Blogging 101 A Blogger’s Perspective Image: Flickr.com, CCL, andyp uk

Question # 1 WHY?

For fun For knowledge sharing For the betterment of the world To voice your opinion To boost your personal brand To make a living To promote a business/book To … Identifying clear blogging goals is key to blogging success in the long term Image: Flickr.com, CCL, It’s Greg

Question # 2 HOW?

Before you start blogging, you will have to make a few choices Blogging platforms vs. self-hosted Tone of voice Blogging medium Blogging frequency Blog promotion Measuring Success

Blogging platforms vs. self-hosted Cheap/Free Easy to set up Simple to run, no tech hassle Quick way to get noticed by search engines Generic URL Less configurable Less control (layout, tools) Default design limitations Your own URL/e-mail Full design control Extendable/adaptable Technically more complex (Limited) costs Updating process Technical issues WILL surface

Tone Of Voice The tone of voice you adopt will determine how you will interact with your target audience, and has to be in line with your blogging goals . Just choose a style that you feel most comfortable with, and stick with it through time.

Blogging Medium Blogging can be done through a variety of media, including Written (« standard » blogging) Podcast (spoken) Videocast (video) Slidecast (powerpoints, slides, …) Drawing …

Blogging Frequency Recommended = 1-2 per week Crucial = consistency

Blog Promotion The « five steps to blog promotion success » Thou shalt talk to all thy friends Thou shalt sign up for social networks Thou shalt put effort into SEO and indexation Thou shalt post comments on other blogs Thou shalt not relent and be patient

The « five steps to blog promotion success »

Thou shalt talk to all thy friends

Thou shalt sign up for social networks

Thou shalt put effort into SEO and indexation

Thou shalt post comments on other blogs

Thou shalt not relent and be patient

Measuring Success In line with your blogging goals, you should set up criteria for measuring success, e.g. # of readers # of subscribers Ad revenue Referral income Products sold (Qualified) leads generated …

Question # 3 WHAT?

Question # 4 WHAT NOT? (silly mistakes I have made, and how can you learn from them)

Just Dive In  You will experience a short-lived rush of excitement, soon to be followed by [insert symptom here] Impatience Frustration Boredom Lack of inspiration … Set blogging goals and objectives prior to starting.

Give Up Visitor numbers will not be at the levels your brilliant posts deserve (straight away), but do not relent – things WILL IMPROVE.

Stop Posting You will be tempted to slack off, maybe not post for this week, then that month, then … zzzZZZ “ Persistence is the twin sister of excellence. One is a matter of quality; the other, a matter of time.” (Anonymous)

Focus your topic too narrow (or too wide) Your audience is there for a reason – they want to hear from you, and they want to hear something new. Give them interesting connections, observations, arguments, counterarguments, notes, views or thoughts. In short, give them content that matters.

Take things too seriously This is NOT your life.

(Some) Blogging Resources Becomeablogger.net Problogger.net Blogtrepreneur.com Technorati Dailyblogtips.com Blogherald.com Wordpress.com Wordpress. org Blogger.com Typepad.com Movabletype.com

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