Monthly Archives: January 2012

10 story ideas for your organization’s blog

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I wrote yesterday about the need to have a content plan in place for your blog or website, including either a formal editorial calendar or at least a list of article topics that you plan to write about. This both helps keep you focused on your site’s mission and gives you a jumping-off point when it’s time to publish a new article. You don’t necessarily have to start from scratch and come up with a new idea every time you sit down to write.

If you don’t have that list – or if, as happened to me, you misplace it – I said you were pretty much out of luck; there was nothing I could do for you.

I’ve changed my mind. If it’s time to get some new content out on your organization’s blog, but you just don’t have any ideas, here are 10 story suggestions – topics you should always be able to draw on to write something useful and compelling for your members and supporters: Continue reading →

Living proof that you need a content plan for your website

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I have violated one of my own best-practice rules for bloggers. Inadvertently. Accidentally. But still…

What have I done? I find myself without a list of article ideas for a rainy day. I keep this list, of course. When I have an idea for a blog post, but no time to write it, I jot it down for future use. That way, when I feel the need to write something, but the muse isn’t visiting, I can always come up with something worthwhile to write. Continue reading →

Do you really know your audience?

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I recently read a report on social gaming, put together by eMarketer, that includes this delightful statistic: More than 40% of casual social gamers are age 50 or older.

Does that surprise you? It probably shouldn’t. I know lots of people in that age group, and I see many of them playing games on smartphones and on Facebook — so many that I’m constantly hiding those posts from my Facebook news feed. Not long ago, during a long weekend at a friend’s beach house, I realized at one point that four people — three of them adults over 50 – were sitting near each other, each separately playing Angry Birds on whatever device they had available. Continue reading →

Seriously? This is how we celebrate King Day?

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Martin Luther King Jr. has finally achieved the pinnacle of true greatness as an American.

No, I’m not talking about the fact that we celebrate his birthday with a federal holiday; that’s old news. I’m talking about the true gauge of greatness — what really determines whether someone was a great player in this nation’s history, an achievement matched only by the likes of Presidents Lincoln and Washington, our military heroes and the founding fathers who declared this nation’s independence. Yes, not only do we have a holiday marking the anniversary of Dr. King’s birth; now we celebrate it with appliance and electronic ssales.

After all, in the United States, it’s not really a holiday unless we have huge blow-out sales to draw shoppers into stores, right? This year, I discovered that we’ve extended the practice to Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. From consumer electronics superstores to neighborhood thrift stores, everywhere I look I see retail outlets offering sale pricing for King Day.

Am I the only person who finds that more than a bit disgusting?