Smallbrain Solutions

When I posted this last week, I didn’t really think of this as a series, really. After seeing a flurry of posts on “how to” blog, I thought that I would add some more advice on how to write a campaign blog. Specifically, why so many campaign blogs suck — and how you can avoid that exact situation.

Really, the final straw was that the Harvard Management Communication Letter, even weighed in with this yesterday:

“Don’t let the PR department write your blog. Bloggers will sniff it out, and when they do, you will lose all credibility,” says [Consultant Debbie]Weil. She points to GM’s [CEO Bob] Lutz as a senior executive whose writing style is genuine, conversational, and engaging, and whose blog—like the best executive-written blogs—eschews corporate-speak.

In your blog, express your enthusiasm and passion for your work and your company’s product, with occasional asides on topics that reflect your personal interests. The latter will keep your voice authentic and increase the linkability of your blog.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Here are some examples of political blogging in practice. Here is what I (and I suspect most people would agree with me) would consider a poor example, from Tim Kaine (the Governor-elect of Virginia):

Tim Kaine is the clear choice for Virginians who want to build on the progress of the Warner-Kaine Administration, and Tim’s momentum has been reflected in every recent major public poll in this race for governor. Sixty Virginia newspapers have endorsed Tim, as has Governor Mark Warner.

Click here to double-check your polling place!

But the outcome of this race is far from certain. Tim’s opponent is working hard to get out the vote, and just last night he relied on George Bush to rally his supporters.

Today, please vote for Tim Kaine and keep Virginia moving forward.

Click here to double-check your polling place!

from TK4G.org, November 8, 2005

boorrrrrring. And there is no personality here at all. In fact, most of the posts he has on his blog are like this… just some plain language with no personality.

This is much better (if a bit gushy…):

Governor-Elect Corzine…

was out shaking hands at a commuter stop this morning at 7am. I don’t know how he did it considering the grueling schedule of the last four weeks, but he surely knows that he was elected to do the real work of governing this wonderful state and the millions who live here. New Jersey, thank you, it’s time to get to work.
UPDATE: Bluejersey has a video of Jon Corzine’s speech last night.

from Corzine Connection, posted by Matt Stoller, Nov 9, 2005

There are a couple of important takeaways from this post.

First, and I can’t stress this enough, is that your blogger doesn’t have to be your candidate. It just has to be a real person.

Second, you can see the difference in the voice there. There are two ways to sound human (even if your vetting process requires a ton of people to see/edit it).

a) Write like you would speak. Matt says,

“I don’t know how he did it considering the grueling schedule of the last four weeks, but he surely knows that he was elected to do the real work of governing this wonderful state and the millions who live here.”

Where a Kaine’s blog would say something like this:

Tim Kaine is the clear choice for Virginians who want to build on the progress of the Warner-Kaine Administration, and Tim’s momentum has been reflected in every recent major public poll in this race for governor. Sixty Virginia newspapers have endorsed Tim, as has Governor Mark Warner.

Obviously, one of those is a little more engaging.

b) It is more than wording - Be Personal. Matt’s post is talking about his personal opinions in the first person. The Kaine blog is just spouting something lifeless. Remember that those personal touches really make the blog more fun to read - and as Debbie Weil mentions above, that should increase your linkability.

Now, Matt Stoller is a professional (he blogs pretty much everywhere) and you would expect him to be better at this than most. But what he did with the Corzine blog is not super-secret or even that complicated (well, the tone part isn’t). The ultimate secret of successful campaign blogging is to just get back to what is natural - blog like you were writing emails to your friends and you are probably on the right track.

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Nokia fired up a blog to feed folks info about their new phone, their new n90. Great idea!

The site has info on the phone in static pages, but the blog section justs tracksback to what non-Nokia bloggers are saying about the n90.

Obviously, if you are a candidate or organization, your blog and website should be serving this informational need already. What this Nokia blog shows you is that it is very important to join the conversation and react to what other people are saying about you. For example, here is one of their posts from this morning:

PalmSolo, an offshoot of Geek.com has a preliminary review of the N90. Like many of the bloggers in the program he’s just getting it out of the box but already making comments.

Like him, I too have a 7610 but actually left it home on a trip to Europe last week and have been using the N90 quite a bit as phone first, camera second but impressed with it’s wide range of features also. The feel is actually something I like. While some call it heavy, I never wonder if it’s tucked in my pants or jacket pocket. I also like the fact that the keypad is inside, so no errant calls.

[via Micropersuasion]

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Russell Buckley at Mobhappy.com has a very nice piece on mobile marketing here. Basically, he ponders why mobile hasn’t become more common as a marketing mechanism.

Personally, I am of the opinion that candidates need can get a pretty good jump on the competition by paying attention to mobile in the coming year. Why? Russell makes a pretty good justification here:

It’s hard to argue that mobile isn’t potentially important - two billion people carrying what are essentially Personal Media Players, capable of receiving calls and messages in real time, playing music, watching film, streaming Tv and radio and hosting games. Not only that, but we’re promised that these devices will soon be self-aware enough to know where they are in the world, and in relation to other users - and let interested parties know this information (with the user’s permission).

So it’s not the medium itself that represents the challenge for marketers. It’s bleeding obvious that it’s attractive. At least if you don’t work in a traditional [marketing] agency.

I will be developing a series of posts in the near future about how you (even as a low-budget local candidate) can use mobile in your campaign. For now, here are some good links to get you started:

> Network-centric Advocacy: Google SMS activism

Marty posted this back in 2004, and I must say that I find Google Local indispensable here in NYC. I have used it for driving directions on the fly, finding sushi in different neighborhoods, and other things.

> MobileActive

This was a conference, organized by Marty Kearns (see above) around mobile activism. Lots of good brain food here.

Take a look at these sites and I will be back with some ideas on how you can use Mobile in your campaign after the turkey has digested. In the meantime, you should add a “cell phone” field to your signup forms with maybe a “It is ok to contact me via text message” box.

See you soon.

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Ok, this has nothing to do with technology really, but 4 GOP reps actually sat down with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog to discuss global warning… I admire their courage.

Here is the link. Sorry about the Sierra Mist ads they make you watch…[via Chris Dykstra]

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A few days ago, Pinyo posted “The Seven Deadly Sins of Blogging”. It is a pretty good primer for folks getting ready to start a campaign blog. I would also point you to EchoDitto’s “Best Practices for Being a Successful Blogger”.

The thing that is most difficult for campaign blogs to get right is the “voice”. If you are just going to post press releases, call it a “news” page. Please.

Go read.

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