A blog or a bucket?

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Charlie Peverett, Neo PR in the digital age conference www.charitycomms.org.uk/events

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@weareneo #ccdigital

Charlie Peverett

Head of Digital, Neo

Definition of ‘blog’ #1

A contraction of ‘web log’

A diary-style way to publish content easily to the web

Typically displaying the most recent post first

Usually enabling readers to add their comments

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@weareneo #ccdigital

Definition of ‘blog’ #2

A revolutionary democratisation of the process of publishing content that has the potential to empower people across the globe to tell their

stories and express their opinions

Definition of ‘blog’ #3

Mainly created by "bald, cauliflower-nosed, young men sitting in their mothers’ basements and ranting”.

– Andrew Marr, Oct 2010

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Definition of ‘blog’ #4

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…our main website is still too sh*t to add anything to it regularly so we'll dump stuff here instead and hope

someone notices.

Tamsin Bishton-Hemingray (Content Malcontent)

The blog is a bucket

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Buckets are great

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Some of us will always be more interested in the bucket

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@weareneo #ccdigital

but for most of us….

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@weareneo #ccdigital

It’s what’s in the bucket that counts

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How did we get distracted by buckets?

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How did we get distracted by buckets?1. The blog saved me from death by CMS

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How did we get distracted by buckets?2. My boss heard about blogging…

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How did we get distracted by buckets?3. It seemed like a good idea at the time

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In short…

The success of your blog is increasingly tied to what you say - not merely the fact that you’ve chosen to speak

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In short…

Alternative platforms may suit your objectives better

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In short…

Thinking hard first saves pain later

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In short…

We’re seeking to avoid the fate of thousands of organisational blogs.

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Blogs with archives that look something like this

• Here’s a video interview of our chief exec visiting Africa • Here’s a press release about our campaign• [huge gap between posts; tumbleweed]• Pictures of us in the office eating cake• I posted this to get fundraising off my back! • [something else, can’t remember what]

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It’s a place where content goes to die.

A mishmash of bloggery-pokery for which the technical term is:

Sh*tpot.com@weareneo #ccdigital

Sh*t-pot-dot-com♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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The solution?

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Blog

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• In early stages of planning, ban the word ‘blog’

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• In early stages of planning, ban the word ‘blog’• Replace ‘blogging’ with ‘being interesting and

relevant on a frequent basis’

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• In early stages of planning, ban the word ‘blog’• Replace ‘blogging’ with ‘being interesting and

relevant on a frequent basis’• See if the conversation goes somewhere different

Reason 1:You’ll focus more on the purpose, less on the bucket

Ban the blog

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Ban the blog

Reason 2:You’ll consider other options for publishing, distributing and framing your content

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@weareneo #ccdigital

Ban the blog

Reason 3:

If you do settle on the need for a blog of some kind it will be a positive decision

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It’s a case of moving from a reactive model to a strategic one

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We need to produce more content / ‘be

social’

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We need to produce more content / ‘be

social’

[knee jerk]

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We need to produce more content / ‘be

social’

I just signed up for Wordpress!

[knee jerk]

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We need to produce more content / ‘be

social’

I just signed up for Wordpress!

We need to communicate

smarter!

[knee jerk] vs

Why? To whom? Where? How?

We need to produce more content / ‘be

social’

I just signed up for Wordpress!

We need to communicate

smarter!

[knee jerk] vs

Why? To whom? Where? How?

We need to produce more content / ‘be

social’

I just signed up for Wordpress!

We need to communicate

smarter!

Main site

Off-site

Email

[knee jerk]

Twitter Apps Blog

vs

Why? To whom? Where? How?

We need to produce more content / ‘be

social’

I just signed up for Wordpress!

We need to communicate

smarter!

Main site

Off-site

Email

[knee jerk]

Twitter Apps Blog

vs

Why? To whom? Where? How?

We need to produce more content / ‘be

social’

I just signed up for Wordpress!

We need to communicate

smarter!

Main site

Off-site

Email

[knee jerk]

Twitter Apps Blog

vs

[maybe]

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If you do decide a blog is the right option, here are some good ways to get it right.

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What does a good blog look like?

(with thanks to members of E-Campaigners Forum)

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Worth remembering:

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Worth remembering:

Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder…

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Worth remembering:

Usefulness is in the eye of the user

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Worth remembering:

And no-one says “I want to find a really good charity blog” (except in charity communications seminars)

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Anyone else want to tell us about a blog they admire, and why?

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Content strategy – the ‘quad’ model

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Substance

• Who’s the audience? Definition is invaluable. • What kind of content do we need?• What topics are both interesting to this defined audience

and relevant to organisational objectives? • Find out what users want using surveys (Google Forms,

Survey Monkey), focus groups and web analytics.• Keep focused on what’s important for the organisation,

refer to high-level objectives (e.g. marketing, policy, PR) wherever possible

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Structure

• How should this content be organised and presented?

• What’s the navigation and user experience? • Do we feature our authors? How?• How does this relate to the rest of our content,

and our other digital channels and activities?

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Workflow

• Who’s going to make all this happen? • What are the skills, tools and processes required?• How much time and resource is needed? Realistically?• How does this impact on other activities and workflows?

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Governance

• What oversight of the project is required? • How are key decisions about the objectives and content

priorities made? • How is change managed and communicated?

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Tips & Tricks

• Editorial meetings (weekly / fortnightly)• One-page briefs • An editorial calendar everyone can see and

contribute to (e.g. Google Spreadsheet)• Feedback on success (ad hoc and

structured)

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In summary

• Make the case for a blog strategic • Define your audience well• Centre the content in the overlap between audience

and organisational needs• Secure the buy-in and support it really needs• Understand how it’s being used and go with the flow.

@weareneo #ccdigital

Charlie Peverett

Head of Digital, Neo

@weareneo #ccdigital

Image credits

Images reproduced under Creative Commons licence:

Colourful stacked buckets image by Flickr user tanakawho licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)http://www.flickr.com/photos/28481088@N00/670258156/

Buckets on sale in street image by Flickr user nSeika licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)http://www.flickr.com/photos/nseika/6376364681/

Tennis court image by Flickr user EEPaul licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)http://www.flickr.com/photos/eepaul/6860515636/

Cat in a bucket image by Flickr user nromagna licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)http://www.flickr.com/photos/nromagna/5643588854/

Pissed off cat image by Flickr user Mikko Lumtiala licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikko_luntiala/5068157476/

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