Library Revolution

Copyblogger had an interesting post yesterday about indirect selling. (Read the article!) The main idea is that blogs promoting products and services (such as your library’s blog) are the most effective if they aren’t always in heavy sales mode. As the article points out,

“…if you spend all your time relentlessly pitching your wares, you’ll find that you alienate a good portion of your prospective audience.”

Using a set of “prospect awareness categories” first introduced back in 1966, the article gives some  sound advice and strategies for reaching different parts of your readership and “sell” your business (or library) to them in a more subtle way. I thought this was an approach that lent itself particularly nicely to public library bloggers, who often grapple with the challenges associated with communicating with a widely diverse potential audience.

The bottom line, though?

“The blogs that attract audiences in the first place offer valuable content—it’s as simple as that. While pitching relentlessly from your blog may work for a limited group of Internet marketing types, it likely will ruin your blogging effectiveness for most businesses.”

Got that? Offer valuable content. Maybe that’s easier said than done (OK, definitely that’s easier said than done!). But it’s key. If your blog isn’t worth reading, no one will read it. And that doesn’t convert your effort into use by your community of the services you’re trying to promote. Then it’s just all a big waste of time.

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While I’m showing videos, here is another one that really grabbed me (found via).

A few of my random thoughts on the video and the conversations it led me to explore:

• Did you catch the question: “To whom were these questions directed B.G. (Before Google)?”
• I’d like to recommend adding another line to the section at the end. Why not “Ask Your Library:”?
• Another thing I want to point out is the “Key Question” associated with this project:
  

  “Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children’s future, is it really okay to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technologies into their instruction?”

And don’t be afraid to accept the invitation to join the conversation. I think libraries have a lot that they could add. Or at least, they should.

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Check out this interesting list of “Good Reasons Not To Blog” (found via)

Here are some of my favorites (but be sure to peek at the full list):

(2) Is afraid of harsh or challenging comment posters, or discussion of real issues, i.e., blogocombat.

(5) Has no interesting stories to tell about how your products have solved problems for users, how your company got started, or lessons learned along the way.

(6) Is fearful of “losing control of the message” — which is probably a non-differentiating, feature-driven, “we-oriented” message that’s boring and alienating customers anyway.

(7) Has no need of media coverage by trade journalists who search blogs for news items, controversies, and emerging trends.

(8) Is not willing to spend a fair amount of time (several hours per week) writing blog posts, replying to comment posters, and contributing comments to other blogs relevant to your industry or audience.

(13) Believes in commanding and controlling, rather than engaging in conversations with the public.

(20) Cannot commit to being truthful, transparent, and trustworthy, by displaying corporate values and goals in a public forum.

Do any of these remind you of your library?

Then maybe you should stop wasting your time.

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Thanks to Helene for posting about the National School Board Association’s report, CREATING & CONNECTING//Research and Guidelines on Online Social — and Educational — Networking.

What I find very interesting is just how much of the activity reported has to do with creation of content. Whether that’s blogging, uploading pictures or music, creating characters, sending suggestions and comments… whatever. This is an age group that is actively creating and disseminating content… That’s something we knew already. But It’s nice to see it in writing.

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She** is frustrated. She and her colleagues spent a lot of time designing their library’s blog, determining content, establishing tone, making sure that every aspect projected the correct image for the library. It was supposed to open up communication with the patrons. It was supposed to bring in new users and make the community more aware of the library and its services. It was supposed to just work.

When I spoke to her the other day, she was ready to throw in the towel.

“Nobody comments. Nobody reads. I don’t think anyone even knows it’s there.”

And I know that she isn’t alone… I’ve heard the “Library Blog Blues” many times before. Unfortunately, there isn’t one single answer. Does blogging work for businesses and libraries? Yes. Is it easy? NO. Creating a “successful” blog is an extremely complex endeavor, and I think that too many libraries are suckered by the myth that if you put a blog together for your organization, the right people will just find it and use it. But in real life it’s not nearly that easy.

We discussed this, and talked about some of the thing she might experiment with to jump start things a little. We talked about the blogs we personally liked to read, the things we perceive as making a blog “successful.” We talked about some of the things other libraries are doing that they felt were really working for them. She still seemed daunted.

Then I mentioned marketers and how they always talk about “telling a story.” You know, presenting something authentic and compelling that your readers can identify with. Not necessarily a narrative (or maybe so!), but writing something your readers can connect with emotionally and that will engage people.

“We don’t really tell stories,” She said with a thoughtful expression, “We just tell people what’s new in the library. Maybe there’s something to that…”

So we brainstormed.

Instead of a post like this (I see these posts every day!):

“XYZ Public Library has just expanded their collection of knitting books. If you are interested in learning more about knitting, take a look at these new titles: (List Of Books)

Also, out Tuesday Night Knitting Club is always looking for new members. Contact the Reference Desk for more information – XYZReference”

What if the post read more like this:

“Not long ago, while doing my regular Wednesday night reference shift, I realized I had helped seven different patrons that week track down books about knitting. As I was helping them, I realized that only one of the seven knew that our XZY Library has a knitting group that meets on Tuesday evenings!

As an avid knitter myself, I helped coordinate this group about four years ago. We have about 9 men and women from all over CommunityXYZ who just love getting together each week to knit and talk. It’s a great social experience and the members are a wealth of knowledge when it comes to knitting. Just last week, one of our members had a problem with an afghan she was working on, and the rest of the group put their heads together to help her get out of the jam. Just look at the beautiful finished product! (Picture of afghan)

This group is always ready to welcome new members, and since it looks like we may have a knitting craze going on, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some new faces! Drop in on Tuesday evening around 6 pm, or for more information, make sure to contact us at xzylibraryreference@xzylibrary.com .

With the run on our knitting books, I also thought it might be time to refresh our collection a little and add some more current books to interest knitters. Here are just a few of the books we now have to offer our growing population of avid knitters. (List of titles with links to catalog – maybe a short blurb on each?)

Don’t worry about availability on these books. Put one of them on hold if it is checked out!

–Emily the Librarian”

OK, OK. It’s not the perfect post. And it took a lot longer to write. But this is the sort of thing we brainstormed that day, and it definitely tells more of a story. A story about the library, the community, the individuals involved, and the resources available. (Plus, if I’m a knitter in XYZ Community and I Google XYZ knitting, maybe just maybe I’ll come up with this!!)

She and I brainstormed what other kinds of stories her current library blog might tell, and I think something clicked. She was excited again.

I got an email from her today:

“I got 6 comments yesterday!!! :)”

Does your Library’s blog tell a story?

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** This librarian didn’t want to be identified… yet.

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Several weeks ago, a colleague and I ran a small workshop for librarians on wikis. We had a great group of people who were enthusiastic about learning something new, but some of them had no clue whatsoever about what a wiki even was. No problem, though, since the whole point of a wiki is that it is quick, easy, and collaborative in nature. By the end of the session, we had worked together to learn about wikis (with a short digression to discuss XML feeds), the uses they could be put to in their libraries, and each member of the group had edited a pre-established wiki and created at least one of their own. Everyone left with a smile on their face.

Now, I usually find it easy to run a training session or workshop and have everyone leave the room smiling and enthusiastic, to one degree or another. But the real trick is the follow-up. What happens when they get back to their libraries, get socked with a pile of work and a line of patrons to help, and I’m not there to cheer them on with the project they were working on? Sometimes nothing happens. I talk to the people a few weeks later, and all I get is a sheepish look. “Well, I meant to work on it, but, well… you know!”

This time was different, at least at first. I was so encouraged to get some feedback after the session that every single one of the participants had been working on at least one wiki to serve a particular purpose int heir library. WOW!

However, wikis seem to me to be one of those things that’s easy, fun, and exciting to get started, but that can be absolutely torturous to keep going. Especially since the collaborative nature of a wiki relies on a certain amount of buy in by others who may not be as charged with the enthusiasm you came into the project with.

And this is exactly the feedback I’m getting from several of the workshop participants now. They have a wiki going that seems like a great and efficient way to meet their particular goal. They got it set up, added initial content, and brought in the group. It was OK at first, but by now the effort has died. Now what?

This is why I like Wikipatterns. I can’t remember who suggested this site to me (thank you!, but I have found it a great source for tackling just this sort of a situation. By exploring the sort of behavioral patterns that have emerged around other wiki projects and taking a close look at how your situation may or may not resemble the patterns experienced by others, some real insight can be gained… and some problems addressed.

Maybe you thought you were taking on the role of the Wiki Champion… when everyone else thinks you’re really the Do It All or the Over Organizer. Maybe someone needs to Seed It With Content or combat a feeling of Page Ownership among your users in order to get the ball rolling. The folks contributing to this wiki have all been there and done that, and are willing to share and discuss ways to get past these sorts of roadblocks. Sure, they’re all generalizations and don’t apply to every situation. But I’ve found the patterns to be pretty spot on with the kinds of situations I’ve encountered.

And I find the patterns can apply to other projects as well, not just wikis. Who among us hasn’t dealt with someone who sounds suspiciously like their description of a Wiki Bully in other situations where people might need to be convinced to adopt a new way of doing things? Believe me, there’s a lot of bullies out there, not just when it comes to Wikis. And a lot of the time the first step towards dealing with it is to recognize the problem.

Anyway, Wiki patterns isn’t perfect by any means. But I definitely think it’s nice to see a resource out there for dealing with the hardest part of a collaborative project - the collaboration. Setting up the site is one thing. Getting the group to work together and create a sustainable project is quite anther.

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Take a look at this excellent post at Library Nation.

Kathleen puts it so well, that I don’t have much to add, and I won’t try to paraphrase when you should just go over and read it for yourself.

I will,  however, say that I agree 100%. And it all comes back to engaging in meaningful conversations with our patrons (or our potential patrons). We really, really, really, really need to listen to what they have to say and use their comments as constructive criticism. No matter how we come across the comments, and whether or not the actual commenter pays taxes in our particular library district or not. It’s so hard to get good, usable feedback… let’s embrace it when we find it and then do something with it!

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