Web Strategy and Development Blog

Blogging inspiration: share an event

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In this series we inspire you to create fun, insightful blog posts, which help convey an inviting, communicative atmosphere to current and prospective students.

A post we loved

Haven’t posted for a while? Don’t worry. We found inspiration in a recent post from the College of Arts and Letters  about an art professor’s work, which was on display at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. The post included details about the pieces on display and a link to a slideshow.

We liked that this post provided a snapshot of a current event and included images that bring readers to the scene — even if they are unable to travel to the exhibit.

Blogging tip

Want to keep your readers in the loop without renovating your website? Be sure to integrate your blog into your website. This enables readers to see excerpts of your latest posts without leaving your site. You can add blog feed to your site by following these instructions. Need help? Contact the help desk or visit an open lab.

You are my inspiration: ideas to support your blogging

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In this series we inspire you to create fun, insightful blog posts, which help convey an inviting, communicative atmosphere to current and prospective students.

Production photos of Ballad Hunter taken Friday, September 23, 2016. Jesse Scheve/Missouri State University
Photo by Jesse Scheve

A post we loved

Haven’t posted for a while? Don’t worry. We found inspiration in the Department of Theatre and Dance, which recently posted a gallery featuring images from the September 2016 production of Ballad Hunter. The pictures illustrate the characters’ emotions as captured on camera. You can add images or even create a gallery.

This post works because it showcases a recent event. It also provides an inside glimpse of the production to a broad audience — including those who live far outside Springfield.

A new take on a classic post

Need a fresh idea? Here one idea: interview a faculty or staff member. Think of fun questions such as:

  • What would you tell yourself at 20?
  • What’s the worst advice you’ve ever received?
  • What’s your favorite album?
  • What would you do if you weren’t teaching?
  • What day would you repeat if you could?

Have fun and showcase the personality of your colleagues, whether they’ve just arrived or have been here for a while.

Ask four or five questions and write responses in either a traditional journalistic style or as a series of questions and answers. Try asking several people the same questions and posting the responses each month. Call the segment something lighthearted like “Five Awesome Questions.” Snap a photo and add it to the post. Remember to mention it on social media.

Reach out with blogging questions

Need help getting started? Drop us a line.

Blogging inspiration: five fun questions

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In this series, we’re trying out engaging approaches to office and departmental blog posts. These inspiration posts are intended to help anyone who’s suffering from “blogging block.”

A new take on a familiar form

One idea to get you blogging: ask a staff or faculty member five fun questions — the kind of questions they don’t often get a chance to answer. Add a casual photo and you’ve got an entertaining post.

As an example, we visited with Jen Murvin, senior instructor in the English department.

Q: What is your favorite album ever?

A: Tom Petty’s Wildflowers.

Q: What would you tell yourself at 20?

A:  Dear Jen at 20,

I’m going to quote George Saunders to you, darling, so listen up:

“Since, according to me, your life is going to be a gradual process of becoming kinder and more loving: Hurry up. Speed it along. Start right now. There’s a confusion in each of us, a sickness, really: selfishness. But there’s also a cure. So be a good and proactive and even somewhat desperate patient on your own behalf — seek out the most efficacious anti-selfishness medicines, energetically, for the rest of your life.

“Do all the other things, the ambitious things — travel, get rich, get famous, innovate, lead, fall in love, make and lose fortunes, swim naked in wild jungle rivers (after first having it tested for monkey poop) – but as you do, to the extent that you can, err in the direction of kindness. Do those things that incline you toward the big questions, and avoid the things that would reduce you and make you trivial.

“That luminous part of you that exists beyond personality — your soul, if you will — is as bright and shining as any that has ever been. Bright as Shakespeare’s, bright as Gandhi’s, bright as Mother Teresa’s. Clear away everything that keeps you separate from this secret luminous place. Believe it exists, come to know it better, nurture it, share its fruits tirelessly.”

Also – throw away that sweater, you know the one. And read everything; it will help prepare you. Xo.

Love,

Jen

Q: What do you dream of doing besides teaching/current job?

A: In another life, I’m a back-up singer for a sort of bluesy-jazzy female artist. Singing harmony is my favorite, and I’m too shy to take center-stage. I also dream of living by the ocean – view, short walk, daily swim, shell-collecting.

Q: What is the worst advice you have ever received?

A: Stop wearing high heels. *Never.

Q: What is one day you would relive?

A: The day I gave birth to my son. (Thank you, epidural.) That was truly the most incredible experience of my life; I’d love to relive that moment I first saw him and held him.