Recently, we were asked by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services to put together a factsheet on "How to Create a Blog for Your Reentry Task Force."
We did, and we thought that we'd share it with our own blog audience, for those of you who are wondering how to create a similar tool for communication and outreach. The factsheet is targeted to reentry task forces, but the principles could be applied to any group of stakeholders working on a public sector issue.
If you are reading this post, then you know what a blog is. In answer to the question "Why is a blog useful for outreach?" we have this to say:
- Blogs can help your Task Force to broadcast activities to a broad group of stakeholders. For example, if your Task Force is planning an employer breakfast, it can be publicized beforehand on the blog and then featured as a commentary article once it is successfully completed, with some photos of the event.
- Blogs can help your Task Force to shape and transmit your message and educate the public about reentry.
- Blogs also draw media attention and are a helpful tool for spreading the work of your Task Force to radio, television, and print media.
- Most importantly, it's free!
New web tools have made it basically foolproof to create a blog -- so try it out! We hope our factsheet will serve as a useful guide -- and please be in touch if you have questions or learn something that might be helpful to us.
