If you haven't used blogger lately, then you haven't used blogger! If you've been reading this blog over the weekend, you will have noticed that it's been a couple of different colors, it's been a couple of different styles - and now there are new labels added, to make it easier for you to find what you're looking for!
Blogger has gone Beta!
So far, I LOVE it! It's easy to use, it works great and, after going back in and adding labels to my posts, (I'm glad I only had 40 and not 400), I can say that I'm even more of a fan!
For the time being, I'm sticking with this one - these colors and this format. Let me know what you think. And if you don't already have a blogger account, get one!
Monday, September 11, 2006
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Did you ever play a game called "telephone" when you were little?
Do you remember that game? It was usually played at parties when I was growing up. Everybody would sit or stand in a circle, and one person would whisper a "secret message" in the person's ear who was standing next to them...and that person would whisper to the next person, and so on and so on...
Today we have a new version of the game - it's called social networking. Places like "myspace", You Tube, even the badly maligned "friendster."
But it works on the same concept - I tell you something, you tell someone else who tells someone else, and so on and so on.
Does it work? I'm going to try an experiment to find out. Here's how: I've created a very unscientific poll on the Activist Guide Website. (You can find it here: http://www.activistguide.com/sept11.html ).
I ask the question - Did 9/11 have an effect on your life in terms of you wanting to make your mark or make a difference? Do you volunteer more now?
So, I'm inviting you to play the new version of telephone with me...go take the poll, and then tell just one person about it.
Pass it on...
Today we have a new version of the game - it's called social networking. Places like "myspace", You Tube, even the badly maligned "friendster."
But it works on the same concept - I tell you something, you tell someone else who tells someone else, and so on and so on.
Does it work? I'm going to try an experiment to find out. Here's how: I've created a very unscientific poll on the Activist Guide Website. (You can find it here: http://www.activistguide.com/sept11.html ).
I ask the question - Did 9/11 have an effect on your life in terms of you wanting to make your mark or make a difference? Do you volunteer more now?
So, I'm inviting you to play the new version of telephone with me...go take the poll, and then tell just one person about it.
Pass it on...
Progress - the blogs are listed
Well, that was fast - which proves these methods work, I guess! The blogs - even the wordpress one that I quit posting on a month or so ago - have both been indexed in the search engines.
Not the Website yet, and neither blog has a google pagerank. Plus, I haven't optimized for my keywords. But - still, not bad for 24 hours.
So - why is it important that you get started blogging and working on a content Website for your nonprofit organization?
Because you want people - and not just any people - you want the RIGHT people to find your site and take action.
It all goes back to strategy. (Or at least, the chapter in the book on "Harnessing the Power of the Internet" goes back to strategy). What are the top 3 reasons you want to drive "targeted" traffic to your Website?
For example, you might want to:
Then, every word you write needs to accomplish one of those three purposes.
And your next step is to begin optimizing your keywords - based on your strategy. That way, once people start doing a search for your keywords - they find you.
Pretty simple, right?
Well, guess what? There's a catch. If you do it wrong, one of two things could happen.
1. Nothing. Nobody notices, nobody comes, nobody does anything.
2. You could get banned from the search engines. It's called "black hat" SEO (remember SEO stands for "Search Engine Optimization"), and it's not only wrong, it's stupid. Why go to all that work, and take chances on getting your Website banned, when you can use "white hat" SEO, and go after the "long tail" searchers.
Well, more about that later. I'm going to go and start doing my keyword searching. And this afternoon, I've got to write my first press release. Wanna watch?
Not the Website yet, and neither blog has a google pagerank. Plus, I haven't optimized for my keywords. But - still, not bad for 24 hours.
So - why is it important that you get started blogging and working on a content Website for your nonprofit organization?
Because you want people - and not just any people - you want the RIGHT people to find your site and take action.
It all goes back to strategy. (Or at least, the chapter in the book on "Harnessing the Power of the Internet" goes back to strategy). What are the top 3 reasons you want to drive "targeted" traffic to your Website?
For example, you might want to:
- Inform your local community about your issues
- Recruit volunteers for an upcoming event
- Publicize your program, or attract donors
Then, every word you write needs to accomplish one of those three purposes.
And your next step is to begin optimizing your keywords - based on your strategy. That way, once people start doing a search for your keywords - they find you.
Pretty simple, right?
Well, guess what? There's a catch. If you do it wrong, one of two things could happen.
1. Nothing. Nobody notices, nobody comes, nobody does anything.
2. You could get banned from the search engines. It's called "black hat" SEO (remember SEO stands for "Search Engine Optimization"), and it's not only wrong, it's stupid. Why go to all that work, and take chances on getting your Website banned, when you can use "white hat" SEO, and go after the "long tail" searchers.
Well, more about that later. I'm going to go and start doing my keyword searching. And this afternoon, I've got to write my first press release. Wanna watch?
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