Blogging 101
for creatives and
entrepreneurs

An introduction to blogging
Blog = Web Log
What’s in Rebecca’s Pocket?
www.RebeccaBlood.net

Follow Me Here
www.FollowMeHere.com
Unlike a list of \"cool links\", the links in
a blog are \"hot\", more timely and
dated … Another maven describes a
weblog as \"kind of a continual tour,
with a human guide whom you get to
know\".

Date

Date
Title

Date
Title
Categories

Date
Title
Categories
Comments

Rise of the Personal
Journalists
Livejournal.com

 Diaryland.com
 Xanga.com
(all founded in 1999)

A couple of hotshot bloggers
Dooce

 Lileks

www.Dooce.com

Dooced
Getting fired because of something that you

wrote in your weblog.
\"Blogger Heather B. Armstrong coined the
phrase in 2002, after she was fired from her
Web design job for writing about work and
colleagues on her blog, Dooce.com\"
(Source: Yahoo.com)
From UrbanDictionary.com


www.Lileks.com/bleat

The Gallery of Regrettable
Food

The Peculiar Art of Mr.
Frahm

Please explain how
our underwear can
fall off when you're
standing in the
posture of the
Colussus of Rhodes.
…
Celery is present. No
leering man, though.
In fact, she stands in
a disembodied
universe, a Magritte-
like expanse of
surreal oblivion
beyond.

New software, New freedom
Blogspot/Blogger

 Six Apart: Moveable Type (Typepad)
 Wordpress.org (Wordpress.com)

What makes a blog a blog?
Dynamic Dialogue
 
◦ Ever changing ◦ Comments
◦ Easily updated ◦ Trackbacks
◦ Reasons to revisit ◦ Site-to-site
discussions

Anatomy of a Blog
HEADER
SIDEBA
R
CONTENT
FOOTER

Getting started
Why do you want to blog?


Getting started
Why do you want to blog?

 Who do you want to read you?

Getting started
Why do you want to blog?

 Who do you want to read you?
 How much control do you want over
your design?

Getting started
Why do you want to blog?

 Who do you want to read you?
 How much control do you want over
your design?
 How technically proficient are you?

The Basics
Create content

 Invite conversation

The Basics
Create content

 Invite conversation
AND
 Customize the look (themes)
 Add functionality (plugins/widgets)

The Basics
Create content

 Invite conversation
AND
 Customize the look (themes)
 Add functionality (plugins/widgets)
EXAMPLES!! (get your pens ready)

RSS: Really Simple
Syndication

Entry in RSS

Same entry on blog

Use a hosted service
If you’re afraid of code

 If you’re not sure if you’ll keep your blog up
 If you don’t care about having lots of control
 If you’re not interested in customization

Host your own
If you want to be able to tweak your

software
 If you’re not afraid of a little coding
 If you like to figure things out yourself
 If you want to customize your look and
options

Host your own
If you want to be able to tweak your

software
 If you’re not afraid of a little coding
 If you like to figure things out yourself
 If you want to customize your look and
options
If you ARE afraid of coding, don’t want to

figure things out yourself but have some
cash to spare and are willing to hire
someone else to do the customization

Why I Love WordPress
Open source


Why I love WordPress
Open source

 Tons of themes

Why I love WordPress
Open source

 Tons of themes
◦ Magazine-style themes (going beyond
blogging)

www.ProBlogger.com

Why I love WordPress
Open source

 Tons of themes
 Tons of plugins

Get your blog house in order
Have a plan

 Execute your vision
 Be flexible
\"How do I know what I think, until I see
what I say?\" ~E.M. Forster

Claim your online real estate
Get your domain name

 Choose your social networks
 Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn
Explore Micro-blogging

 Twitter, Plurk, Tumblr
Network around your interests

 LibraryThing, Flickr, Etsy

Get your blog out there
Commenting

 Add your blog url to your email sig
 Links
 Tie your networks together

Dawn’s Info
Clips site:

◦ www.DawnFriedman.com
Blog:

◦ www.ThisWomansWork.com