If you work for a small-staff association, your to-do list is probably miles long. And the smaller the staff, the longer the list usually is! It’s probably hard to take an hour out of your schedule each week to participate in #assnchat. I’ve discussed #assnchat before; it’s a discussion held each Tuesday via Twitter.

Transcript screencap via WTHashtag

But, if you can’t find the time to participate in #assnchat, or if you’re not on the Twitter bandwagon, I have good news! Jeff De Cagna (@pinnovation), the founder of #assnchat, has just started the Association Chat blog on the Posterous platform.

The blog is still in its infancy, but I definitely recommend checking out the post with KiKi L’Italien’s video if you’re unsure how to participate in the chat. If you’re too busy to chat, hopefully following the blog won’t be as time-consuming. I’ve seen the camaraderie this group has, and I think it’s a great learning platform. Check it out — it’s a fantastic way to interact with other association professionals and swap ideas, stories and frustrations.

This is the eighth in an ongoing series called “Beyond The Big Three,” which highlights social networking sites other than Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. There are tons of other social media outposts on the Web, and they’re great places for associations to curate content. The first seven installments can be found here. Stay tuned.

I just realized I haven’t talked about blogs! Depending on your definition, blogs aren’t exactly social networking “sites,” but they definitely allow for social networking. It’s also an easy way to update your membership on what the association is up to.

Some early adopter bloggers claim blogs are “on their way out,” but I still think blogs are a great, tried-and-true way of communicating with others.

There are a few options for blogs: internal and external. If you have a large staff, maybe an internal blog would be useful for keeping everyone in the loop about happenings within the organization. But an external blog can be ideal for keeping members updated and give them another way to communicate with the organization.

A blog post doesn’t have to consist of hundreds of words – it can be as simple as an embedded video or even a “Top 10” list. You don’t even have to post every (week)day, but the more you update (without overdoing it), the better.

Your organization’s annual conference is an ideal time to promote the blog and share awesome content. Blog before, during and after the conference, and share it in your conference e-mail marketing. You can also interview your conference speakers for a more in-depth look. Let your members write guest posts. There are tons of possibilities!

On this blog, I try to mix it up between association management, social media and technology posts. Your association’s blog probably has more of a built-in topic than some blogs – but I think it’s important to mix it up and not necessarily keep it all business, all the time. Show your association’s personality and be creative!

There are many outposts for creating a blog. The most popular are WordPress and Blogger. Both are very user-friendly and intuitive. However, from my experience, WordPress allows for more plug-ins, so if you decide to get fancy later on down the road, it could be a good option.

During the past few months, I’ve shared a few examples of associations doing cool things to get their mission out there. This video, though, remains my favorite. How could your organization use a blog? Of, if you already have one, how do you use it?

If your association doesn’t have a blog yet and you have more questions, feel free to e-mail me at shannon@memberclicks.com. I’d love to hear from you!

(Photo via digitalrob70 on Flickr)