So you think blogs are dead

I had this fascinating conversation with a Seattle nonprofit a week ago, and we were talking about Social Media strategies. You know, being thoughtful and having a plan about how you integrate Social Media into your existing programs and mission for your nonprofit.



First, we have to think of Social Media as something other than a broadcast system. I qualify you- your organization has information and news and content that is of great value to your constituents: your audience, patrons, donors, volunteers, fans, etc... So why aren't you making this information accessible to them? Why are you making them work so hard to love you? Well... get a blog. Get those people who visit your website to get information happy, and keep them coming back by blogging. Arts organizations have an amazing amount of content to share- whether this be events, company news or even community news- be the news source for your followers.



This is in-part what social media is about, adding value and fostering your relationships, but you have to give to get. Make it easy by having a blog on your website. This is where strategy comes in handy: create an editorial calendar and decide what you are going to post, when it will be posted and who is responsible for posting this information!



Next, make it easy for people to share that information, this is where social media really comes in handy. Add a basic share tool to the bottom of your blog, you can do this by entering a simple line of code on your blog, you can get this here. This way people who read your blog can share your information to their social networks.



Yes, of course you are going to want to create your own social networks- but this is a whole strategy we will go over in time. Start blogging!