12-Step Program to Better Blogs

(Presentation prepared for HighEdWebDev - October 2007)

More and more universities and colleges have started to use blogs as communication channels to engage prospective students or alums; inform current students, faculty and staff; promote special events; and even to communicate with project stakeholders. While it’s very easy and affordable to set up and launch a blog, good and effective blogging requires a lot of work. From the best approach to deal with comments to practical tips on search engine optimization, promotion and writing, this presentation will help you make the best out of your blog(s). Whether you are already a blogger or plan to launch a blog soon, you will learn how to avoid common pitfalls and achieve blogging bliss by applying a 12-step program developed by the presenter – a higher ed blogger - for higher ed bloggers.

Links from the presentation

 These resources are listed in the order they were cited in the presentation.

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Tips from Higher Ed Bloggers

When I started to work on this presentation, I asked several higher ed bloggers which advice they will share with you if they could only give a single tip.

So, here is the list of the best 10  tips for higher ed bloggers by higher ed bloggers.

  • Paul Baker (www.educationpr.org)
    "Before you do anything else, find and read lots of blogs produced by people with similar goals, then decide how your blog will add something unique to that community."
  • Andy Careaga (www.highered.prblogs.org)
    "Follow the rule of all good communications: write for your audience, not for yourself. A corollary to that would be: Unless, of course, you're blogging for your own gratification and don't really care about having an audience (other than yourself)."
  • Mark Greenfield (www.markagreenfield.com)
    “The goal is dialogue, not monologue”
  • Georgina Hibberd (http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/templatedata/)
    "Don't expect everyone (or anyone!) at your institution to share your enthusiasm or energy for blogging but don't let this deter you. Blogging can lead you to be part of a community that is much larger than your institution and this is one reason it is very worthwhile."
  • Charlie Melichar (http://intermedia.typepad.com/)
    "Blog your passion. You shouldn't start blogging on higher ed trends, tech, etc. if your true passion is birdwatching. Be a birding blogger. The higher ed blogs that I find interesting are the ones by folks who seem to really be jazzed by the trends, innovations, and the work in general. If you're not passionate about it, you'll find it hard to post interesting content on a regular basis."
  • Dennis Miller (http://higheredmarketingblog.wordpress.com/)
    "Your blog should be concise, clear, accurate, engaging, and reflect your personality. It is all about conversations."
  • Ken Ronkowitz (http://devel2.njit.edu/serendipity/)
    "When you get an idea, start creating a draft with links and content in your blogging platform. I started out by clipping articles, writing post-its and such and realized along the way that I would never get to most of them. Now I keep at least a half dozen drafts of topics that aren't time-sensitive in the queue."
  • Andy Shaindlin (www.alumnifutures.com)
    "Never be afraid to dive in and start blogging, but always try to add something new to the discussion, and always remember that everything you write is being recorded permanently, with your name attached!"
  • Rob Westervelt (http://ubrander.wordpress.com/)
    "Have a good reason why you're blogging."
  • Deanna Wolf (http://higheredmarketing.blogspot.com/)
    "Mix it up -- go beyond sharing your thoughts every day and add some variety to your blog by posting cool links, spotlighting news stories, talking about your experiences, or just poking fun at something."

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Handouts

betterblogs_checklist.pdf

31 K

12_step_program.pdf

711 K

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