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Wild Apricot Newsletter - November 2007

Advice for New Bloggers: 12 Tips on Blog Writing

There are no hard and fast rules on how to blog. Having said that, new bloggers could build audiences faster and get some exposure by following some simple tips. In this article, we provide 12 simple tips on blog writing.

Case Study: Reaching a Wider Audience through Podcasting

All this talk about podcasts motivated Internet Marketing Specialist Angela Parker and Website Data Developer Jodi Diehl at Remote Professionals to venture into podcasts. Remote Professionals is a networking organization for outsourcing professionals. They use their online events, teleclasses, webchats and podcasts to bring speakers and presenters on topics of interest to members. They also strive to help others who, although they may not be members, have an interest in working independently or who currently offer outsourcing services. Using podcasts is one way they distribute free content to people interested in their industry. They also offer articles on their website and blog.

"We started podcasting to reach a wider audience and to allow people to access our teleclasses, seminars and information on a variety of platforms. Mobile professionals absorb information in a variety of ways and we dovetail our workday to multi-task -- even during our free time, says Angela Parker. It becomes a lifestyle for many Remote Professionals and catering to that is part of how we serve our audience. Podcasting also allows us to archive the events in an easy-to-access format that can be played later on a computer, burned to a CD, recorded on a hard drive or sent to a portable MP3 player. Making it easier on our members and future members to get the information they want when they want it... well, that's what we do."

Here are the five most important things to do when creating or using podcasts:

Make sure the information you present is interesting and targeted for your particular audience. Good podcasts will be marketed listener to listener. Never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth marketing and mentions in blogs!
Be sure to get the podcasts distributed through iTunes
Craft keyword-rich and accurate descriptions of each episode and of the feed as a whole
Submit your podcast to feed directories (but realize that several require you to have at least five entries before they will accept your feed submission)
Don't wait, if you want to begin the podcasting process, do so now

Read the complete case study to learn how Remote Professionals harnessed the power of podcasts to serve and cater to their members.

Read full Case Study

Wild Apricot Info Zone

Since our last newsletter in October we have released two new versions of Wild Apricot (2.25 and 2.26).

Here are the highlights:

Member Directory Customization - You can now have several member directory pages, customizing presentation for each (what fields to display, how wide each column is, etc.)
Calendar view of events - A more convenient way to present your events, with monthly, weekly, or annual options.
Log of sent emails - You can now review the emails already sent (newsletters to your members, messages to event registrants etc.) - and use them as templates for new ones.
Multiple blog pages - Allows to run several blogs, each with a separate RSS feed. You can create a public blog as well as a private member-only blog.
Discussion forum module - You can now create discussion forum web pages to engage your members in online dialog.
Group membership levels - This is helpful for managing group memberships such as families, corporations or chapters within your regional or national organization. You can limit how many members are in the group. Each group has a dedicated group administrator who can manage members within his/her own group.

We made many other improvements including:

Speed improvements in member directory and page editing
You can now change the reply email address for each mail blast (mass email)
Administrators have the option to switch off all emails to a given member
More renewal period options for members (monthly. quarterly, 6 months). Automatic recurring payments will be coming in early December
If a member initiates an upgrade or renewal but does not complete online payment on the first try, he/she can now cancel and retry without having to involve the administrator
Many usability improvements, enhancements and bug fixes

As always - go to http://help.wildapricot.com/display/DOC/0.+Release+history for more details.

Here is what we are working on right now and will release in early December:

Point-and-click to change colors of your selected theme (something which now requires pretty advanced technical skills as it has to be done via CSS Customization feature)
Automatic recurring charges, e.g. for monthly membership
Customization of workflows and email notices and confirmation templates separately for each membership level
Significant improvement in overall system speed - we are rewriting big chunks of old code

How to Start and Grow your Nonprofit Blog: An Interview with Michael Sola

Michael Sola is the Director of Information Technology of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), a nonprofit dedicated to restoring and protecting the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers. For the past 6 months, Michael Sola has been blogging as part of the organization's larger communications strategy. We caught up with Michael to talk about how blogging can help a small organization build community and visibility.

N4P Dose of Humor

The best part about working for a nonprofit :-)

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