A couple of years ago blogging was the hot new trend in web media. The initial boom led by internet trend-setters has leveled off leaving behind well developed tools for communication that your organization can leverage to meet its overall membership goals. Blogging offers a number of great benefits including better search engine placement for your website, they are an easy way to deliver content to your members, and can foster interaction between members and administration. However to be successful at blogging your organization must fully embrace the initiative and use it as a tool. The following tips can help you establish a well maintained blog for your members.
- Determine who should be blogging. Blogging is more than a marketing initiative it creates a way to interact with members at every level of your organization. Membership managers, conference managers, and even your executive directors should have publishing privileges. By making blogging the responsibility of every level of administration you lay the groundwork for transparency.
- Transparency creates trust. Don’t be afraid to tell it like it is. Members are able to tell when your blog is nothing more than a pretty picture painted to put your organization in good light. Don’t be afraid to discuss the controversial issues faced by your organization, this encourages interaction from your members and makes the organization feel human. If people know the reasoning behind decisions they are more likely to accept it even if they don’t agree. Additionally they will appreciate being able to discuss the topic in the comments and have their voice heard.
- Foster open channels of communication. Many times associations are afraid to implement blogs because of their inability to control comments. It is however this open forum for communication that your members will appreciate. Through comments on your blog, members are able to tell you exactly how they feel about top issues. This information can then be evaluated and used to determine future decisions, or even shape the content of the blog. Additionally this knowledge can be used to plan other areas of your organization such as convention discussions or plan workshops.
- Embrace the power of design. Blogs cannot hope to function well and reach their true potential unless they are well designed. The amount of information contained within blogs over time grows exponentially. Only a well planned design can make this information accessible over the lifetime of the blog.
These four tips can help you establish a blog that serves as both a resource and communication tool for your members. Creating value with your blog is as easy as being honest and encouraging interaction however this is only the beginning of what can be accomplished through blogging.
For more information or questions Michael may be reached at: mfaye [at] associadirect.com or visit http://www.associadirect.com
Great suggestions. How much $$$ do you think an association needs to budget for its blog?
Posted by: David M. Patt, CAE | June 18, 2008 at 11:59 AM