Too Late to the Blogging Game?

Posted by: Amy Hooker, Director of New Media Feb 28, 2009 1 Comments

If your agency (or business) doesn’t already have a blog by now, does it make sense to start writing one or are you too late to the game? If your government department is just joining the blogosphere the mantra “better late than never” still applies. Certainly your 20-year-old intern may roll his eyes at the fact that you don’t have a blog yet, but don’t let that deter you—launching a blog to help you communicate with your constituents, customers, and coworkers is still a valuable investment in your communications and a great step toward getting involved in the larger social web.

For those government agencies that are looking at joining the blogosphere in 2009:

See what’s already out there. With more than 133,000,000 blogs in existence today, there’s a good chance that someone is blogging about topics similar to what you’re going to blog. Check out the other blogs (and bloggers) about topics related to your agency. This accomplishes two things: First, it gives you an idea of the topics that are being covered and the topics that are garnering the highest amount of interest. Second, it gives you an opportunity to begin conversations with other bloggers who are posting about topics that are of interest to you—a public comment or private e-mail is a great way to begin a conversation.


Decide what you can add. Your prospective blog readers most likely read other blogs. Make sure they have a reason to read your blog too by deciding on a fresh angle you’ll take on your organization’s blog. Certainly, there will occasionally be some overlap but your goal should be to offer a new perspective.

 For example, let’s say you work for a division of your state’s Environmental Health department. While there’s no shortage blogs focused on environmental health, there are also endless possibilities for what your agency could blog about. Perhaps your staffers offer commentary only on certain aspects of environmental health, like clean water. Or maybe your agency focuses on how national environmental health news is having an impact locally. 


Make the commitment. Will your agency’s blog draw thousands of readers in its first week? Most likely, no. Will your blog comment area immediately be filled with insightful conversations? Probably not. The fact is that many of your early blog posts will initially be read only by members of your own team. But if you stick with it, over time, something interesting happens.

 Occasional site visitors notice that you have ever-changing content on your blog, so they make a point of stopping by while they’re on your site. Media who cover related topics may take notice of what you have to say. And search engines start to get a feel for what you’re writing about, which means that when folks are searching for topics, they’ll be guided to your site. 


The goal of blogging is not to be an overnight sensation, but rather to slowly and steadily make a positive impact on your readers and your agency. It’s not too late for your agency or organization to join the conversation—just follow a few common-sense steps and you’ll be on your way.

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Amy Hooker

Director of New Media

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