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Blogging Tips - Blog Tips - Partitioning Blog Activities Series – Part 2: The Research and Development
Partitioning Blog Activities Series – Part 2: The Research and Development
written by Hans
February 18th, 2008Welcome to Catchtheposts! I hope that the content of this blog will be helpful to you. Don't hesitate to use the contact form to send me your comments, feedback, suggested topics or questions. Thanks for visiting!
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In traditional organization, the R&D department is responsible for new product design and development. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, it refers to “creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications”.
The “R”
The “R” stands for Research which is quite related to the definition above. Research is all about growing our knowledge to align our actual strategy with the roadmap we planned. In fact, the “R” has a vision for the future. It is a melting of creative mind and market reality. The “R” is a visionary!
In terms of blog activities, it includes every activity that allows you to stock more knowledge. Here is a list of typical activities:
1. Prepare and conduct an interview.
It is tremendous how much information we can get through an interview. In general, people are generous and will give you the chance to learn a lot. Note that the better your preparation is the higher your satisfaction will be!
Resources:
http://jobsearchtech.about.com/od/interview/Interviews.htm
2. Find new topics and new idea.
Sometimes, we run out of idea. I guess this is the same for all bloggers; we have some moments where the inspiration is present and moments where it is missing.
Resources:
http://www.skelliewag.org/the-top-20-ways-to-come-up-with-amazing-ideas-157.htm
http://www.skelliewag.org/37-viral-post-ideas-you-can-use-today-103.htm
http://www.doshdosh.com/social-news-aggregators-source-for-content-ideas/
3. Search the web on a specific topic.
As soon as we found our topic, we often need to gather information, news, articles concerning this topic. Of course, searching the web is the best thing to do!
Resources:
http://www.google.com
http://technorati.com
http://www.yahoo.com
4. Read articles, news and reports.
This is the best way to keep yourself inform about what’s going on in your niche. Being inform on a daily is a must to develop your authority.
Resources:
Blog on your niche
http://news.google.com
http://news.yahoo.com
http://technorati.com/pop/news
5. Pack the information together to analyze and summarize it.
Gathering information is great, but if you want to be perceived as an authority, you will need to an artwork with it.
Resources:
http://www.doshdosh.com/how-to-become-an-authority-in-your-niche
6. Plan training session to expand your competence.
Participating to a training session (it could also be a self-training) is a great way to learn. I would recommend to reserve a small amount of time each week to expand your blogging competence.
Resources:
http://www.skelliewag.org
http://www.problogger.net
http://www.dailyblogtips.com
http://www.caththeposts.com
7. Perceive new trends.
Try to detect trends is directly related to R&D. This is a difficult asset to develop, but if you get it you will be able to align your strategy on that information.
Resources:
http://www.trendwatching.com
http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/whatshot.html
http://google.com/trends
http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html
http://www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl/searchspy/
http://buzz.yahoo.com/
The “D”
The “D” stands for Development. The development must be in line with your goals. For example, developing a small size blog is not strategically the same as developing a blog that will break the technorati top 100. Of course, breaking the technorati top 100 will require more time and more effort. You will probably need to do some experimentation and change how your blog is build and perceive by your visitors. If you want to reach that goal, you’ll need to be an authority in your niche. The “D” gives you the proper platform to be able to support your goal – whatever it is – and don’t forget that YOU are the developer.
In terms of blog activities, it includes all activity that allows you to change your blog perception to realize your goal and roadmap. Here is a list of typical activities:
1. Design and Redesign.
Designing your blog must be done to support your development strategy. The time and energy invested will not be the same for a corporate blog and a personal blog.
Resources:
http://www.problogger.net/archives/category/blog-design/
2. SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
The SEO is a world on itself. There would be so much to say, but the most important here is that it could have a big impact on your development strategy. Note that SEO becomes to be negative when it has a negative impact of the quality of your content.
Resources:
http://www.seobook.com
http://www.seomoz.org
http://www.seomoz.org/blog
3. The usability.
Your blog structure will impact the perception of your audience. If your blog isn’t well structured, your visitors may not be able to use it easily. If you take care of your audience, you’ll have more credit!
Resources:
http://www.idratherbewriting.com/2007/04/09/Twenty Usability Tips for Your Blog — Condensed from Dozens of Bloggers’ Experiences/
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2007/04/10/usability-tips-for-bloggers/
http://www.skelliewag.org/
4. The clarity.
Something clear is great, no? Be sure that there is no confusion possible for your visitors. A confused visitor will leave your blog and the chances are that it won’t come back. Don’t miss your chance to do a well impression!
Resources:
http://www.blogherald.com/2007/12/03/improving-your-blog-clarity/
http://www.skelliewag.org/
In summary, the R&D part of your blog is responsible of all the information you gather to support your development strategy. We can see it like the central intelligence. As I state in the first article of this series, matching your blog with a traditional business structure is just a matter of semantic. I guess that the most important to keep in mind is the metaphor itself. Applying the R&D concept to a blog sounds to me like a metaphor that help us understand the impact of the information on our development strategy.
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[...] we defined the Research and Development as the central intelligence, the production could be seen as the hands of your blog. In traditional [...]