“Beginnings are the Hardest Part” ~ read about starting a blog from Soshable.
Since launching my blog on WordPress in fall, 2011, I have received many questions ~ from how is it designed to the content I have posted. This article addresses those questions, and provides the context for my blogging.
Happily, I am delighted to have received many kind comments. Thus far, the blog has attracted more than 22,000 site visits from more than 116 countries. I have posted a few comments on SlideShare: Comments.
The Beginning
I began blogging in 2010 on the heels of the NTC, or Nonprofit Technology Conference held at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, and hosted by NTEN: Nonprofit Technology Network. Holly Ross had invited me to present a small session on major gift fundraising and social media.
At the time, I felt shy about accepting the request because I thought my experience working with major gift donors who are highly “networked” might simply be a “niche” experience. Nevertheless, I accepted and was amazed when my presentation room for 50 guests was unable to accommodate the growing crowd that lined the hallway hoping to get in.
This experience gave me the confidence to share some of what was contained in the presentation in an NTEN community blog following the conference. The blog involved several bloggers contributing information for the NTEN community. I kept up with that for just over a year, then decided to go “rogue” and develop an independent blog on the WordPress platform. That is the blog you are reading now.
Launching on WordPress
From a technical standpoint, I jumped into WordPress one weekend by signing-up and selecting one of its many attractive free templates. As is often the case when exploring a new platform, I became so immersed in learning how to use it and in “tweaking” my design, that one hour became eight hours in no time, then two full days before I finally had the semblance of a professional-looking blog. I transported the text of my favorite posts from the NTEN community page onto WordPress, polished and expanded them. Voila! I had a real blog.
In early 2012, I decided I would opt for a more elaborate, paid template called, “Dusk to Dawn” by Automattic. In addition, I purchased my domain (URL). Once I converted to the new design, I moved two other home-grown websites posted on Earthlink (provided gratis for several years courtesy of my longstanding e-mail account), to WordPress. I made use of the same template design for both, so that my website “trio” would be easily recognizable as, “Carolyn M. Appleton.”
Click to reach Sonic Editions.
Content
The content of my WordPress blog is drawn from life experiences and interests. As one of my favorite people, American musician Billie Holiday (1915-1959), once said:
“You can’t copy anybody and end with anything. If you copy, it means you’re working without any real feeling.”
I made a conscious decision that I would blog with real feeling. My blog discusses both the success stories and the tribulations of working in the nonprofit sector. My aim has been to encourage my colleagues, and help them by providing new ideas and resources. Because I believe the impossible can be achieved, my blog explains why I believe it. I challenge opinions of trusted authorities – all in the spirit of good will – and I affirm and share their advice as well.
And one thing I do religiously is quote my sources. How often have I found my own words and experiences used by others without being referenced. The Internet is free! But it is the responsibility to those of us using it to convey important ideas and opinions, to acknowledge our sources when they are not our own.
In response to those who have asked, yes, I develop and write all my content. I do manage all my social media sites personally (and yes, it takes work, but I’ve found it to be very rewarding). In a “widget” located at the bottom of my websites I post a precautionary note, “All Rights Reserved.”
Click to reach an article about “nail biting.”
Fear Factor
One reason I almost did not start blogging was my fear of “haters.”
The Urban Dictionary defines “hater” as:
“A person that simply cannot be happy for another person’s success. So rather than be happy they make a point of exposing a flaw in that person. Hating, the result of being a hater, is not exactly jealousy. The hater doesn’t really want to be the person he or she hates, rather the hater wants to knock someone else down a notch.”
In the brief time I have been blogging, I have received very few (less than five) negative comments, out of hundreds that have been posted. So far, the negative comments are statements that don’t have anything to do with the content at all. The vast majority of comments I receive are positive, and many contain questions that I endeavor to answer within a few weeks. Luckily, WordPress has an internal e-mail/comment system so that every comment can be read and responded to (or discarded) right on the platform. This keeps blog comments from clogging-up my public e-mail.
Random Notes
I recommend the WordPress platform highly. WordPress makes me look more sophisticated even, than I am in reality! The wide variety of attractive templates, the strong “searchability” of the platform, the logical system for developing and updating posts, and the fact that it “loads-up” so well on a variety of browsers, make it an ideal blogging partner. But, as with any new system, it takes time to learn how to use WordPress, and I admit, I am still learning its capabilities.
Does it take much work (and time) to maintain my blog, now that I have set it up? Today, it does not take long at all to update and expand upon existing articles, which is the primary way in which I work. Writing an entirely new article does involve some time, but for the writing aspect rather than the installation process on WordPress.
Is my blog secure? WordPress has become quite sophisticated in terms of protecting the blogs on its platform from hacking. I routinely export all content from my blog to a secure file on my computer, where it is then backed-up and saved “in the cloud.” In addition, every article and post on WordPress is dated and timed upon publication. Hence, should verifying authorship be needed, this provides powerful evidence.
In closing, I would also like to mention that while I use WordPress for my professional musings, I also use the Tumblr platform for more personal (less wordy and more visual) blogging. I recommend it highly if you are looking for a bit more “artful” blogging platform. Here is the link: Tumblr.
Blogging Resources
The following are resources about blogging that I have found helpful. I will continue expanding on this list as I discover new ones!
- Carolyn M. Appleton, CFRE, “Blogs of Note” (a list of blogs I like reading from time-to-time), from my tandem WordPress website, “Fundraising Resources.” There are some terrific examples for nonprofits to follow on that page, not only from the content they provide, but also in terms of their unique formats.
- Google’s “Blogger Help” provides support primarily for those using its Blogger platform, but there are important lessons one can learn about blogging for any platform. For instance, if you search on Google you can find help making your blog load-up more quickly. For the blogging platforms out there … this is one of the most common questions I receive on my WordPress blog.
- BlogHer: Life Well Said, “creates opportunities for more than 50 million women who blog and their readers to gain exposure, education, community, and economic empowerment.”
- Jeff Bullas has written an insightful overview, “Blogging Statistics, Facts and Figures in 2012″ (February, 2013). “Social media has provided many options for bloggers. You can now blog with Tumblr. You can now be a video blogger on Blogger.com. If you like a Facebook “page” can be the the public platform of choice for expressing yourself. If you want to keep it short and sweet then Twitter is the micro bloggers paradise. We all don’t have to write 1,000 words epiphanies.” Another helpful article by Jeff is, “10 Tips from Literature to Turn Your Blog Into a Masterwork” (March, 2013).
- In Clairification: Philanthropy Not Fundraising you will find a helpful and enjoyable series, “3 Ways to Build a Nonprofit Blog Worth Sharing – RCA Series.” “When building a blog that’s not only worth reading but also worth sharing, you’ve got to think like an RCA Victrola and record. A great recording captures our attention. It transports us. It carries us away. It brings us into the music/story in an easy flow. It gets us tapping our toes and up on our feet dancing. Woo-hoo… it’s a party!”
- Rob Goss of Creativebloggers on Twitter is another helpful resource for coaching about blogging. Rob is a WordPress consultant and YouTube Partner.
- This is helpful: Susan Gunelius for About.com Guide, “How to Write a Blog People Want to Read.”
- Andrew K. Kirk has written for Social Media Examiner, “7 Effortless Ways to Find New Ideas for Your Blog” (November 14, 2012).
- Julie Neidlinger for JeffBullas.com shares some helpful ideas, “How to Write a Blog with Great Content Every Time” (October, 2012).
- NTEN: Nonprofit Technology Network, a search on the NTEN website reveals many helpful sources for nonprofit blogging.
- A guest post by Roxanne Reyes for Nonprofit Bridge (Norman Reiss) provides excellent guidance, ”Quick Guide to Starting a Nonprofit Blog” (January 12, 2013).
- Nancy Schwartz has written a helpful blog post and guide, “Should Your Nonprofit Launch a Blog.” “A blog is the absolutely easiest way to provide regularly updated information to your audiences. Because blog creation process is simpler than website creation or print design and production, blogs enable nonprofits to easily publish a stream of constantly updated, linked content. And search engines love fresh content.”
- Michael Selzner interview with Michael Hyatt on Social Media Examiner have written, “Blogging Success: How to Create Content People Will Love” (November 30, 2012).
- Stay Classy blog notes something important for all of us: “You probably already guessed it, but blogging is one of the best ways to create relevant content and build up more inbound links.” Click to read more in, “Nonprofit Blogging: How to Get Found Online” (April 10, 2013). Another Stay Classy post of note is, “Using Your Nonprofit Blog to Power Your Fundraising” (May 2, 2013). “A nonprofit blog can bring a variety of benefits to your organization. In addition to helping attract new visitors from search engines, a blog filled with quality content can turn into a powerful magnet to draw existing supporters back to your website. It makes sense that if you are regularly putting out interesting articles, supporters will come back and visit your site more often.”
- Tumblr is a different kind of blogging animal. I have both Tumblr and WordPress blogs. David Daw of PCWorld Magazine has written, “How to Get Started With Tumblr” (April 12, 2012). As noted above, I use Tumblr for “visual” blogging, and I greatly enjoy perusing those that focus on the visual arts, performing arts, graphic design, and historical topics. You might also enjoy reviewing the Tumblrs of charitable organizations.
- Emily Weinberg has developed the Nonprofit Blog Exchange. It is a blog/project that connects nonprofit bloggers with each other. The features of the blog/project are the roundup blog entries and the blog list of 150 nonprofit blogs.
WordPress
- Quite a few people land on my blog and are unaware that it is hosted by WordPress. I use WordPress as my main blogging platform, and it is where significant written documentation (and research), is provided. “The Daily Post: The Art and Craft of Blogging” is designed to help authors improve their blogging. There is also the guide, Learn.WordPress.com. You can find inspiring “tweets” on blogging from WordPress on Twitter.
- WordPress.tv provides a variety of videos of prior educational sessions on various aspects of WordPress, and using it effectively. I receive quite a few questions about WordPress security, for instance; if you have similar concerns, see this video featuring Victor Granic.
Promoting Your Blog
- Need help promoting your blog? Here are two resources to consider: GrowMap helps bloggers, ”identify proven methods of generating more traffic.” GrowMap’s Gail Gardner is an invaluable and accessible resource; click to reach her profile on LinkedIn. If you want to promote your blog, you might consider signing-up with Blogdash.com. The site provides extensive listings of blogs, helps promote blogs to the media and corporations, and facilitates research.
- Jeff Dunn has written an article for Edudemic that you might find helpful, “30 Powerful Ways to Promote Your Blog” (February 14, 2013).
