Pitfalls to avoid when starting your superintendent blog

Thinking of starting your own blog? AASA offers these tips from an experienced superintendent blogger.

By Mark Stock

Stock is the author of the AASA book The School Administrator's Guide to Blogging: A New Way to Connect with the Community.

The explosion of Internet communication through blogging, websites, chat rooms, instant messaging, e-mails and even text messaging means everyone has a voice if they want one. The modern superintendent is recognizing the benefits of establishing a blog as a strategic communication tool. One of the most important benefits to blogging for the school administrator comes from interacting with the community.

Here are tips to getting your blog off on the right foot.

1. Avoid talking down to your public.
   
   Remember, blogging is meant for the greater public audience. Leave the formal style of writing for your superintendent memorandums or other internal documents. Blogging is edgy, informal and interactive.
   
   Skip the tendency to use educational jargon. Instead, tell your readers a motivating story about a youngster who overcame great odds. Storytelling is a great way to engage your audience without talking down to them.
   
   Remember that Internet surfers are only going to take a few seconds to decide if they should spend a few minutes on your blog site. Formal writing should be saved for a more captive audience that will give you the time, willingly or unwillingly!
   
   
2. Avoid the tendency to turn your blog into just another newsletter
   
   There are other more traditional forums for your public relations newsletter items. Superintendents have a tendency to unconsciously turn their blogs into little PR forums and kill off any lingering interest in their blog sites. There is nothing wrong with strategically placing small public relations blurbs into your blog, but one of the benefits to blogging comes from the interactive nature of the Internet.
   
   Consider posting commentary that is slightly controversial or interesting without being truly divisive. Or, consider posting a funny story about kids or linking to news articles about educational topics. Show a few pictures from your vacation trip. Keep them guessing.
   
   Good blogs are a little like gambling -- it’s the theory of intermittent reinforcement. Readers like to be rewarded when they visit your site. If your site becomes one more announcement about the latest football team victory, your readership will soon fade away.
   
   
3. Avoid lengthy posts
   
   Blog posts are best when they are short and to the point. If you can say it in one paragraph then don’t say it in four.
   
   Link to other content on the web and keep your own commentary short. There are many bloggers and a tremendous amount of web content that may be far more interesting than you are! Don’t be ashamed of it! Embrace it and link to what other people have to say.
   
   Good bloggers are good readers. They find other content on the web from people who are far more entertaining and simply link to it. Ever heard of The Drudge Report? Matt Drudge has one of the most popular sites on the internet and all he does is link to other web sites. Remember that you don’t have to be the creator of all content. Good bloggers avoid long and boring posts and often provide short posts with links to other sites.

For many other tips and examples of blogging in action, read The School Administrator’s Guide to Blogging: A New Way to Connect with the Community. AASA members save 20% on this book using promotion code AASA20.

Mark Stock is assistant professor of educational leadership at the University of Wyoming. Prior to moving to higher education Dr. Stock was a school administrator in Indiana. He blogs at The Stock Mark Report and “What’s Working in Schools.”

Used with permission from AASA. This article first appeared in The Leaders Edge, November 2009.