A. Write at an eighth grade reading level to maximize communication.
B. Never publish fluff remove all unnecessary words.
C. Remember: fact checking your content is just a mouse click away. Do not publish Fame
News – Ever. To do so will destroy your candidate’s credibility.
D. Write for search engines as well as people. Include pertinent keywords in the title,
subheadings, link titles. Include alt= data with your graphics. And include graphics in every
post.
E. Polish your prose to a lethal edge. Yoir blog can be a devastating offensive weapon in the
right hands.
F. Refer to the candidate like this:
A. First reference : Candidate’s first and last name, Joe(anne) Candidate
B. Second reference : Joe(anne)
C. Third reference : he or she
G. Ignore political correctness
H. Write on one topic per blog post, make it short, and to the point.
I. Read the opposition’s web site and campaign literature. Look for anything that can be used
against the opposition, the candidate, their campaign, or senior staff.
J. Use social networking tools, to drive traffic to your candidate’s web site, blog, social media
sites.
A. Social media is very effective for this. Put your candidate’s web address in your Tweets,
Facebook posts, and email so readers can visit the web site.
B. Be sure to include a prominent link to your donation page on your web site, Facebook
page, and in all your email.
The Nitty Gritty
1. Write and publish blog posts at least three times per week.
2. Write short sentences, 12 – 15 words.
3. Write five or six sentence paragraphs.
4. Use sub headings, even for a single paragraph, to define and separate your text.
5. Write no more than 1000 words in any post. Shorter is better. Two hundred or 300 words
is fine. Fifty or 60 words works, too. What’s important is that you not add fluff to reach
some predetermined work count.
6. For numbers of ten or less write out the word. For numbers greater than ten use numbers.
Like this:
a. One, two, three
b. 13, 123, 2,456
7. Start all sentences with a capitalized word, never with a number.
a. Yes: Three people arrived early.
b. No: 3 people arrived early.
8. Common mistakes:
a. Your: Do you have your pen?
b. You’re: You’re (you are) scheduled to speak on Saturday.
9. Avoid contractions and write full words when communicating is critical. Why? Should
the reader miss the contraction the meaning of your post will be confused.
a. Remember, online people scan they do not read word for word.
b. When scanning it is very easy to miss read a contraction.
i. Yes: He did not mean that.
ii. No: He didn’t mean that.
10. Ruthlessly edit your content.
a. Editing techniques include
i. read your post out loud
ii. read it backwards
iii. save it and read it later.
11. Listing is an excellent technique to present more than two points. Capitalize the list.
Note: Always place the most important points first. Even when using bullets.
a. Bob lives in a white house.
i. It has a barn.
ii. It’s on the corner of Main and Mutt. Here the contraction it’s can not be
misread. There are always exceptions to every rule.
b. About Bob:
i. He lives in a white house (no period as the list is not complete)
ii. It is on the corner of Main and Mutt (Style indicates that a perios is not
required.)
12. Avoid underlining text online as it will be confused for a link.
13. Title links with solid text. Never use: more : Read rest of article : or other fluff that
contains no meaning to search engines.
Never Ever
1. Never use vulgar language.
2. Never make personal attacks.
3. Never attack the opposition’s family, friends, business associates.
4. Never write from ignorance, or hearsay.
5. Never trust any single source.