www.ReTechTraining.com Copyright 2008 ©

REALTOR® Association Blog Management

By Doug Devitre e-PRO, ABR®, CRS, GRI, MRE

12 Steps to Creating the Blog

Create a WordPress Account

Blog Dashboard

1. Select Name

• Select blog name

• Choose blogging software

• Purchase domain name

• Forward domain name to blog URL

2. Design Template

• Select template

• Blog Header

• Add bio

• Add legal disclaimer

3. Blog Settings

• General

• Writing

• Reading

• Discussion

• Privacy

• Delete blog

• Media

General Blog Settings

• Blog Title

• Tagline

• Language

• Email Address

• Membership

• Time zone

• Time and date format

Blog Writing Settings

Reading Settings

• Front page displays latest posts

• Blog pages show at most 10 posts

• Syndication feeds shows most recent

Discussion Settings

Comment Moderation

• Excessive linking

• Comment contains key words

• Blacklist comments

Blog Visibility

• Visible to everyone including search engines

• Block search engines, but allow normal visitors

• Visible only to users I choose

• Delete the blog

4. Choose Authors

Roles in Blog Creation

• Administrator

• Author

• Editor

• Contributor

Association Staff Authoring

• Executive Vice President

• Communications Director

• Education Director

• Membership Director

Leadership Team Authoring

• President

• President Elect

• Treasurer

• Secretary

Committee Chair Authoring

• Finance Committee• Strategic Action

Committee• Education Committee• Contracts and Forms• REALTOR® Political

Action Committee• Technology Committee

Managing Users

• Sending invitations

• Personal profiles

• Example users

Send Invitations to Contribute

Personal Profile Options

• Picture

• Name

• Email

• Website

• Bio

• Password settings

5. Set Schedule for Entries

Time Release Entry

5. Creating entries

• Hot topics

• New law changes

• New ordinances

• Member news

• Recent events

• Event recaps

Embed YouTube Video

Insert Link

1.

2.

Categorizing Posts

6. Handling Comments

Managing Posts

RSS Feeds

• RSS feed

• RSS widget

• RSS reader

http://retechtraining.wordpress.com/feed/

RSS Example

Advanced Entry Options

Inserting Tags

7. Handling Comments

• Must REQUIRE approval prior to publishing

• Who is allowed to publish comments?

• How often will publish comments?

8. Categories

Entries Categorized by:– Committee– Topic– Municipality– Region– Broker– Legal– Education

9. Favorite Links

10. Adding Widgets

• Widgets can be– Text– Communication– RSS– Shared documents– Calendar– Archives– Statistics

11. Managing Risk

• Leadership team assumes responsibility

• Committee chairs assumes responsibility

• Code of Ethics

• Active member monitoring

• Members view comments only

12. Marketing the Blog

• Link from website

• Email marketing

• Online social networking

• Podcasting

• Direct mail

• Flyers

Blog Stats

More Blog Stats

Top referrers

Top posts and pages

Search engine terms