Jeremy Scott of Keystone Business Solutions was kind enough to conduct our December Lunch & Learn series yesterday. Here is Jeremy’s Power Point presentation, and below is summary of the workshop. Put your blogging skills to work, and help us continue the discussion online by posting your comments!
Nonprofits & Blogs
I recently had the privilege to speak to a group of CNM members for their December Lunch & Learn. Our topic for the day was “Blogging and Your Business.” Mostly I wanted to cover the whole gamut of blogging issues, so that everyone in attendance could get something out of the discussion regardless of how familiar they were with blogs coming into the event.
So we talked about what blogs are, why they’re popular, and why a nonprofit or business should definitely be thinking about blogging. The benefits to blogging are too numerous to count, but include improved search engine rankings, community-building with core audience, establishing authority in your topic, and even making a bit of money.
I had a great time. I cannot thank CNM enough for continuing to invite me out to speak-and thanks to all CNM members who attended. I know you’re busy and your time is incredibly valuable. I hope you were able to get something out of our discussion. If you would like a copy of the presentation slides, just click here to download it.
Since we talked so much about how blogs lead to discussion and conversation with readers, let’s take this blog post and its comments as a chance to prove that. So here are some questions to jog the brain and kick start some discussion: Are you thinking about starting a blog for your nonprofit? What did you learn that you didn’t know before yesterday’s class? What did you wish we had time to cover more thoroughly? If you weren’t able to attend, what questions would you have asked about blogging?
Again, thanks for all you do for our communities, and thanks to CNM for all they do to help nonprofits. I look forward to the ensuing discussion as well as my next opportunity to speak to you all. Have a wonderful holiday season everyone!
Thank you for such a wonderful and informative session, Jeremy!
I know we need to be blogging, but I take to heart your comment in the slides not to start if you don’t have time to post regularly. I don’t see how I can add answering bloggers, plus Facebook, in addition to the 70+ emails I get each day!
Question: What does a hosted blog cost – a cost range would help?
Thanks,
Martha Ann
Thanks for the info, Jeremy! I really enjoyed your presentation, and took a lot away from it. I am going to try to start blogging on myspace for right now, but sadly I’m having some issues with myspace. I have contacted them several times, but I can’t seem to get an answer! Anyway, thanks for coming and educating us on blogging!
Thanks so much to Keystone and CNM. The blogging class presented a wealth of information – and really reinforced the WHY we should be blogging, along with the HOW.
Thanks so much for such a great session!
I have so many ideas to share with the rest of the staff- this will be a great medium for getting feedback on our new programs, and I have such plans for our interns!
Hey everyone. Well, thanks for the kind words about the class. I am truly thankful that you all found something valuable to take away from the class.
Martha Ann, I can totally relate to the time issue. I completely understand that some of you may wish to start a blog but don’t have the time. I would say that if you think you can find an hour or two per week, I would definitely look into blogging. It can pay extremely good dividends for a small amount of effort.
If you are already so busy that you don’t think you can do that much… then I would consider trying to find or recruit a good volunteer to help with your blog… college students make excellent candidates for this.
As for cost of a hosted blog, it’s going to run the same gamut that a hosted website will. You can get a website hosted through GoDaddy for pretty darn cheap, but you may not find the feature set or customer service levels you would prefer. You could also spend hundreds of dollars a month to host your website, if you so desired.
The average hosting plan for a blog runs from a couple hundred dollars a year to around a thousand.
Thanks again everyone! I’ll try and remember to keep checking back so I can answer any questions you all might have. Appreciate the opportunity to speak to you… and have a Merry Christmas!