Wigley and Associates

I’ve started adding sections to my website devoted to the book I’m writing, Small Business Blogging: Why and How to Do It. I’ve moved the About Weblogs page with articles in the media relevant to small biz blogging there, too. And I’ve added a page on categories of weblog posts that serve an organization’s purpose.

Last Friday, I spent an hour interviewing Ray Cox, owner of Northfield Construction, about his blogging practices and impressions. We also spent time exploring other types of blog posts he could be writing that he’s not yet done. He wondered about a recent construction accident and I encouraged him to do blog it. He’d posted earlier this fall about an accident that happened to him while working on his cabin and used that as an opportunity to talk about safety. Since this was an accident involving an employee’s mistake, he wasn’t sure what to say, let alone whether it was a good idea to air dirty laundry. We decided that since every construction company has accidents, what’s most important is how a company handles them when they happen and what steps it takes to prevent them… and that blogging about that would be good for both employees and customers. Yesterday, he posted it.

I’m doing a presentation on weblogs for non-profit organizations tomorrow morning at MAP for Non-profits, invited by longtime colleagues Sheldon Mains and Rick Birmingham. It’s part of their monthly Nonprofit Tech Talk gathering.

Ward Bell from The Grant Connection posted a note to their email discussion list re: what he hopes to get out of the session. Here’s an excerpt:

“… a better understanding of the business case for using current blog tools. Not the reason for creating a personal journal, but why should a small business or a non-profit organization consider a blog as part of its communications strategy? Frankly, i think blogs have a long way to go before they are really beneficial. Organizations with good content management systems can do a better job of communicating than one can do using current blog tools. Syndication is a cool component of many blogs, but is it really worth anything?”

I guess I’d better have my wits about me.
Last week Sheldon asked me for examples of what an organization might blog about. I wrote: “The things that appear in an organization’s weblog are not any different than what typically might appear in a newsletter, print or email. For example, here are some recent links to different blog items from the Putting Family First weblog and the Citizens League weblog:

Promotion of an event

Changes to another part of the website

Highlighting a financial contribution

Pointing to/commenting on an item in the media

A personal story/reflection that relates to an organizational value/belief

Update on board of directors

Correction to a story in the monthly print edition

Feature on a member of the community relevant to the organization

Job opening

Ones I’d like to see more of: featuring an employee & featuring a client/customer/member. Here’s one example from a for-profit company. Here’s another.

Heath Row, social capitalist at Fast Company magazine, has transcripts of many of the Blogger Con sessions up on his Media Diet weblog. He types those things live while he listens. Jeesh.

I’ve removed the Google AdSense box on this page. They were right… it works better on a page with content that doesn’t change.

I’m heading to Boston tomorrow (Cambridge, actually) for a weblog conference at Harvard Law School called Blogger Con. It’s been a while since I’ve gone to a conference of any kind just as a participant… nothing to sell, no presentations to make. Just collegial connections to make and stuff to learn. I probably won’t blog much from there but I’m sure I’ll be way smarter when I return.
I’ll return on Monday evening, Oct. 6. If you need to reach me while I’m gone, I’ll have my cell phone with me.

I’ve added a list of all our client organization/small business weblogs, sorted by sector.