.
Refugees International advocates for lifesaving assistance and protection for displaced people and promotes solutions to displacement crises. This blog achieves story-telling excellence through extraordinary writing, compelling videos and dramatic photography. If you want an example, check out this video on how refugees struggle to find an education. The almost daily blog is unafraid to confront difficult political issues and take a stand as it boldly raises awareness for its cause. A smart, superb blog.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) explores the region’s media (both print and television), websites, religious sermons and school books. This blog stands out in a special way because essentially, the blog IS the organization.
This respected non-profit scans the Middle East for important news and trends and provides timely translations of Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Pashtu, Dari, Hindi, and Turkish media in separate blogs. Other sections provide original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East. This series of blogs is the centerpiece of this important effort. Pretty cool.
This blog provides consistently good content mixed with compelling multi-media. It has several nice features like a list of all local Red Cross Chapter blogs, weekly round-ups of disaster relief efforts around the world, and connections to many disaster-response related resources. Just all-around helpful and targeted to support the needs of its constituents. I don’t know why this blog is detached from the main Red Cross website. A missed opportunity. Also, it is strange that the blog gets no comments when it is such a vital community-focused organization. And in the “maybe I’m picky category” — seems like they could have come up with a better title for their showcase than “Blog.” : )
BONUS CONTENT!
If you’re interested in non-profit best practices, Helen Brown has provided this list of some of her favorite blogs ABOUT charities and fund-raising:
Stanford Social Innovation Review Blog
The SSIR is part of the Stanford University Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS). Highlighting thought leaders, practitioners and innovative funders and “striking a balance between the pragmatic and the intellectual,” this blog keeps you up-to-date on the issues at the forefront of the third sector. Contributors include Sean Stannard-Stockton, Amy Sample Ward and Peter Sims.
Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Blogs
The Chronicle of Philanthropy site plays host to a number of blogs including those on prospecting, candid conversations about nonprofit boards, international philanthropy and social media for nonprofits. Contributors include staff writers as well as experts and thought leaders on their given topic.
Queer Ideas; a bloody good fundraising blog
Sometimes irreverent, usually cutting-edge, always intelligent and interesting, this blog is written by Mark Phillips, founder and CEO of bluefrog, a fundraising consulting firm in the UK. His observations and links to helpful research and resources make this a good one to expand your mind.
Beth Kantor is seen by many (us included) as the go-to blog for nonprofit fitness checks, great ideas, subtle nudges toward excellence and good advice on social media, networking and organizational management you’d do well to take. Beth’s writing style is accessible and friendly, yet the blog is packed with resources, links to scholarly studies and other references that you need to know about.
Written by the co-author (with Beth Kanter) of The Networked Nonprofit, Allison Fine’s blog is a combination of acute observation and commentary on articles, videos, campaigns and collateral on fundraising, networking and social media. An extra bonus on her site is links to Allison’s monthly podcast interviews for the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Philanthropy 2173; The Business of Giving
Authored by Lucy Bernholz, founder and president of Blueprint Research & Design, Inc., Bernholz is to nonprofits what Rachel Maddow is to liberal politics – intelligent and incisive yet accessible, wonky, and (respectfully) pulling no punches. The blog approaches nonprofits and their arena as a third business sector, and Bernholz isn’t sitting behind a desk; very often she’s interviewing some game-changing sector leader and sharing their conversations and her insights.
So there you have it! The best non-profit blogs you’ll find anywhere. Of course there are some good ones out there that we missed. Do you have a favorite? What blogging ideas did you pick up from this list of great blogs?
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How do you REALLY build a blog community? A love story.
May 5th
This is my 500th blog post.
It snuck up on me. I’m sorry that I don’t have anything particularly profound to say to commemorate this milestone, but I thought I would address a question I hear constantly — “How did you build such an awesome blog community?” Certainly this has been the most visible achievement of all this work.
As I reflect on what has happened here over the past few years, I think a few turning points stand out that might help you in your own efforts. At least these are things that have worked for me.
Early promotion — I used the old marketing maxim to go where my “customers” are as tried to introduce the blog. For example, as I was trying to gain traction, I would use links to blog posts to help answer questions in LinkedIn forums. I was an active participant in other blogs (as I still am) and also promoted the blog everywhere I would naturally have an email address. I used the blog to be authentically helpful and connect to new people. In all honesty, I had no idea what I was doing. This was a distinct advantage in some ways!
The first visitors — What a joy and surprise to find people enjoying my blog and even commenting. I made an effort to connect to them by helping to support their blogs and Twitter efforts too. Sadly, I have so many regular readers of {grow} I cannot possibly do this today. The irony of social media is the result of success is LESS engagement. I really hate that.
Asking for help — It got to a point where I was writing what I thought were really unique posts but they still were’t getting much attention. So I asked for attention. When I wrote something really great, I would send a link to some bloggers I admired and asked them for feedback. This is a euphemism for “a tweet.” People are really nice on Twitter and I never had a request turned down. Of course I only asked sparingly and only when I thought I had an extraordinary post. But it helped.
Show gratitude — There is this rumor going around (Gini Dietrich!) that I wrote personal notes thanking people for their help. This is true. That may seem like over-kill but I didn’t know any better. I was being polite! For example, early in my blogging career Jason Falls wrote a very kind post indicating that I was an up and coming blogger to watch. So I wrote him a thank you note. Why wouldn’t I? Sidenote — Since Gini started broadcasting this two weeks ago, I have received three personal hand-written notes. : )
Taking a human view — Behind every little commenter picture is a story and an awesome person. That fascinates me to no end. I am so hungry to learn more about you. I wish I could know all of you so much better. One of the things that has made a difference is treating people like people, not comments. If I sense that a commenter is struggling or suffering, I invite them to call me. I know that is seen as “taboo,” but the way I see it, we’re all in this together right? Why not help each other when we can? There is no reason we can’t be friends.
Being involved — I try to thoughtfully respond to each comment. I think that encourages people to comment, but it also is courtesy. Every day I am blown away that people spend their precious time commenting here. I think I owe them a response in return. The least I can do.
But the big community driver is … content. It seems trite, but it really is true. I know that people find the blog and stay here due to the content. When I write something great, I am rewarded with comments and tweets, meaningful social media engagement. So if you want to grow a community, be prepared to put in the hard work to settle for nothing less than consistent, compelling, relevant and entertaining content. And be human. Think about your favorite {grow} post. I bet it had something to do with me admitting a weakness or having the courage to be humble. As writers, and as leaders, there is strength in weakness.
Where do we go from here?
The growth of the community has been staggering by every measure. I’m averaging more than 50 comments per post which I was told is in the top 1 percent of all blogs. And you’re a classy bunch. I have had almost 11,000 comments on {grow} and have only deleted three for being inappropriate.
I have lots of ideas on how to grow {grow} and try some creative new ideas. The hurdle is time and resources, which I’m sure will sound familiar! I’m on a mission of continuous learning and improvement, which is what this is all about. This is a community of students, not gurus.
Yes, sometimes I get weary responding to comments at 2 a.m. I have wondered if I am on the right path. But then I catch a glimpse of an evolution of something exciting happening here. This is a REAL community. People are connecting and helping each other.
And when I finally meet folks from our community in real life … and they embrace you like a brother … and they trust you with their life story … and tell me I have impacted their life … I realize that this is becoming a movement that is leading to something bigger. I don’t know what, but it’s going to be bold and amazing.
So 500 posts is just the beginning. The community has become important to me on so many levels. And I’m going to create insanely great content and respond to all the comments I possibly can because I can’t wait to see what happens next!
The answer to today’s post headline really belongs to you. Why are you here and why do you stay? Do you have a favorite blog post that hooked you? If you have been reading for some time, why not take the leap and tweet and/or comment. Join in and let everybody know you’re here!
Thanks to all of you — whether you comment here or engage in another way — for making this a special place and an amazing experience!
29 Reasons Why Your Company Blog Has Stalled
Apr 25th
By Stanford Smith, Contributing {grow} Columnist
At {grow} we spend a lot of time talking (sometimes arguing) about the intersection of social marketing and smart business. In almost every situation, publishing a blog is an excellent strategy. A blog creates a new marketing asset that generates leads, qualifies prospects, builds loyalty and retains customers.
Unfortunately, publishing a blog is much easier than maintaining its growth. A quick tour around the blogosphere offers ample evidence of how challenging business blogging can be. Empty comment sections, single-digit retweet tickers, lackluster headlines, and anemic topics are just par for the course.
It’s easy for the social media cool kids to chalk these missteps up to corporate laziness. However, there is a different answer. I think it’s just plain ignorance of what’s required to keep a blog moving in the right direction. Marketing managers are just blind to the danger signals that indicate that a blog is heading for obscurity.
So, we’ll take a quick look at 29 reasons why business blog has stalled.
Starting Without A Vision
1) Focusing On The Wrong Audience: Sometimes your audience isn’t the buyer of your products. I’ve seen companies jumpstart their blog growth by focusing on the user of the products rather than the “decision-maker.”
2) “I” Focused: Remember, social business is not about YOU. Blogs that focus on customers, problems, answers, and dreams build value much faster than online sales pitches.
3) Doesn’t Inspire: Your blog must stand for something beyond making a transaction. Readers must catch a glimpse of your hairy audacious vision of the future.
4) Focused on “Things” and not People: Don’t make the mistake of thinking that products enhance more than people. I love Apple products not because they are well designed but because Apples explains how they are designed for me.
5) Infested with Jargon: It’s impossible to craft a successful blog around jargon and abstract principles. The more specific you are about your vision – the better.
6) Doesn’t Lead (pandering to polls, surveys, and testing): Mark and I have been talking about this for a few months now. Your readers don’t want to lead you. They want to be led. Your editorial calendar is proof of your brilliance; it can’t be outsourced.
7) Isn’t Innovative: Blogs die when they depend on me-too topics. If you are unlucky enough to manufacture a commodity product then you’ll need to blog filled with innovative topics.
8. Hypocritical: Your stated vision isn’t reinforced by your social communications. You can’t say the customer service is a priority and not respond to customer service inquiries via Twitter.
9) Shallow – You aren’t creating the stories and content that adds vibrancy and relevance to your vision
Confusing Monologue with Dialogue
10) Barring Comments: Not accepting comments is stupid. If you need to bar comments then you don’t need social media. Period.
11) No Response: People are funny about communication; if they talk to you they want to hear back! Not responding to comments demonstrates that you don’t respect or care about your audience.
12) Robotic, Party-line Responses: When you do comment make sure you sound like a human being. Leave your buzzword bingo skills back in the cubicle.
13) Spotty Posting and Updating: Erratic and unpredictable posting schedules says “you can’t rely on me for information/”
14) “All About Me”: If your blog comments start with “I”, “We”, “Our”, or “My” then you can bet that they will get ignored. Your readers will listen to you after you’ve talked about them.
15) Lack of Gratitude: Saying Thank You is a dying art. Show genuine appreciation for your readers spending time with your blog. Give them free stuff, thank them in your comments, follow them on Twitter, retweet their stuff, link to them in blog posts. It’s the best investment you’ll ever make.
16) Not Encouraging Feedback – Close-Ended Posts: Business bloggers have a devilishly hard time getting readers to comment. After reviewing hundreds of blogs I’ve discovered that most of these blogs don’t encourage feedback. Their posts are neatly summarized statements that scream “don’t comment”. Consider writing your post as if you need reader input to complete the post. Remember The question mark is your friend in social media.
17) Talking At versus To Your Readers: Here on {grow} almost every commenter is addressed by the first name. Do the same. When a readers sees their name they instantly feel that the blog is talking to them and not at them.
18) No Follow-up in Other Channels: Comments, tweets, and updates isn’t the whole ballgame. Email is still an essential communication channel for businesses. Often your most influential readers will ask questions via email. Answer these as if your business depended it on it.
19) Machiavellian Comment Policy: Deleting everything but the rosiest or blandest comments will destroy your blog. Grow a thick skin or go back to putting brochures in the mail.
Failing to Build Rapport
20) Confusing Logos With People: Using a logo as the face of your social media effort is a risky proposition. I understand that branding is important but people identify with visionary people and passionate communities not logos.
21) Not Talking About Your People: Social business works because it tears away the curtain and shows that your company is human, authentic, and engaged. Talk about your people and their contributions.
22) Not Cheerleading for Your Customers: Your blog is a powerful platform for including your customers in your marketing. Celebrate their successes and crow about their people. They will quickly become the #1 source of traffic for your blog.
23) Treating Your Blog Like a Brochure: Blogs build audiences and establish credibility. They suck at directly selling product. Do so and you will drive away visitors in droves.
24) Using Twitter and Facebook for Advertising: Be careful with using Facebook or Twitter as tool for broadcasting links to your blog. These tools require an upfront investment in rapport building before you can use them for driving traffic
25) RT Laziness: Simply hitting the RT button without reading and adding value puts you in the “spam” category and devalues your contribution.
26) Not Following or liking your customers: Find your customers twitter handles and Facebook pages and follow them. This shows that you are interested in them and want a relationship beyond the transaction.
27) Letting your lawyers control your voice: Social Media requires a degree of empowerment and trust. Craft a clear social media policy and educate your team. They are your voice – not the legal team.
28) Confusing Brand with Voice: One more point, your brand is usually built and set in stone by agencies, graphic designers, media planners and copywriters. Your “voice” evolves through communication, engagement, and collaboration with your customers, readers, and enthusiasts. Don’t confuse the two. You might even find that your social Voice is your true brand.
29) Thinking Social Media is the Marketing Team’s Job: Surprisingly, your marketing team a relatively “small” part to play in your day-to-day social media plan. Successful social media programs inspire collaboration between PR, Customer Service, Production, and the executive team.
Are you responsible for steering a corporate blog to success? What are some of the challenges you’ve faced?
Stanford Smith is a hopelessly addicted angler, father of 3 hellions, and the wild-eyed muse behind PushingSocial.com. Follow him on Twitter to get his latest unorthodox tips for getting your blog noticed and promoted.
Take the Mystery Out of Twitter!
, the best-selling Twitter book in the world! Learn the three elements behind every Twitter success, 22 ways to build a relevant audience, strategies to create personal and business benefits, and hundreds of amazing tips and time-savers.Click on the image for a Special Amazon promotion!
Building a blog community? Don’t overlook “digital babies”
Mar 21st
By Srinivas Rao, Contributing {grow} Columnist
In the earliest days of my blogging career — well, to be honest that was just 18 months ago! — people taught me about getting my name out there by commenting on well-known blogs and guest posting at big blogs. While the guest posting strategy definitely had a strong pull for new readers, it became clear that commenting on the biggest blogs was a desperate attempt to get your voice heard in a place where there was a bunch of noise.
Today I want to suggest an alternative strategy. Instead of focusing on the A-Listers, look at emerging talent as a way to grow a loyal blog community. My fellow {grow} columnist Stanford Smith said that one of his strategies is to “kiss lots of digital babies.” I think that is a smart perspective. The blogosphere is like an unlimited NBA draft with tons of talent accessible to anyone who can shed their ego and look for an opportunity to connect.
New Bloggers Need Encouragement. When people start their blogs, it can be demoralizing when nobody is reading or commenting. How often do you look at the blogs of the people who comment on your blog? Baby bloggers become big bloggers. Can you take just a moment to see what they’re up to? Join their tribes and invite them to join yours.
New Bloggers are Looking For a Lifeline: As an established blogger you have a chance to become a lifeline for a new blogger. My friend Bernardo Ramirez recently started a personal development video blog. It was a week old and he commented on one of my posts. So, I decided to see who he was and what he was up to. I was so blown away by the quality of video blog posts that he had, that I invited him to do a guest post, initiating what I hope will be a long relationship.
New Bloggers Become New Readers: Most new bloggers are looking for additional blogs to read, while established bloggers tend to have a set reading list and occasionally add new feeds to their RSS reader. New bloggers are looking to learn from established bloggers and as a result they end up becoming loyal subscribers. I’d say the majority of people who comment on my blog these days are digital babies on the rise.
New Bloggers Can Teach Us Things We Don’t Know: The beginner’s advantage is that they have no preconceived notions of how things should be so they tend to be more open to new ideas, take more risks, and play like they have nothing to lose. When you think about it, we really need new bloggers to keep starting blogs because we need fresh ideas to keep making progress.
As you think about how to grow your tribe and build your network over the next couple of months give some thought to what emerging talent you may be neglecting. Then, start reading their blogs and providing a lifeline to them. Do you have examples where you are using your influence to pay it forward?
Srinivas Rao is a contributing writer to {grow}. You can read more of his original writing at The Skool of Life blog or listen to his podcast at BlogcastFM. Follow him on Twitter at @skooloflife
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