Dear WordCount is a weekly advice column answering your questions about writing, blogging and running a freelance business. Got questions? Ask me at wordcountfreelance@gmail.com.
Dear WordCount: I recently started to blog on a volunteer basis for a not-for-profit event in my area. All of a sudden, other people working on this event are sending me long diatribes they want me to publish on the blog. My thought was to have the blog be a singular voice for the organization, with possible guest posts from outsiders. How should I respond to these people, or should I just adopt a more-than-merrier approach? — Michele
Dear Michele:
Thanks for your note. So if I understand you correctly, a number of individuals involved with the event want to have their thoughts published on the blog. That’s great: when it comes to blogs, the more voices the merrier. But before you open the floodgates to everyone in the organization, make sure they know what is and isn’t acceptable to say.
For that, you should talk to the organization’s executive director, marketing manager or whomever hired you. Find out if they have a social media policy that includes ground rules for what can or can’t be published on the blog. If such a document exists, share it throughout the organization, maybe even in a blog post. That way, staff member, volunteers and anyone else connected with the organization know exactly what does and doesn’t fly.
Create a Social Media Policy
If such a document doesn’t exist, offer to create one. No need to reinvent the wheel. This online database of social media policies includes guidelines for 215 organizations, including nonprofits such as the American Red Cross, Electronic Frontier Foundation and the International Olympic Committee, as well as dozens of universities and city governments.
You could use the same blog post guidelines that you’ve found or created for members of the organization and adapt them for public consumption to solicit guest posts from members of your community.
Through the years, I’ve learned that a blog works best when it’s not just one person giving their point of view. Providing many points of view makes for more interesting reading. And if you’re representing an organization that’s trying to reach out to lots of different kinds of members of the community, a blog with many voices will make it look more inclusive.
At the same time, the organization not doubt has a mission and a goal of presenting itself to the community in a way that’s in keeping with that mission, including what they publish on a blog. If you’re running the blog, it’s your job to stick to that mission and voice while making sure communications are as inclusive, and interesting, as possible.
If you’ve run a group blog before, how did you handle requests from potential contributors?