Get your blog off the ground

=Why blog in the first place?= It's important to move away from the image most folk have of what a blog is. Blogs are no longer limited to individuals telling you what they had for breakfast. Blogs are now being used for an increasingly diverse set of business scenarios. Here are some examples:


 * 1) The leader's blog, blogging to communicate the message, direction, strategy, reaching-out, connecting, feedback
 * 2) The special interest group blog; a mechanism for connecting those with an interest in a particular subject area, regardless of where they sit in the organization
 * 3) The functional group blog; a means of connecting and sharing within a functional area (similar to the SIG but related to a functional area)
 * 4) The subject matter expert/visionary blog
 * 5) The project team blog, e.g. use of the blog as a status and communication device, e.g. in place of reoccurring project status meetings
 * 6) An event blog, a blog devoted to providing coverage of a specific event/conference
 * 7) A feedback blog or customer services blog, a blog established to gain feedback/input regarding a one time event
 * 8) A CRM blog, blogging about customer engagements and sharing for the benefit of the wider team

The key point about all of these examples is the technology behind them is the same. They are all built upon a standard set of blogging functions. The key ingredient is the imagination that has gone into working out how to make use of the technology - framing it - the importance is in what is being shared or discussed, not that that is done via a blog.

It’s also worth noting some of these blogs are distinctly ‘disposable’ in nature, providing support for short term activity and focus, e.g. a project blog. Using a blog doesn’t have to equal BIG long-term commitment. It can be a short term solution if that is what suits.

=Blogging tips=

Some basics
''(Adapted from the Wordpress Introduction to Blogging page.) '' Starting a new blog is difficult and this can put many people off, there are then other people who have blogs with no comments or visits. Here are some simple tips to help you on your way to blogging mastery:


 * 1) Post regularly, but don't post if you have nothing worth posting about.
 * 2) Stick with only a few specific genres to talk about.
 * 3) Don't put 'subscribe' and 'vote me' links all over the front page until you have people that like your blog enough to ignore them (they're usually just in the way).
 * 4) Use a clean and simple theme if at all possible.
 * 5) Enjoy, blog if you're passionate about what you do, not for the sake of it, comment on other peoples' blogs (as they normally then visit back).

How to get your blog off the ground
Believe it or not, the technology aspect of implementing your blog is the easiest bit! The people side is far more difficult, representing as it does subtle changes in the way people in your team or department submit and consume information.

The biggest issue - INFORMATION OVERLOAD!!
Let's be honest. We're an 'over-communicated society'. Most people will see blogs as yet another communication channel they need to maintain, on top of email, intranet sites, voicemail, telecons, meetings etc etc.

It's difficult to get beyond this one until the individual concerned has at least given blogging a go. As somebody very wise recently said (can't remember who), "Blogging makes no sense until you're actually doing it". In order for blogging to work you need to see that:
 * it is replacing some of these other modes of communication, so rather than becoming another burden, it starts to reduce some of your other communication acitivities;
 * you start to see benefits from sharing knowledge/views/news with others (and vice versa), and you start to see it facilitate networking with individuals you might not normally come across in your day-to-day work.

The best advice is simply to take the plunge, and stick with it for a while, even though it may feel forced and slightly unnatural (at least to start with). It may be worth considering agreeing a team or community contract to cover your commitment and use of the blog - at least for a pilot period.

A (part) solution to coping with blog-induced overload
As a consumer of blogs, how do you view/cope?

An RSS feed aggregator (otherwise known as an RSS Reader) tool enables you to quickly browse and consume a large number of postings across a number of blogs or websites. It does so by displaying all of the blogs in the same consistent format, highlights when new postings have appeared so you know when to view a blog feed, and allows you to click through to the actually blog should you wish to read more.

This means your RSS Reader brings new content to you, rather than you having to go and visit the site generating the content. More sophisticated RSS aggregators allow you to apply filters, so it only highlights postings you are likely to be interested in. RSS Readers come in a variety of different formats – you can plug it into Outlook if you want all of your information and communication in one place, or install a dedicated stand-alone reader.

The important (and exciting) aspect of using an RSS Reader is that YOU DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE AND WHEN YOU WANT TO SEE IT.

Develop a 'contract' with each other, or with your audience
A team collaboration blogs will often fail to take off if a sufficient part of the team don't support it. If you're serious about utilizing a blog it may be worth getting agreement up front (from the entire team) about how and for what you intend to use the blog. You might also specify a pilot period in which everyone will try it and arrange a review milestone - "Is it working? If not why not?  Can we change our use so it can work?  Should we continue with it?"


 * Recently I spoke to a portfolio manager who was intending to use his blog for all of his 'non-actionable' communication. He was realistic in assuming that not everybody consumed every email that he sent out, so the contract he was looking to enter into with his 'audience' was "From now on I will only email you with immediately actionable items.  Therefore if you receive an email from me you know I am expecting you to do something.  Everything else will be surfaced in my blog, which you can read at your leisure."

Have some folk working on the 'inside'
What's worked for us in the past is to identify some champions or advocates for the blog within the team or community it is aimed at. Their job is to respond to articles, point and encourage others in the team, show them how to set up an RSS etc.

Tips for getting your blog off the ground and keeping it going
If you're setting up a group blog be prepared to lead the way. Blog regularly yourself. Recruit some blogging supporters within the team and get them to regularly blog. Suggest to people in the team when they should blog something.


 * 1) Be nice, don't be scared to comment!  Comments are nice. They send a clear message to the author of the posting (aside from the contents of the comment itself) - somebody has read my posting. Comments are important.
 * 2) Remind, remind, remind!  If people have subscribed to an RSS feed from your blog then this isn't as important but it doesn't hurt to remind folk from time to time. Browse your blog in meetings to illustrate points by pointing to relevant postings. Occasionally send out an email saying "Here with more info about ... for full details see this link in the blog".  Be prepared to market your blog at every opportunity.
 * 3) Don't be disheartened - REMEMBER THE 1% RULE!  A general rule of thumb suggests that if you get a group of 100 people online then one will create content, 10 will "interact" with it (commenting or offering improvements) and the other 89 will just view it (the lurkers).  The majority of people who make the effort to view your blog will take something away from it – they just might not tell you though (see above, ‘Be nice, don’t scared to comment!’).

There are over 50 million blogs on the World Wide Web, and an unknown number in operation within organizations - the best known blogs have readerships in the thousands. Just because your blog may only have a handful of regular readers doesn't mean it is failing - it may be you are focussing on a niche area of interest only to the few, but as long as some benefit is being derived from your blog keep on with it, a successful blog is more than just about the number of people who read it

Why blogs fail
Not all blogs succeed. In fact many won’t. There are a number of different reasons as to why blogs fail, the most common being that the blog simply contains nothing of interest or is catering for a non-existent team or community (the fact a team is featured on an organization chart doesn’t mean in reality it operates as a team).

Here are reasons why some blogs fail:
 * 1) They never actually get going.  For instance it has been our experience that the very act of introducing a blog into a working set-up by using the word 'blog' can be a turn-off for some where the art of blogging is too strongly associated with the technical geek community, and hence perceived as something you can't do in a non-technical role (i.e. a role where you aren't sitting in front of your computer screen 24x7).  You don't have to refer to it as a blog.  Call it 'Team Talk' or give it whatever label suits your circumstances.
 * 2) The senior people or a portion of the team involved in the collaboration don't support/use it.  If it's a collaboration blog try and 'contract' up front.  Make an agreement amongst the team.  We pledge that (at least for this trial period) we will use the blog for ...
 * 3) When the means of viewing them is convoluted or difficult. Advertising your blog (RSS) feed is a good way of helping your colleagues stay in touch with what you post on your blog without them having to visit it that regularly.
 * 4) It may be the case that "less is more" - so keep postings to a minimum and try to ensure colleagues aren't overwhelmed with content whenever they visit your blog.