If you haven’t read Eric Odom’s post about being an A-List blogger, I urge you to. The message is not only spot on, but well worth sharing with anyone who blogs, regardless of what successes they might currently be enjoying.

His post serves as not only a reminder, but a well-needed shot in the arm.

As the modern media contact for the NRCC, I work with bloggers and campaigns daily - many of which ask for advice and guidance.

Lately, a few of them have written me and expressed their frustration; wondering whether or not their blog was actually making an impact. They seemed disheartened by their low readership. They have since each received Odom’s post.

My favorite line:

“A growing readership is important, and something every blogger should be mindful of. But more importantly, it’s the who, not the how many.”

The “who” is exactly why a blog like “Stay Red Kansas”, which holds Nancy Boyda accountable, is making waves in KS-02. A few months back, “Stay Red” posted this, after being tipped off that Nancy Boyda
walked out during General Keane’s “positive” assessment of Iraq.

That post led to this, this, and this – just to name a few.

Who’s making a difference now?

Regardless of whether you have 40 readers or 4,000, Odom is right, “an effective blog is one that is driven by passion, honesty, and a blogger who isn’t afraid to link to a few other bloggers.”

Sure, you might not see more than 40 visits a day for the first year, but those 40 visits may be the most important visits you’ll ever have.

I tip my hat to Odom for his post. As long as we continue to roll up our sleeves, we’ll continue to blaze the trail needed to earn back the majority.

Hats off to the General and all the team members at Goddard for Congress. They just unveiled their new website, and it looks very promising.

Take a moment to explore.

The NRCC’s latest Rediscover video focuses on the importance of protecting conservative free speech and features Rep. Mike Pence.

It’s well worth the watch.

Additionally, the video encourages activists to sign the petition launched by Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA), at www.StandWithRush.com and stand with Rush Limbaugh who is the latest target of Democrats’ attempts to distract from their growing list of failures.

The petition, previously posted on here, already has over 13,000 signatures.

Let’s make sure it continues to grow.

www.standwithrush.com

The National Republican Congressional Committee recently picked up the video camera and sat down with several Republican House members to ask them about the most pressing issues facing voters today, and why the Republicans can, and will, win back the Majority. The series, which was launched last week, is called "Rediscover Your Party,” and will run from now until the fall. Members of Congress who participated in the inaugural “Rediscover Your Party” series include NRCC Chairman Tom Cole (OK), Republican Leader John Boehner (OH), Republican Whip Roy Blunt (MO), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (TN), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (CA), Rep Jeb Hensarling (TX), Rep. Patrick McHenry (NC), Rep. Mike Pence (IN) and Rep. Candice Miller (MI).

What I’m hearing a lot of from activists and supporters is that, yes, they want to know why Democrats are wrong for America– but now more than ever, they want to know what Republicans stand for and what they’re doing to reshape the country we live in. Well, they’d be happy to know we’re listening.

We took some of the questions our supporters emailed and then sat a few of our members down and started a conversation.

The first episode was about the importance of defeating our terrorist enemies overseas, while today’s episode highlights the importance of earmark reform.

The interviews, which were shot a few weeks back- were digitally transferred to uncompressed Quick Time files, then color-corrected in Final Cut Pro. Each individual episode, which will have an approximate run time of 3 minutes, has been edited in Adobe Premiere.

Thus far the response to the series has been overwhelming. Although this is only series one of many, it’s important that we continue to reach our activists through online video. Look for more episodes in the upcoming weeks.

For more about the Rediscover series visit:

New York Times

Politico

Captain Quarters

Bluey Blog

RedState

 *Note, Josh Shultz is the Director of New Media for the NRCC.

It took House Speaker Nancy Pelosi less than 100 hours to prove to voters across the country what the consequences of a Democrat majority really were - and the poll numbers prove it. Americans across the country are fed up with the failed leadership of the Democrats, while Republicans in the U.S. House have every intention of making our stay in the minority as brief as possible.

With 202 members, the largest Republican minority in over 50 years, we are within striking distance of the majority. And we are playing to win. And so are our candidates.

Two candidates in particular have already hit the web running. Both Andrew Saul and Greg Goode have wasted little time getting out front online.

Saul, who will be challenging freshman John Hall (NY-19), is a successful business man who's already done himself a favor by hiring Patrick Ruffini's company (Engage) to build his site. Saul's site is a great example of how other Republican challengers can utilize the web effectively. It's smart, attractive and an easy site to navigate. Be sure to check back soon as Ruffini and his team continue to expand on capabilities and lead the way for Republican challengers.

Goode, an Indiana State University official, is challenging freshman Brad Ellsworth (IN-08) in a district that gave President Bush 62% of the vote in 2004. Goode has also stepped out in front and launched phase one of what looks to be an excellent online presence. Goode, who already has his socnets in place, has also tapped into the YouTube community and has launched a blog.

Other challengers who have stepped up online include Maj. General Rick Goddard, State Senator David Cappiello, and Steve Greenberg.

The game has changed, and it's refreshing to see our Republican challengers taking the right steps - right now.

Today the National Republican Congressional Committee unveiled a user-generated project that takes giant steps towards developing a new media platform that gets people across the country more involved online. The NRCC is excited about the direction our party is moving and excited about getting you, the voter, involved. In order to be successful in 2008, we are asking for help - and thus the reason that the NRCC has introduced the "Your Direction" project.

"Your Direction" will be an on going effort for the next several months to get voters across the country engaged in the Republican online movement. The best ideas and the best solutions come from the American people - so that's why we are reaching out to them. This user-generated contest comes in two phases.

Phase One: The Slogan Contest

We need a slogan -a brand for our new media outreach initiative. And we want online activists to pick it. In one sentence, we are asking people what our message should be. Then we are having them explain to us how they came about choosing that slogan. We are looking for a message that encompasses our online movement and our commitment to work together to win back our majority.

In order to get more people involved we will be working with local blogs around the country to make sure their readers are active and engaged in the "Your Direction" project. We are also currently working with Townhall.com and their readers and have already sent a survey to them asking for their ideas. Thus far the response from the Townhall readers has been overwhelming. In less than 8 hours, we had nearly 9,000 slogan ideas, and they continue to come in by the hundreds.

After we compile our results, we'll begin to post them on our site, our blog, and other blogs around the country. Voting will take place at NRCC.org and then when the contest wraps, we'll be working with Ed Morrissey of Blog Talk Radio to unveil the winning slogan.

Phase Two: Video Contest

The slogan contest is just the beginning of the "Your Direction" project. After the winning slogan is voted on online, the NRCC will roll out a first ever national committee video contest based on the winning slogan. The video contest, which will encourage folks of all generations to get involved, will be a competition to see who can creatively express the new slogan in an originally produced web ad. Stay tuned for details!

Do you want to take a stab at coming up with our online slogan? If you do, click here, we can't wait to see what you come up with.

If you love Twitter like we do over here at the NRCC, you’ll love the newest interface offered by infinimedia that helps you manage your tweets a little easier.

The latest Twitter download lets you set up your computer so you can send and receive messages from fellow “twitterholics” right from your internet browser.

The specific extension we use is called TwitBin, and makes life that much easier. We send and receive great updates all day, and TwitBin streamlines the process and helps exponentially.

And the best news, it’s free.

If you haven’t checked it out, you should.

At the end of May, the NRCC unveiled phase two of the Real Democrat Story. The site, which was first launched back in March, now includes 21 Democrat targets and new features such as web ads and a blog.

It’s our hope that The Real Blog can serve as a forum for discussing the issues that matter most to people and an opportunity to expose the broken promises and hypocrisy of Congressional Democrats. The NRCC would like to use this blog to create a two-way dialogue where folks come to participate in the process, share their thoughts and provide insights into what we at the NRCC believe is "The Real Democrat Story."

What makes this blog unique will not only be the content generated by NRCC staff and Members of Congress, but it will also feature contributors from across the country who have expressed interest in blogging on behalf of the NRCC. Already the NRCC has featured guest bloggers from Kansas, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

When we initially rolled-out the website, www.TheRealDemocratStory.com, in March, we asked people to sign-up to blog and the response was so overwhelming that we created a platform for their voices to be heard. Along with adding additional files on the Real Democrat Story, the NRCC expanded its viral marketing campaign and has sent targeted emails into each district and will run banner ads across the country. The banner ad buys, along with the emails, will reach nearly 8 million people in an effort to capture tens of thousands of additional email addresses.

The story on the expansion of the Real Democrat Story has already appeared on Drudge, and was featured on page one of the Politico.

* Josh Shultz is the New Media Director for the NRCC