Comments on: 31 Days to a Better Blog – Day 2 continued…

By: 31 Days to a Better Blog- Days 1-4 » VisualsSpeak blog

31 Days to a Better Blog- Days 1-4 » VisualsSpeak blog — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:11:26 +0000

[...] Laura’s Notebook talked about this process leading to exploring why she blogs. From that, I started thinking about where the appropriate place to post this challenge was. This blog is ’supposed’ to be about inspiring communication through visuals. How does this relate? On the other blog I write for I am serving an organzation. Is this relevant for the membership? Ultimately, I settled here because I know many of our customers are consultants, facilitators, and trainers and would benefit from blogging. Even if you aren’t doing it yet, perhaps you’ll remember some of this sharing when you start. [...]

By: 31 Days to a Better Blog- Days 1-4 at VisualsSpeak

31 Days to a Better Blog- Days 1-4 at VisualsSpeak — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 15:00:35 +0000

By: Christine Martell

Christine Martell — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 16:05:34 +0000

Laura,
Although I am still behind on the challenge, I am already learning and applying what you and Michele have learned about your blogs.

I particularly resonated with the challenge to clarify what goes where (at least that is how it sparked for me). I have my business blog and a blog I write for a professional organization. Even trying to figure out which one I could post to for this challenge is challenging. There are other people involved, who have opinions about what should be there. And I so relate to trying to find the balance between professional and personal voice.

By: Cammy

Cammy — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:28:19 +0000

I’m avoiding this step. But I’m starting to see the value, especially the notion of having a non-blogger review your blog. Once you’ve been deep into blogging, you forget what you know. You forget that you used to be confused when entering a blog. (OK — I was confused. I’m still confused.)

By: laura

laura — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 10:18:18 +0000

Thanks for the comments Michele, yes – the organisational blog in a sense I have no problem with. My main organisation has a sporadic update of ‘latest news’ currently and we’ve begun exploring ideas of a blog too to share good practice and the successes we have with some communities and groups, but we (as an organisation not just me) are unsure we currently have the time to maintain it and wouldn’t want it to be stagnant, although it’s an idea I’ve built into my business plan so it may appear at some point!
The element that I was more ‘nervous’ about was more about the part of my friend thinking it would be fun to read all my ups and downs and frustrations that we often talk about when we meet. Some of it would be fine, although some I do feel may be best placed for harmless chat among close friends rather than out there on the internet, so would need to be very careful about writing a post after a hard a fruitless day battling with others to try to move forward on an issue!

By: Michele Martin

Michele Martin — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 21:19:43 +0000

Wow Laura–You got a LOT out of this. A couple of things that stood out for me in your experience. . .

First, both you and I had people look at our sites who don’t normally read blogs or use some of the conventions of blogging (like tagging). What I’m realizing is that when you’re blogging for a non-technical audience, you have to get even more basic than you realize. That’s where a 1st time reader audit can keep reminding you of where people are at.

The other thing I thought was interesting was what you wrote about being nervous keeping a blog from an organizational perspective. I think a lot of people feel that way–and struggle even more with how to have a “friendly” voice, being transparent, etc., while still being “professional.” I don’t think you’re alone.

Thanks for joining me on this journey–I agree that it’s already been really useful.