Blogging 2.0

Per my last blog, I've noticed it's been impossible to blog with any regularity since: a) Harper was born, b) I joined the Center for Nonprofit Management. The former is understandable, and the latter is due mostly to my intense love for distracting myself with the wonderful work of our 1,300+ nonprofit partners.

So, in an attempt to blog more often, I'll be Blogging via text (as in last post) and via email (as in this post). I've been known to write too much anyway, so hopefully this new format will keep it more brief and hopefully more effective as a tool.

Here is a question that needs more exploration: how do tools like Twitter, email blogs and other 'quick hit' communications contribute to your mission, and how do they actually take away from it?

On the latter, I hope to explore how these revolutions in communications can actually pull us away from building genuine relationships -- the core of any strong development effort -- and more towards processing transactions.

Would love any feedback on the concept.

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Jeremy Gregg, CFRE
Vice President of Development
www.CNMDallas.org

Sent from my phone; please excuse brevity and typos.

Why I Blog

Andrew Sullivan on "Why I Blog"

From the preface to Andrew Sullivan's "Why I Blog" in The Atlantic (November 2008):

For centuries, writers have experimented with forms that evoke the imperfection of thought, the inconstancy of human affairs, and the chastening passage of time. But as blogging evolves as a literary form, it is generating a new and quintessentially postmodern idiom that’s enabling writers to express themselves in ways that have never been seen or understood before. Its truths are provisional, and its ethos collective and messy. Yet the interaction it enables between writer and reader is unprecedented, visceral, and sometimes brutal. And make no mistake: it heralds a golden era for journalism.

Read the full piece here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/andrew-sullivan-why-i-blog

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To blog or not to blog? That is not the question. Merely, "Why?"

Technorati's 2008 State of the Blogosphere Survey is now underway

Technorati's 2008 State of the Blogosphere Survey is now underway. Here is the copy of an email I received from them:

Technorati has been tracking the Blogosphere for the past several years through our State of the Blogosphere study. This year we have decided to expand our study beyond the sheer size and characteristics of the blogosphere in order to hear more from you, the bloggers. How, when and why are you blogging? Is this a side business, full time job or something you do for fun? Our goal is to analyze the growth of the field as well as understand the people who make the space tick. Help us and join the study of the ongoing global conversation!

Click here to take the survey! http://v2.decipherinc.com/survey/mmc/mmc08001

We hope you will find this survey enjoyable. It should take just 15-20 minutes of your time, and your responses are entirely confidential. Be sure to check back on Technorati in late September for a summary of the results.

Thank you,

The Technorati Team

http://technorati.com/

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Reviews of Seven Types of Blogging Software

Idealware: Getting Started with Blogging Software

Thanks to Laura S. Quinn for pointing me to this helpful resource:

Idealware: Getting Started with Blogging Software

This report reviews seven blogging tools (Blogger, TypePad, LiveJournal, Movable Type, Expression Engine, Text Pattern, and WordPress) for the needs of a typical nonprofit. We provide a summary of what to look for, a comparison chart, a comparison chart, and detailed reviews of each tool. We look at ease of getting started, ease and flexibility of configuration, ease of posting, and much more.

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Got a Gravatar?

Blog-reading nerds like me will appreciate this service from the folks who brought the world WordPress:

Gravatar - Globally Recognized Avatars
A gravatar (globally recognized avatar) is quite simply an image that follows you from weblog to weblog appearing beside your name when you comment on gravatar enabled sites. Avatars help identify your posts on web forums, so why not on weblogs?

http://en.gravatar.com/

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The Top 50 Blogger Powered Blogs

Amanda, the wonderful blogger behind BloggerBuster, just posted a pretty amazing list:

The Top 50 Blogger Powered Blogs


You can visit the list here:
http://www.bloggerbuster.com/2008/05/top-50-blogger-powered-blogs.html

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Blogging From The Top

The NonProfit Times recently released this insightful answer to the question I often receive:

"Should my organization's CEO start writing a blog?"

I would respond, but everything that I have to say is here... along with some nice case studies:

The NonProfit Times
Blogging From The Top
Donors - and everyone else - get access to the boss

Want some inspiration for your blog? Read the Top 100 Blogs in the world here:
http://technorati.com/pop/blogs/

And yes, God help us all, there are even blogs about blogging:
Top 25 Blogs About Blogging

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Mosaic Family Services

Congrats to Mosaic Family Services for starting an organizational blog! This is a great way to promote the important work of your organization.

For those who don't know about Mosaic, download their latest newsletter here.

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Help me to sharpen the Razor

FundRaising Success asks the following:

What are your favorite fundraising/nonprofit marketing blogs? What’s so great about them?
To send responses/comments, e-mail: mbattistelli@napco.com. Responses should not exceed 100 words. Your ideas, insights and opinions could be published in an upcoming issue of FundRaising Success magazine.

What are your favorite blogs? More importantly -- what would it take for this blog to make your list?

I'd love your thoughts on how I could sharpen the Razor!

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BLOG = Better Listing On Google

Blogger Buster: explains how blogs can provide you with a "Better Listing On Googgle."



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54 Inspiring and Original Blogger Designs

I recently discovered Blogger Buster, and encourage you to check out her recent example "54 Inspiring and Original Blogger Designs." Nothing will make you want to blog more than that... and few things will intimidate you more if you already are blogging.

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Blogging in My Sleep? (Bloggapedia)

Either I am blogging in my sleep, or someone out there is interested in referring people to this blog, because I have no idea how this got set up... but it looks like Bloggapedia is another interesting resource to help you find blogs of interest to you.

See The Raiser's Razor's entry at:

http://www.bloggapedia.com/Blog/The-Raiser-s-Razor-14992



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Back to the Basics

Want to know what your site looks like on a mobile device? The good people at Google have made it easy for you to enter any URL and see how it is rendered on a mobile device.

After looking at my recent redesign, I realized that I had made the site almost impossible to read on a PDA or phone. Since this is how I read blogs, I figured many of you might be reading it that way as well.

I am still struggling to figure out how to make this work the best. This article was incredibly helpful, although a bit beyond me:
Vitamin Features » Make your site mobile friendly

Any advice you have would be much appreciated!

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Do you Digg me?

Did I sell out? I prefer the term "bought in." The Raiser's Razor is now on Digg. Digg it:

http://digg.com/business_finance/The_Raiser_s_Razor

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How to Blog

Good advice on How to Blog from one of the experts... Sean Stannard-Stockton at Tactical Philanthropy.

I think you should write about whatever topics you are most passionate about. If you attend a great session or one that you deeply disagree with, write it up! If you have a great discussion in a hallway, share your thoughts. You might want to read this post and click on some of the links to last year’s conference posts. Style should be casual. I’d suggest writing a single draft and then proofing once, but don’t work on this like an essay for publication. Length is really up to you. I find posts in the 400-500 word range to be best. But last year I wrote four words that set off a firestorm. What you say is more important than the length.

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Welcome, CBI Attendees!

Welcome to everyone who attended my presentation at today's Community Board Institute session, "How to Build Relationships Using Electronic Communications."

If you would like a copy of the handout that I provided, click here .

If you want the actual PowerPoint that I used, either email me or ask for it in a comment below and I can send it to you via www.YouSendIt.com/

I would greatly appreciate your feedback on the session. Please comment below!

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10 Reasons Why Every Nonprofit Must Have a Blog

I thought that this was worth sharing:

Wild Apricot Blog : 10 Reasons Why Every Nonprofit Must Have a Blog

1. Search engine optimization


2. Expert in the Field


3. Credibility


4. Awareness


5. Negative Comments


6. Events


7. Annual Report


8. Information


• Allowing users to create


• Provide information to supporters


9. Fundraising


10. The “Heart” of the Organization

Intrigued? Read the details here.

You might also be interested in this article from the Donor Power Blog:
"How not to have a boring blog"


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How to Blog your Way to Wealth

Thanks to Larry James for giving me a copy of a fascinating article by Paul Sloan and Paul Kaihla of Business 2.0 Magazine called "Blogging for Dollars."

The article is actually from 2006, but still bears great relevance today. It is posted here through CNN Money, but I have also posted a portionbelow.

It's not just a hobby - some small sites are making big money. Here's how to turn your passion into an online empire.By Paul Sloan and Paul (Business 2.0) -- Michael Arrington is a partying kind of guy. While showing off his home in Atherton, Calif., he boasts about how he crammed 500 people into his one-acre backyard at a bash in February. Then there are the official parties, like the one he threw in mid-August at August Capital, a nearby venture firm. Arrington posted an open invitation on his website at 3 a.m. By sunrise, all 500 spots were taken; the onslaught of traffic crashed his site. "I knew it would be fast," says Arrington, who houses so many out-of-towners in his ranch home that he often isn't sure who's crashing on which mattress on which floor in which room.

Arrington, a 36-year-old entrepreneur behind a long list of unrecognizable startups, has suddenly become one of the rising stars of Silicon Valley. Why? The answer lies in TechCrunch, Arrington's blog about new technologies and companies. In the year since he launched the site, he has amassed such a strong following that he's become a go-to person for VCs and tech execs looking to leak corporate tidbits or announce news. More than 1.5 million readers regularly check out his site. But here's what gives Arrington real distinction: He's pulling in $60,000 in ad revenue every month. That's 10 times what the site was making earlier this year, which was when Arrington, convinced of the potentially monstrous riches ahead, quit his day job as president of a startup to blog full-time.

With Internet-like speed, blogs have gone from self-indulgent hobbies to flourishing businesses. Real businesses, with real revenue streams from real advertisers--not overhyped next big things with pick-a-number valuations based on selling out someday to some overenthusiastic big-media sugar daddy...

Read the rest "here."

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