Running a group blog takes a lot of care and attention, far more than a single author blog. Therefore, it's vital to be prepared before you start working on a group blog. What should you know to give your group blog a fighting chance?
1. Have a clear but broad focus.
A clear focus is important for all blogs. But a typical group blog is likely to have a lot more content than a single author blog. So, you need to decide what your focus is, but leave some wiggle room so you don't box yourself in.
2. Be one of the main writers.
If you're hoping to set up a group blog and get everyone else to write for you, don't even bother trying. You need to lead by example. An absentee leader doesn't inspire the others in the group to contribute.
3. Find people who love your topic.
There's no getting around the fact that you may need to pay people for the posts they write, otherwise it's a lot less likely they'll churn out a stock of high quality content over an extended period of time. But you might get lucky if you can find good writers who are really passionate about your choice of topic. And if you do pay people to write, it's still worth finding people who love your topic. It will shine through in their posts.
4. Set some basic guidelines.
To reduce questions, set expectations and avoid potential problems, spend a bit of time drawing up some simple guidelines that will keep the content consistent and show where the boundaries lie. If it's a free for all, you may find that you get unwanted posts - or posts of a poor quality - on your site.
5. Establish a posting schedule.
When will you be posting? With international timezones, both writers and readers need to know when new content will be going online. And try to avoid too many posts going online at once. This requires careful coordination.
6. Keep the ideas flowing.
As with any blog, you'll fall out of the swing of writing if you don't have a steady flow of new content. It's a good idea to exchange post ideas with other writers - this will inspire everyone to keep going. Running a group blog makes it a lot easier to come up with ideas - if you're stuck, you can always ask one of the other writers.
7. Keep the dialogue flowing.
Use online tools such as email, IM, Skype and Google Docs to collaborate on posts, scheduling and best practices. Help each other by sharing posts from other authors on the blog. And don't let anyone feel alone. You're all in it together!
8. Use international writers.
I mentioned this point earlier, but I think it can be expanded. Having international writers allows you to cover a much wider timescale and therefore cater to a global audience. You can also cover global topics. Of course, this is less important if your blog only has a regional focus (such as a blog dedicated to a city), but it gives you scope to develop the blog in future.
9. Flexibility is critical.
Whether it's to do with writer availability, how diverse you'll allow a post to be, how often a new post goes online, or who posts major stories - it's all about flexibility. Allow writers to experiment and find what works for them. Work with them to ensure they're happy with how things are set up, and what they're adding to the site. Give your writers a chance to approach the group blog from their unique perspective - don't stifle them to the point that they're not keen to write any decent content.
10. Be patient!
A lot of work goes into a successful group blog - it's far more than just a few people taking turns to post. Getting a group of bloggers together to work towards a common goal is a great idea - but it requires careful planning, organisation, leadership, and patience. These things take time to come together. Give it a chance to flourish, and there's every possibility that it will.
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