Extension 2.0:Harnessing the Power of Blogs &

Social Media to Expand Programming Potential and Impact

Kara Newby, Andy Kleinschmidt, Jamie Seger, Mark Light

“Our job is not to defend yesterday, but to invent tomorrow”

-Peter Druker, Management Guru

Why Extension?

• Lack of knowledge about Extension among younger generation (18-35 yo)

Why the Internet?

How does a blog benefit YOU?

•Work harder, not smarter- replace other ways of communicating

•Newsletters•Communication with Colleagues around the state or EERA

How does a blog benefit YOU?

•Transitioning from print newsletter to BLOG advantages:

•Up to date•Able to add info in real time•Share info around the state/expanded audiences

Possible Issues?

• Difficulty?

• Time/Task Management

• Communicating Impact

Setting up a Blog

•www.blogger.com•www.wordpress.com

Online Redundancy

One organization…

• How much info is too much info?

• Goal: to be the most effective and have the most impact with our online presence.

• Collaboration will be essential.

Group vs. Individual Blogging

• Group Bloggingo Blogs that have contributors of two or more

peopleo OSUE FCS blogo Proso Cons

• Individual Bloggingo Blogs that have one contributor/authoro Van Wert County Ag blog / Parents in Action blogo Pros:o Cons

High Touch vs. High Tech

Common Questions• How does one find the balance in using

technology and not create a divide in clientele?• By reaching a wider audience, can I still reach

my county audience effectively? • Does using technology create more work or

less work?• How does one maintain a high touch concept

that Extension was founded upon while embracing new technology?

Advertising

• The #1 referrer to my blog….• Optimize, evergreen• Rapid turnaround of information• Backlinking, no Virginia it’s not dead yet• Enough is never enough

Only 3 readers on your blog? No worries, those are your best friends. Be patient and give these advertising methods time to develop your readership.

High Touch vs. High Tech

Common questions• What technology that you use do you find most

useful? • How has the use of technology affected the

amount of clientele that come into the Extension office in your programming?

• What upcoming trends in technology are you using, and finding the most beneficial right now?

Finding & Reporting Impact

• Where do I obtain statistical data? What kind of an impact is my blog having?

Finding & Reporting Impact

• Options:o Wordpress.com Statistics

For blogs hosted by Wordpress.com (free) Can retrieve blog hit information daily, weekly, or

monthly Top posts & pages Search traffic (i.e. if someone views your blog via a search

result) Subscriber information (RSS feed, e-mail, etc) Referring sites

Move It Miami County dashboard Over 7,900 hits since the MIMC program in March. MIMC program ended second week in May. Blog averages approx. 70 hits per day.

Finding & Reporting Impact

• Options (cont..):o Google Analyticso For use with a Blogspot blog – or – can embed into

any blog (with administrative access)o Can retrieve daily, weekly, monthly, yearly stats

Traffic sources (referring sites, direct, search engines, etc)

Top posts Traffic map (see who is visiting your blog nationally &

internationally!) Export data into a PDF or similar view

o Family Blog

Finding & Reporting Impact

• I have all of this data – now what do I do with it?o URS / OSU Proo Monthly Mini-Reports

List of new and updated posts (include “active” links) One or two helpful comments that were posted to the

blog from readers Overall statistics for that month

Coming Up…

Extension 2.0: Beyond Blogging &the World of Social Media

Online tools do not stop with blogging. Facebook, Twitter and other social media tools have transformed how the public receives information…. In other words—it is no longer laying dormant on a web page waiting for someone to find it… it is finding them. This session will go beyond simply introducing you to the major social media tools out there, you will learn how to best utilize these tools as an Extension professional.

Session 2 (Social Media): April 16th, 9:30am

Presented by: Kara Newby, Andy Kleinschmidt, Mark Light, Jamie Seger, and Jerry Thomas via eXtension & Adobe Connect

Contact Us…

Kara Newby Email: Newby.17@osu.edu Twitter: KaraOSU Blog: osufcs.wordpress.com

Jamie Seger E-mail: Seger.23@osu.edu Twitter: jamies4families Blog: parentsinaction.osu.edu

Andy Kleinschmidt E-mail: Kleinschmidt.5@osu.edu Twitter: akleinschmidt Blog: agvanwert.wordpress.com

Mark Light E-mail: light.42@osu.edu Twitter: 4hlight Web: facebook/allencountyextension