Background to the ‘31 Days to a Better Blog’ Challenge
What’s it all about?
The 31 Days to a Building Better Blog Challenge started at the beginning of August, and was highlighted to me by Michele Martin’s Bamboo Project Blog. Michele had had picked up that Problogger Darren Rowse was running a daily series of exercises to to improve your blog helping you to find readers, build community and keep readers, and make money from your blog (the latter not high on my agenda as such!).
As a regular follower of Michele’s blog I thought that I’d take up this challenge too when she suggested to her readers to come and join in. In all there are quite a few of us taking part, connecting together, learning and sharing our journeys on our blog sites and supporting each other with contact too.
Why did I take up the challenge?
I’ve undertaken the challenge for the following reasons:
- I am looking at the given tasks and seeing how they can relate for non-profit use in either the context of organisations producing a blog or a website. I’m discovering that many of the blog tips given, also relate to enhancing all web communications, not just a blog.
- As well as being a freelance web designer, I am a circuit rider / technology consultant too, and support a wide range of small non-profit, voluntary and community groups with their ICT needs. More so now than ever before, I’m being asked to support and encourage them with communicating and interacting on the internet from websites and blogs to using social media.
- My blog is still fairly new and beginning to find it’s focus, so by spending some quality time improving how I blog and how my readers use my blog will help with approachability and increase readership and community.
You can read all my posts on the challenge here.
I hope that you enjoy reading my learning processes. I hadn’t intended my blog to become such an in-depth learning journey, but hope that my sharing it can help you too.
I’ve received lots of support from others interested in non-profit technology via email about what I am writing which is encouraging, do feel free to comment directly on the site too!
As mentioned earlier, there are now quite a few of us taking part in this challenge. If you also go to the main challenge at Probloggers site, you’ll find that there are hundreds of people taking part across the globe, and alot of good advice and ideas are being listed daily.
Those taking part in our mini challenge are:
- Michele Martin (heading the group!)
- Alex Miller
- Brent MacKinnon
- Cammy Bean
- Christine Martell
- Frances McLean
- Kate Foy
- Kate Quinn
- Nancy Riffer
- SmokeFree Wisconsin
- Sue Waters
- The Indian Blogger
- Tim Davies
- miniLegends The youngest participants yet, a class of nine year olds in Australia!
- Sue Hickton
Sue Waters has created a great page on her site showing all the participants too, you can see it here.
Feel free to make comments or even join in!
