On Monday night, January 23, I presented a Blogging Training for the Communications Team. We already have some great writers on our committee, but I think everyone still needs a reminder to write for our league Blog, to conquer any fears they may have of blogging, and to get started writing about all the awesome things we do!
In my efforts to educate and provide a fun training, I created a Blogging Top Ten list, similar to Letterman’s Top Ten. Below is the list I created, with additional instruction relating to our League Blog. For those of you that have thought about writing an article, but gotten stuck on what to write or how to write a Blog article, I hope you find this helpful!
10. Blog about all the cool stuff our League does.
You can blog about an event, a social, a team meeting, or a casual night out with a group of Jr. League friends. It’s important that the article be about an experience or from your perspective, and not an advertisement for an event (the appropriate forum for an advertisement would be our Twitter or Facebook account). Here’s a great article written a few months back about two leaguers who enjoyed a fun afternoon at the Four Seasons in Palo Alto.
You can blog about an event, a social, a team meeting, or a casual night out with a group of Jr. League friends. It’s important that the article be about an experience or from your perspective, and not an advertisement for an event (the appropriate forum for an advertisement would be our Twitter or Facebook account). Here’s a great article written a few months back about two leaguers who enjoyed a fun afternoon at the Four Seasons in Palo Alto.
9. Write about what matters to you.
The most successful articles are written by people who are passionate about their subject matter, so if you enjoyed it, share it.
8. Write your article right away.
Articles published too long after the event occurred aren’t as interesting to the reader, so write your article ASAP. It will also be easier to write if you do it right away (for those with short term memory like me).
7. Use your own voice.
The beauty of blogging is that there is no right or wrong way to write your article. You can even use (appropriate) slang! Here is a great article that was written about a joint committee meeting, where the author’s voice really comes through in the writing.
6. Less is more.
Good Blog articles don’t have to be long. The expert blog writers suggest writing 250 words or less. That’s probably shorter than that restaurant review you wrote on Yelp!
5. Make the title snappy.
Put some thought into your title! You can instantly get the readers attention by using a clever title. One of my favorite blog article titles is, Tapas Under the Stars. Now, didn’t that get your attention?
4. Include bullet point lists.
Using bullet point lists is an easy way to write your article, and it provides a great structure for the reader to easily digest the information.
3. Take Pictures!
There isn’t a lot I need to write about using pictures with your article, except use pictures! And if you don’t have any pictures, include a flyer, icon, or anything with some color in it.
2. It’s easy!!
If you’re getting stressed about writing a Blog article, you’re probably thinking too hard about it. Write the first thing that comes to mind!
1. It’s important!!!
Our Blog is out there for the community and prospective members to learn about our league, and for members to find out what’s going on in other committee’s or things that they missed. So be an ambassador and write about what’s important to you (which should be our League)!
Great pointers and techniques on effective blogging and social media. Thanks, Michelle!
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