In a previous life I used to manage a facebook page and a blog otakizilchoo.blogspot.co.uk coming up with new topics is the easy part, finding the time to write the articles, well that's the challenge!
There is a lot of effort that goes into writing a blog, according to Orbit Media, on average, it takes 3.5 hours to write a blog post. And, after all that effort, NewsCred say that the average time a reader spends is 37 seconds to read the post. Yikes! Seems like a lot of effort to put in.
So I needed to come with a way to help me create more interesting blogs that the local community would be interested in, but at the same time find a solution for the age-old problem of not enough hours in the day.
I turned my blog page into a community blog, asking the local community if they'd like to write about their personal experiences, stories, and adventures.
The answer, Collaboration!
I put out the call on Facebook and asked people to contribute, although this wasn't enough to create interest, so I personally asked people in the community I knew who would be interested in participating. Offering a guest blogging platform. Some people needed a little bit of a nudge in the right direction, but overall the response was great. People were very happy to share their thoughts, experiences and stories.
I saw my blog turn from a simple blog about the local town to a place where people could share their stories with the community. The people of Otaki, New Zealand are very passionate about their town, they engage online and always support positive stories.
What happened was fantastic, I was able to share real stories, from real people in a community that love their town.
