 The Concept Call to Action What do you want your readers to do? You're thinking, "Duh, Caroline. I want them to read my blog." No you don't. You want your reader to do something after they have read your blog. Remember, you're blogging with purpose now. You're not blogging just for yourself anymore. It's not about you. It's about your reader. So, what about about them? What do they want? And how does that tie in to what it is that you want them to do? The Breakdown Cousin Hunters Your reader might be a potential cousin. Or they might be someone who might know where to look for more information so you can tear down that brick wall. So, do you want them to read what you wrote and then move on? No. You want them to contact you. When was the last time you asked your reader to contact you? Have you made it easy for your readers to contact you? How badly do you want your readers to contact you? That's what I thought. You're no longer messing around at blogging. You're blogging with purpose and your purpose is to get your potential cousins or people with more information than you to contact you. So ask them. Give them a call to action at the end of every post. Craft your post in such a way that the natural thing to do next is to contact you. And make it an easy process. [Read: Stop that captcha business.] Genealogical Societies Your readers are either members or potential members. Sure, you want to be helpful and have as much information at your reader's disposal as possible on your site. But what about your blog? There are a lot of options and they all depend on your goals. Certainly membership is one of those, but do you have a newsletter? [Or are you sending out way too many newsletters?] Do you have meetings? [Are those meeting rooms filled to capacity?] Do you have a conference that you sponsor or is your society participating in a conference? Or would you just like for your readers to leave a comment on your blog posts? Determine each blog post's goal. Notice I said goal and not goals. Don't make this complicated with more than one goal in a blog post. Say for example your meeting rooms are not at capacity and your board has decided to really start making an effort at increasing membership and participation. You might craft a blog post about your society's features and benefits. Then ask your reader to come to a meeting. Is this going to make your meeting room overflowing to capacity? Probably not, but did you ask your reader to come to the meeting at the end of your blog post? The Meeting button link in the sidebar or at the top of your website is not enough. You need to ask your blog readers to come to your meeting. You must give your reader a call to action at the end of every blog post that is predetermined by the goal of your blog post. And make it easy. [Read: Stop that captcha business.] Professional Genealogists & Genealogy-related Businesses You want clients or customers. [And you want them to come back. Well, most of them.] That's your ultimate goal, but today's online business environment mimics days of old when a business owner or business person actually got to know their clients and customers before they were their clients and customers. They went to church together. They shopped at the same grocery store. Their kids were on the same little league team. Oh wait. That happens now. But in addition to it happening close to home, so to speak, it happens online every single day on social networks. People are finding they have something in common with someone else halfway around the world. Oh wait. That used to happen with the Pen Pal network. [Remember that?] Turns out we're pretty social people. No matter the time period or method of finding people, we find and hangout with people we have something in common with. We build relationships. And relationships between business owners and the people they come into contact with can foster loyalty. And that loyalty can turn into a client or a customer because people do business with people they know before they'll do business with someone they don't know. Which brings me to a call to action. Depending on the goal of your blog post, you need to be giving your readers a call to action. Your blog post goal may be to help your readers with a particular genealogy research method, or how to use your website or software more effectively, or to come meet you at whatever conference you're going to have a booth at. So as you form your relationships with your readers in blog post after blog post, then ask your readers to do whatever it is you want them to do at the end of each blog post. Remember, you have a relationship with them, or at least you're trying to build one. Go ahead and ask your readers to do what you'd like them to do. Every blog post is an opportunity. And make it easy for them to respond. [Read: Stop that captcha business.] The Take Away Have your goal determined before writing your blog post, write your blog post, and then present a call to action to your reader at the end of your blog post. ~Caroline If you found this blog post helpful and would like to receive in your email inbox once a week a free subscriber-only blog post, an exclusive tip of the week, and 5 links to hand-picked, timely, and relevant articles, then sign up for my newsletter below. 4 Comments  The Concept ~ Should you have your biz blog separate from your website? No. I was recently asked this question, and I promised I'd answer it in a blog post. Your business blog is an extension of your business as well as a marketing tool. It should definitely be a part of your website. If you happen to use a separate platform for blogging than the platform your website is on, then your blog needs to match your website in its design. Exactly. As much as possible, and then your website should have a link to your blog. It should look seamless. In fact, when someone on your website clicks on your link to your blog, they should not realize [at least not a first] that they aren't on your website anymore. Plain and simple. The purpose of your blog is to enhance your online presence so you can further your online goals. If your blog is treated like a separate entity, then [Yes, I'm gonna say it.] you're doing it wrong. The Breakdown Cousin Hunters ~ If your family website is separate from your blog, then you are missing out on potential cousin matches. Also, it makes it easier for your readers to refer to your tree or charts when they're reading your blog posts. Your blog posts are just a natural extension of your family website. No, you're not in a traditional business, but you are in the business of cousin hunting. Genealogical Societies ~ The whole idea - the purpose - of your blog is to communicate with current members and to reach out to potential members. If you're blogging with purpose then your readers should naturally and easily be able to explore your site for more information, and you certainly do not want your blog looking separate from your website. You want it to look seamless. They shouldn't click on a link, and then wonder if their browser has been hijacked. Right? Right? Professional Genealogists & Genealogy-Related Businesses ~ Your blog and website need to look professional. First of all, they are not separate entities. Your blog is an extension of your website. Second of all, you are branding yourself in such a way that when a person stumbles upon your site, they say, "Oh yeah. I've heard about this blog. I've gotta read it!" Wishful thinking? Maybe. Maybe not. Your blog is a marketing tool, and it's helping you to snag clients. How many times have you been on a site and you click one of their links and it looks totally different? That's not professional looking. It's distracting. The only thing a visitor to your blog should be distracted by is your writing [and in a good way]. They should be totally caught up in your blog post that by the end they want to hire you. Or by the end you've helped them out with a problem they were having in their research. And if they ever need to hire a professional genealogist or if they're ready to buy from your business, who do you think they're going to remember? The professional genealogist or company who has that awesome blog they read every week. That's who. The Take Away Your blog is a part of your website and if they're on different platforms, the visitor should not know it. ~Caroline  You're there. You've identified what you want to do with your blog. You carefully stay focused. You've identified your target audience and you're blogging with purpose. You've found the right blogging voice. You're putting yourself in your readers' shoes and blogging for them and their needs. But? No one is reading your blog posts. Well, hardly anyone, it seems. Those posts you've toiled over for so long are lying there dormant. Unloved, even. You're getting discouraged. How can you solve people's problems when these same people aren't even reading your posts? Yeah. That is a problem. After all, unless a person's blog is private, everyone somewhere who owns a public blog somewhere down deep inside wants someone to read what they have blogged about. It's not vanity or ego [although it very well could be]. It's the other half of writing publicly. And it's especially important for you ~ Cousin Hunters, Genealogical Societies, and Professional Genealogists ~ who are blogging. You have an agenda. Not a bad one, mind you, but you're blogging with purpose. And, oh yeah, you want it to happen, like, yesterday. I got this. Here are 3 ways to increase traffic to your genealogy blog:
Further, there are many more ways to increase traffic to your genealogy blog. What do you do or suggest others to do to increase traffic? Let me and everyone else know in comments below. Please. [I want comments. I love them, in fact.] ~Caroline  The Concept ~ It's Not About You Anymore Content is King! This is an oft heard phrase in the blogging world, but what does it mean? And more importantly, what does it mean for you? Well, simply put it means that you can have the best looking blog header, the most pleasing color combinations on your blog, all the latest and greatest widgets, RSS, and subscription sign-ups in the world, but if what you are writing about in posts is not relevant to your readers, then you might as well not even have a blog that is meant for others to read. Harsh words, I know, but it's true. Let me ask you a question. How many times have you landed on a blog, and stopped reading after the first paragraph because it wasn't helping you out with the problem that caused you to start searching for help on blogs in the first place? You are no longer blogging for yourself. You are blogging with purpose, and this type of blogging requires you to write like you are the reader. It's no longer what you feel like blogging about, but what your readers need to read. It's what they are needing help with. How do I know this? Because 41.67% of you indicated in the poll in my sidebar you were interested in learning more about blog content (posts). And if I had to guess (which I do because I didn't ask about content particulars), I bet you want to know how to come up with topics to write about. I'm also going to guess some of you want to know how to write the content as well. [And I really didn't want to talk about content today, but I'm here for you.;)] We'll work on the second one another time. However, the topics? That's easy. Take yourself and your needs out of the equation. Write like you are the reader. What does your reader need help with? The Breakdown Cousin Hunters Your readers want to know if you are related to them and how. Therefore when blogging about a particular person in your tree, be explicit as to how this person relates to you and make sure you mention this relationship more than once. Also, be sure to have a surname page or post that not only mentions surnames from your tree, but at the very least the migration of this surname. 'Smith from Iowa' is not helpful. Remember: It's not about you any more, it's about your readers, which are hopefully potential cousins who will contact you. Genealogical Societies Your readers are either members or potential members. Your current members and potential members do not want to navigate to a site that hasn't been updated since 2001. Make sure your site is fresh with even fresher blog posts. Relevant blog topics include: upcoming events, how to join, special projects, collections in your library, education, field trips, and just about any aspect about your society that you can think of. You are selling your society with each and every blog post. What makes you different than all the rest? Why should your readers join your society? What are the benefits to them? You'll notice that some of these topics are covered on other parts of your blog. That's okay. Some things need to be covered multiple times. They are that important. Professional Genealogists Your readers are either clients or potential clients. You need to make a list of all the details of your specialty (specialties). Then you need to take each one and break them down into bite-sized teachable steps. If you know all there is to know about Johnson County, IL because you've done quite a bit of research there, then let your readers know this by creatively presenting an easy-to-understand blog post (or 2 if you need to break it up). Don't just tell them one of your geographic research specialties is Johnson Co, IL because you have 25 years experience performing research there for multiple clients. Save that for your bio. Show them what you can do there with an example in your blog post. However, don't forget that many of your potential clients do not know the first thing about researching so do not make it jargon-heavy. With a click of a button they can be gone like that. *snaps fingers* The TakeAway Make sure you keep in mind your purpose with your blog and tailor your posts for that purpose. While content is king, if the subjects cannot understand what the king is saying, then the king becomes irrelevant. Long live the king. ~Caroline BTW, specifically, what would you like more help with in regards to blog post content? Topics, structure, keywords, etc. We're going to cover everything, but I'd like to cover what you want to know about right now. Cuz it's all about you.  This is my blogging voice ~ like we're talking over a cup of coffee. Concept ~ The Right Blogging Voice Yes, I know what you're thinking, "Blogs don't have voices. They can't talk for goodness sakes." Oh, but they do. Blogs can have such beautiful voices that they make you think you've died and gone to heaven. Or they can make you feel like you're in hell. From word choice to punctuation, blogs can speak. My Dad used to have me edit his writing back in the day. I'd take my red pen and mark it up. Then I'd ask him, "Dad, why did you make all these mistakes? You know better." My Dad looked at me and replied, "Caroline, I write like I speak. It's who I am." And in looking back at when I was so strict about my grammar and writing, I realized that my Dad really wasn't making grammar mistakes at all. He was writing with his voice. My Dad was a compelling speaker. He was one of those who commanded a room, and when speaking, everyone listened carefully. Additionally, he was a terrific oral storyteller carefully commanding his audience and orchestrating the suspense with each word and pause. And that's how he wrote. And how I write now is definitely not how I wrote back then, at least for certain audiences. You see, your voice in blogging is tied to your audience. We've already established you want to take your blogging to the next level so you're not reading this blog because you are only blogging for yourself. With your blog, you are talking to your audience. This mindset affects your word choice, your punctuation, and, in fact, all of your grammar. This is a difficult concept for most, at least it was for me, because in school we're only taught one way to write usually ~ formally. However, we don't [or at least I don't] speak formally all of the time. There is a time and place for formal writing and for informal writing. They both can be extremely powerful when used in the right situation. Which one is the right one to use for your blog? I don't know. I'm a Texan. Hardly a phrase comes out of my mouth that doesn't have a contraction. And I tend to start many phrases with 'and' and 'but'. One thing is for sure, if you read my blogs, you don't have to meet me in person at a conference to know what my voice sounds like. But that's because I predetermined who I was going to talk to with my voice, and how I was going to write so that you could hear my voice through my writing. You see, I wanted to talk to you so I used the words in my writing in the way that I would use them if we had met in person. I may be wrong, but there aren't too many people walking around and speaking formally with one another. The Breakdown Cousin Hunters ~ This category is easy. If you were to meet a newly-found cousin for lunch, would you speak to them conversationally or would you speak to them formally? Which one do you think they would respond to better? My money is on 'conversationally'. When blogging, you want to not only snag a potential cousin's attention, but you want them to contact you. So don't bore them with how smart you are. They're going to think you're smart already because you have a blog with photos and stories about some potential common ancestors. You've already caught their attention. So don't scare them away with formality. [And if you need someone to say it out loud, here you go: "You can break the grammar rules on your blog if you want! You're free!] Genealogical Societies ~ This category is a little trickier. You don't want your members and potential members to think you don't know proper grammar. I mean, you want any and all people to join your society who want to, and that includes those who are sticklers for grammar as well as those who, um, like to break the rules a bit. A good gauge might be how your members talk in an in-person meeting. I live in southeast Texas. I've not been to a society meeting where someone spoke formally. And this is why a blogging voice for a genealogical society can be tricky. You will need to find that middle ground. Opting for all formality will scare away potential members, especially young ones. My advice? Remind yourself who you are talking to when blogging. How would you speak to a member or a potential member in person? Professional Genealogists ~ You have formal writing down to an art form. After all, it's what you do for a living. And it's very important that your reports are formal. If you were to meet your potential client in person [and maybe you do], would you [do you] speak in the same formal voice that you write your reports in? I know. You're in a tight spot just as genealogical societies are. You want to make a good impression, but you don't want to scare away potential clients with a formal voice in blogging. My advice? Pretend you have just walked in to your local Chamber of Commerce [Remember those?] for the monthly breakfast meeting, and you're there to network ~ to meet potential clients as well as to meet other business people. [After all, you never know when you might need a helping hand from a fellow business person.] What voice would you use when speaking with them knowing you'd like to be their genealogist if and when they need one? The Takeaway Don't just find your blogging voice. Find the right blogging voice that will help you attain your blogging goals. ~Caroline If you enjoyed this blog post, consider subscribing to the monthly BloggingGenealogy.com email newsletter:  The Concept ~ Go Shop the Competition “I thought we were going to go eat, Dad.” “We are. We are.” “Then why are we here?” “I just wanna see something.” My dad always worked even when he wasn’t working. We were supposed to be on our way to dinner, and we were. It’s just that Dad was taking the opportunity to check out his business competition. My Dad owned a truck and trailer company with a service and sales. “Huh.” “What?” I asked. “What are they doing getting that fixed here? Why are they on their lot? Did we lose that deal? And look at that. The company is adding on. Hm. Okay, you ready for dinner?” I cannot tell you how many times that scenario played out while I was growing up. From dinner in another town to vacations, we always, always shopped the competition. At times, Dad was able to salvage a deal that he had lost to the competition, or sometimes he was able to get ideas for marketing his business. It’s a common practice in business. And it’s an excellent practice to exercise whether you are in business or not. It’s important to find out what people like you are doing out there. Are they doing it well? Or are they not doing it well? You can learn a lot from what others are doing on their blogs that will benefit your blog. You’re never going to share what you think about the blogs you shop, but you definitely should be very thorough when looking at their sites. And you can shop the competition as often as you like [my Dad certainly did], but I’d say it should be an activity done at least once-a-month. The Breakdown Cousin Hunters ~ While you’re not in competition with other geneabloggers, it doesn’t mean you can’t learn from taking a look around at other Cousin Hunters’ blogs. So go seek out some blogs that are just like yours and then some that aren’t just like yours. A good place to look for some other genealogy blogs would be on the Geneabloggers.com site. Just make sure you look at about 5 different sites and honestly and thoroughly analyze them. Here’s just some of the questions to ask yourself while perusing:
While I could go on and on with the analysis questions [and I will in an ebook], one thing is very clear. Everyone needs to look at their blogging “competition”. How do you know how well you’re doing if you don’t measure yourself against someone else? Plus, you can get some fantastic ideas for your blog just by looking at the competition. Find out who your competition is and shop them. Your blog depends on it. ~Caroline  Wedding parade on Royal St. in New Orleans. The Concept ~ Where to Start “Why do you care? I mean, it all happened so long ago. Does it really matter,” he asked me. Rolling my eyes heavenward, I replied, “Of course, it matters. It matters to me.” “But those things happened. You can’t change them.” “I know. I don’t want to change them. I want to know what happened.” “But you can read about the Civil War, the American Revolution, and the Loyalists. You don’t need me to tell you history.” “You’re right. I don’t need you to tell me about history. I need you to tell me what happened to you and your family. How the events affected you. What happened to your parents? Did you know we’re both Episcopalian? Cuz I think that’s kinda cool. And did any of the family ever talk about Josephus? Why was he a Loyalist? Was the family upset about losing their home in Fairfield, Connecticut, and relocating to Noyen, Quebec? Well, that’s probably a silly question. Of course, they were upset. How could the town run out the Vaughan family like that, especially since Josephus’ father had been the respected town doctor in Fairfield for so many years? Did the family like Noyen? Why did Benjamin come back to America? What musical instrument did you play in the Civil War? How did you and Annie meet? Why were you in New Orleans? But it’s a good thing you were or you wouldn’t have met Annie. And for goodness sakes, what do I call you? Great Great Grandpapa? Daniel? And…” “Whoa, whoa. Slow down.” He laughed. “That’s a lot of things you want to know. All right. I’ll tell you what I know. But where should I start?” That’s a good question. Where does one start? It can be hard to start just about anything. And I think that’s especially true with blogging genealogy. It’s real easy to get into a linear-way of thinking when it comes to blogging. If you think of it as a line, you might tend to think that it’s a finite line with a beginning, middle, and end, and certainly one can do that. In fact, the idea of a formal beginning hints at an end. However, not any one blog post is a thesis of sorts for the sum total of your blog. Therefore, your first blog post ~ whether it’s your very first one or a first one back from hiatus ~ does not have to introduce the beginning of your blog or what you intend to do. I rather like the idea that one should begin as one intends to proceed. To just start with what you plan to continue with. Try just telling a story. Everyone can relate to a story. Sure, family history is one big story in chronological order, but it’s also made up of smaller stories, or vignettes. Sometimes the story is you trying to find the story. If you think of blogging genealogy as telling the smaller stories, then they don’t necessarily have to be in chronological order. They can be mixed about giving you endless possibilities. But don’t just tell a story. Tell it with passion. Who doesn’t love to read a story told by someone who is passionate about their story? The Breakdown Cousin Hunters With this ‘jumping right in approach’ and telling a story, the possibilities of your start are endless but here’s an idea to get you blogging. Have an ancestor that’s driving you nuts because they seem to be lost forever in time with nary a record? Write a blog post to them as if they were right there. Vent your frustrations. Ask them your questions directly. What are their answers? In this case, you don’t know the story, but the story you are conveying to your readers is your story about how frustrated you are about trying to find a particular family story. And? How could a cousin not be baited by your ancestor frustration? They’ve probably been just as frustrated by their own research. A laughing and empathetic cousin is most likely to contact you. Genealogical Societies What’s the story of your society? How did it come about? Telling the story of your society ~ its purpose ~ might get current members interested again and it might get potential members interested in signing up. Share your mission and your goals. Give them your reason for being, and perhaps that reason for being will inspire them to be a part of that being. But don’t just retell the facts. Do it in story form. And do it with passion. The type of passion that makes it irresistible for them to jump in and join your story. Also? A great idea would be to pull up a story from the history of the area that your society covers. Just don’t forget the passion. Professional Genealogists Come across any interesting stories in your research that you can share? Perhaps one that illustrates a particular method of research? Then share that story. Don’t get overly complicated. If you need to break it down into smaller stories and just tell one of them, then do that. However you choose to do it, though, don’t just retell the steps. Your readers can get that anywhere. Put it into story form. And? Do it with passion. Being a professional, you’re use to writing up dry reports for your clients, but on your blog? Unleash your passion. Show [don’t tell] your potential clients why you do what you do. This will make you stand out amongst your competition. The Takeaway It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start. And try doing it in story form. And? Do it with passion. “Ah. Annie. Annie O’Brien. Now there’s a story. She was a vision. The first time I saw her was on Royal Street. And when I saw her my world just stopped. Her beautiful long red hair was blowing in the breeze. And when she looked up and saw me – at that exact moment - I just knew…” “Knew what,” I asked. “That she was sent just for me.” [Note: In my little vignette, my questions for my 2nd great grandfather are all based on facts I’ve found in my research. However, me talking to Great Great Granpapa Daniel and him telling me his story of how he met my 2nd great grandmother Annie are just figments of my imagination. I don’t usually, um, hold conversations with my ancestors. Oh, okay, who am I kidding? I do talk out loud to them. They just never talk back. Yet. And? You can do this on your blog too. Just make sure you put a disclaimer on it letting everyone know that’s what you’re doing. Or they’re gonna think you’re crazy. Which may be true, but why let them know that?] ~Caroline 'Wedding Parade on Royal St. in New Orleans' was taken by Caroline Pointer in 2011.  When your blog doesn't have a target audience, it's all over the place. The Concept ~ Your Blog’s Audience When developing relationships with other people, it’s important to know beforehand just who those other people are. Of course, you want anyone and everyone to read your blog, but are those who are reading it who you want specifically to read your blog? Which leads to the question, who do you want to read your blog? To treat your blog and social media plan haphazardly leads to haphazard results. You know the common phrase, “You get out of it what you put into it?” This phrase holds for blogging and social media. [That’s not to say you must work hard all the time. Working smart is much more preferable to working hard.] So, what are you putting into your blog? Is your content written specifically for a particular type of person? Is it the type of person who you are trying to reach? Does every element of your blog ~ not just the blog posts ~ contribute to targeting your intended audience? With every bit of content, advertising, and design decisions that you make with your blog, you need to identify who you want to target with your blog. Then you build it or modify it. However, unlike the movie, not everyone will come to your blog once you’ve built or modified your it with your target audience in mind. You know, just like that. *snaps fingers* [Otherwise, I’d be out of topics for this blog. ;)] The Breakdown So, how does this breakdown for you? Just who is your target audience? Cousin Hunters Obviously, you are looking for cousins, but what kind of cousins? All of your cousins? Your paternal cousins? All of them who are named Smith? All of them who are descended from the Smiths of Iowa? Well, which Smith family in Iowa? Which time period? I think you get the picture about these cousins. Do you have somewhere on your blog where you’ve identified the surnames you are researching, and is it detailed enough so that it can be determined what family you are researching? If your blog content encompasses all of your researching, that’s okay, but you still need to identify those specific families, not just the surnames. Genealogical Societies This one may seem a little obvious too. Genealogical societies utilize blogs to try to meet the needs of their current members, but they use them to attract new members as well. Going deeper, there are different types of members. For instance, there are both local and long-distance members who are current or potential members. There are also those who join and just give money and no time. There are those who can afford to be more generous with their time, and this type of member can be broken down further into subgroups based upon their unique abilities and talents. Therefore, a society isn’t just trying to target members ~ current and potential ~ but they are trying to target very specific types of individuals with their blogs. Does your current genealogical society blog reflect the specific types of members that you are wanting to attract to your society? Professional Genealogists The target audience for a professional genealogist is going to depend on what particular niche you’ve carved out for yourself as a professional. Currently the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) has a listing on their home page of the different types of professional genealogists that it recognizes with the understanding that many professional genealogists can fit into more than one category. What type of professional genealogist are you? Does your blog reflect that? Does it reflect the specific type of work you do? The Take-Away No matter the type of blog, if you’ve decided that your blog is going to be used to achieve specific goals, then you must blog with purpose. In this case, your purpose is to attract a particular kind of reader in every way possible with your blog. After all, you only have so much real estate on your blog. Take a look at your blog. Are you using it wisely to attract your intended audience? Who is your intended audience? ~Caroline I've added a poll to the sidebar on BloggingGenealogy.com. If you have the time, please go answer a few questions concerning blogging. Thanks!  Joseph K. Marshall, Jr., salesman at Lufkin Trailers in San Antonio, TX, ca.1965. Developing Relationships Growing up, I had the privilege of watching my father conduct business. However, to say it was business sounds so clinical and not really accurate because my father at times made the business aspect seem like a byproduct of what he was really doing ~ developing relationships. He developed strong relationships with his vendors. He developed strong relationships with his customers. He developed strong relationships with his employees. He knew their first and last names. He knew their spouses names. He knew where they'd been and where they were planning to go. He sat down, listened to them, and cared. And it seems that because he was so adept at developing relationships with those folks he came into contact with, the business, whatever it was, usually followed. I'm not implying that everything ran smoothly because it didn't, even with the relationships. It's just that it seems he created a community of sorts wherever he went. And what does developing relationships have to do with blogging genealogy? Well, goodness, everything. Blogging is a tool from the tool box known as "social media". And while the term social media is a very overused term, it's just online marketing. Remember the old community chambers of commerce? That's similar to what social media is when it's being used effectively, except it's open 24/7 and available in every conceivable place there's an internet connection or cell service around the world. Meetings still occur, but they look a little different because people are hanging out now in front of a webcam. Coffee isn't served, but everyone's enjoying a cup of their favorite java or tea. Birthdays are observed not with cake but exclamation points and emoticons. Blogs provide a necessary online presence where content is fresh, community is grown, and relationships are developed. Then, well, your business ~ be it finding cousins, finding members, or finding clients ~ will usually follow. So welcome to BloggingGenealogy.com, where we're going to create a community of people learning how to develop relationships through social media, especially through blogging genealogy effectively. [And I wish my Dad was still around. He totally would've rocked this blogging and genealogy stuff. =) ] Subscribe to blog updates below to make sure you don't miss a thing. And the winner of Dear Myrtle's Blogging for Beginners and More Blogging for Beginners webinar-on-CDs from Legacy Family Tree Webinars is... Kathleen Brandt of the blog a3Genealogy!!!! Be sure to go over to Kathleen's blog and congratulate her. Congrats! To claim your prize, please contact me through my contact form indicating your mailing address. Thanks! =) ~Caroline Disclosure Notice: I am an affiliate of Legacy Family Tree. This means that if you click on a link or an image with a link for Legacy Family Tree, you will be taken to their website where you may purchase something from their online store. If you do purchase from their online store, then I will receive a small referral commission for sending you there and recommending them. Whether you buy or don't buy is up to you. As a Geneablogger member, I received a collection of 10 webinar-on-CDs at SCGS 2011's Jamboree from Legacy Family Tree Webinars to either use personally or to use as giveaways, and these 2 CD's that I'm giving away are from that collection. Please feel free to share this post with anyone below by using the various share buttons. [Think of this post as a Chamber of Commerce brochure. If you'd gone to a great meeting at the local chamber and the coffee was good, you'd grab some brochures and pass them out, right?]  Legacy Family Tree Webinars You're getting closer to...
And? I'm giving away a copy of Dear Myrtle's Blogging for Beginners and a copy of Dear Myrtle's More Blogging for Beginners webinar-on-CD from Legacy Family Tree Webinars. One very lucky and very random BloggingGenealogy.com List Subscriber will receive both copies of Dear Myrtle's webinar-on-CDs. So sign-up by midnight, Monday, 30 Jan 2012, and the winner will be announced on the FIRST official blog post of BloggingGenealogy.com on Tuesday, 31 Jan 2012. ~Caroline Disclosure Notice: I am an affiliate of Legacy Family Tree. This means that if you click on a link or an image with a link for Legacy Family Tree, you will be taken to their website where you may purchase something from their online store. If you do purchase from their online store, then I will receive a small referral commission for sending you there and recommending them. Whether you buy or don't buy is up to you. As a Geneablogger member, I received a collection of 10 webinar-on-CDs at SCGS 2011's Jamboree from Legacy Family Tree Webinars either to use personally or to use as giveaways, and these 2 CD's that I'm giving away are from that collection. | Sign up for the
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