Hedgehog & Fox Newsletter, Vol 2, Issue 5

The following is an archive of this issue of the newsletter pretty much exactly as it would appear in your inbox. Subscribe to receive it there on a monthly basis.

Jeff Cobb – Hedgehog & Fox  Newsletter – 06.09 – Essential Tools of the New Web: Blogs, Part I

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Hedgehog & Fox Newsletter
from Jeff Thomas Cobb
Volume 2, Issue 5

http://jtcobb.wpengine.com
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IN THIS ISSUE
1. Quote of the Month
2. A Note from Jeff: Educate and Ye Shall Receive
3. Upcoming Speaking
4. Bonus Section: Associations/E-learning
5. Feature Article: Essential Tools of the New Web: Blogs
6. High Value Clicks
7. Contact Me
8. Administrivia
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1. Quote of the Month
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When you give yourself, you receive more than you give.
– Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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2. A Note from Jeff: Educate and Ye Shall Receive
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One of the most common objections I hear to implementing a social media strategy concerns the amount of time it takes to be social. Lying behind this objection, I suspect, is the notion that there is no focused “object” to the frenzy of social activity that seems to characterize the Web these days. With no clear object, it is difficult to see a return on investing the necessary time.

While surely a lot of time is wasted on the Web, the organizations and individuals who are succeeding with social media nearly always have a clear object in mind, and very often that object is education. They build relationships with their stakeholders by helping them to learn about topics, issues, and skills that matter to them. They give with the long term view that doing so builds trust and loyalty.

One of the most powerful aspects of the social Web is the extent to which it encourages and facilitates learning interactions – whether formal or informal in nature. In most cases, these types of interactions lead to relationships that are infinitely stronger and more valuable than relationships driven by traditional marketing techniques like advertising or direct mail.

In the main article for this newsletter, I take a look at the successful use of blogging to create this type of relationship. I think you will agree the example is quite powerful – and I hope it gives you ideas for how you might want to use the social Web and education as part of your strategy.

As always, I look forward to any comments or questions you may send to jtc@jeffthomascobb.com

Jeff
jtc@jeffthomascobb.com
http://jtcobb.wpengine.com

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3. Upcoming Speaking Engagements
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I’m just back from speaking on social media for planning and promoting events at the Empire State Society of Association Executives annual meeting. Welcome to new subscribers from ESSAE!

Here’s what’s coming up next.

Council of State Home Care and Hospice Associations
August 4, Newport, RI
Strategically Social: Connecting Social Media to Your Organization’s
Strategy

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American Society of Association Executives Annual Meeting
August 16, Toronto, Canada
Professional Development 2.0

Visit http://jtcobb.wpengine.com/speaking to find out more or contact me at jtc@jeffthomascobb.com if your are interested in having me speak at one of your organization’s events.

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4. Bonus Section: Associations/E-learning
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I know I have a number of subscribers who are interested in associations, e-learning, or both. I’ve had a lot of activity across those areas in the past month, so I thought I’d include some highlights in this newsletter.

First, I hosted an association e-learning networking lunch at the offices of America’s Health Insurance Plans in DC earlier in the month. This was attended by more than a dozen organizations and attendees seemed very enthusiastic about it. If you are interested in attending one of these lunches in the DC or Chicago areas, please e-mail me to let me know (jtc@jeffthomascobb.com).

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I mentioned last month that an article on e-learning in ASAE’s Associations Now Magazine included a good bit of commentary from me. The same is true for an article this month on learning management system technologies. I encourage you to take a look at this if an LMS is part of your organization’s plans.

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The ASAE Professional Development Council, of which I am a member, will be holding its second Virtual Lunch phone conference tomorrow (July 1) at noon eastern. Topic: How Association PD is Shakin’ Things Up with Social Networking. You can call in on (605) 475-4875 and enter code: 676332#, but I have also lobbied for us to use a Twitter hashtag for real-time text communication during the call: #asaepd. (Take a look at my last newsletter or drop me an e-mail if you are not sure what that means.)

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Finally, I did a podcast earlier this week with Ellen Behrens, who has recently published a book on e-learning for associations – aLearning: A Trail Guide for Association eLearning. The interview is about 30 minutes long and covers topics ranging from keys to successful e-learning initiatives to the role of social media in e-learning. You can access it at:

http://www.box.net/shared/skt2tnf8ok

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5. Essential Tools of the New Web: Blogs, Part I
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This is the fourth installment in my “Essential Tools” series, which has so far covered Web video, Facebook, and Twitter. I’ve decided that I will do at least two articles on blogs because I think they are such an important tool.

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When I speak to audiences about social media, I tend to put a great deal of emphasis on the role that “content” now plays in customer and member relationships. One of my favorite tools for delivering content is a blog, and one of my favorite examples of a successful blog is the Rapid E-learning Blog (http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/) published by Articulate, maker of a very popular online course authoring tool that integrates with PowerPoint.

Here’s the story:

Two years ago, as a company already very active in the e-learning market, Articulate knew that there was a rapidly growing group of people interested in cheaper, faster ways to create online training. That’s what its flagship software, Articulate Presenter was all about, and sales of Presenter were growing by leaps and bounds.

But there was a problem.

Everyone has experienced bad PowerPoint presentations as part of a training or education experience. Indeed, bad tends to be more the rule than the exception. Enabling people to create online training fast and easily with PowerPoint meant potentially enabling a lot of bad online training – and that didn’t bode well for the company over the long haul.

The solution? The Rapid E-learning Blog.

To understand why this turned out to be the solution – and a very good one at that – it’s important to first have an understanding of what a blog is and what it can do.

In simplest terms, a blog is nothing more than a Web publishing platform that enables you to author Web pages using a standard browser like Internet Explorer or Firefox. A site powered by blog software can be made to look like pretty much any other site – in fact, my Web site at jtcobb.wpengine.com – is powered entirely by the WordPress blogging platform.

But there are at least three big differences between blogs and traditional Web publishing software.

First, blogging software is incredibly easy to use. Someone without much technical ability at all can create and publish a page with text, graphics, and even some video or audio within a matter of minutes.

Second – and this is a really big one – blogs take advantage of “really simple syndication,” or RSS, to make it possible for people all over the Web to subscribe to your content and receive updates as soon as you publish something new. (If you want to know more about RSS, see Commoncraft’s short, entertaining “RSS in Plain English” video.)

Finally, blogs make it easy for people to comment on – and add to – your content.

I won’t go into details, but it should be noted that all of the above factors contribute to search engines smiling upon blogs, greatly increasing  the chances that you will actually be found on the Web.

So how does all of this relate to Articulate’s business need?

Articulate’s audience is made up of people who work day in and day out on online course projects and who are eager to learn how to create high quality e-learning faster and cheaper. For this audience, a steady stream of how-tos, case studies, and best practices is incredibly valuable. Blogging software enables:

– a way for for Articulate to rapidly and easily publish new content for its audience
– a way for its customers and prospects to easily receive the content by e-mail or with an RSS reader – or by simply visiting the site
– a way for audience members to ask questions or contribute their own tips and experiences

Rapid E-learning blog subscriptions shot to nearly 7000 within days of its launch, and they are now up to 40,000. That’s right – 40,000 people who have actually asked to hear from Articulate on a regular basis.

And that’s just the number of people who have subscribed – it doesn’t include the thousands more who visit the site but do not subscribe.

Now, I encourage you to step back for a minute and think about your own customer or member base (including prospective customers and members!).

Can you think of ways in which providing them with a continuing stream of informative, educational content related to a particular topic, set of topics, or event would be valuable? If you can’t, I’ll wager you aren’t thinking hard enough.

While a blog is certainly not the only tool that can support engaging your stakeholder base in this way it is, in my opinion, one of the best ones for reasons articulated above. If you have not yet considered blogging as a component of your Web strategy, I’d encourage you to start giving it some serious thought as soon as possible.

See the High Value Clicks section below for some other resources related to blogs. If you are already under way with a blog, I encourage you to take a look at my three-part series “Marketing and Growing Your Blog” which, of course, is posted on my blog.

– JTC

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6. High Value Clicks
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Here are some great free or low-cost resources on the Web to help you boost your Web marketing efforts:

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Blog Resources
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Blogs in Plain English