1. How to start a blog
The idiot-proof guide for every clueless marketer"
Proudly brought to you by:"
A shameless self-promoter of an extremely shrewd marketer who leads a double-life as a
narcissistic blogger who probably swears a little too much on Twitter for her own good
4. 1
You become one of them
2
You increase your ability to influence influencers
3
You acquire market intelligence AC Nielsen can’t provide
4
You become an Influencer
6. My Blog’s Brand Vision
Why does this blog exist?
State one reason why your blog exist
What is my blog about?
Describe your blog in a single sentence
Who do I want to attract?
Identify a maximum of two groups of target audience you wish to attract
My blog will be better than…
List the one blog you wish to beat in terms of quality and quantity (web
performance)
My blog reminds people of…
List the one brand that best represent what you wish for your blog to be (i.e.
NIKE/ LOUIS VUITTON/ etc)
7. My Blog’s Editorial Content
Frequency
List the number of times you will commit to blogging weekly
The Carrot
What is the unique piece of content your blog will have that others don’t?
Themes
Define the topics you will blog about on a weekly and monthly basis
Personality
What tone will you undertake?
Categories
Develop a sitemap for your blog
8. blankanvas sitemap
Free
Home
Kontribute
The Author
The Blog
Press
blankanvas
sticker
Lead Story
Features (x 3)
The The
Poll Advertising The Dark The Design The Digital The The The The Lonely The The Photograp The Social
Mummy
The Artist
The Bitch
One
Diva
Strategist
The Dirt
Fashionista
The Geek
Kollector
Lesbian
Tavellor
Narcissist
Oddball
The Rest
Whore
Slut
her
9. For the purpose of this presentation, I will illustrate the benefits of using
WordPress’ publishing platform which you can download from
WordPress.org and host on your own server."
No, using a free service provided by WordPress.com is not an option.
10. Step 1: Load up with the right tools
1. A text editor
To edit your CSS and PHP files
Recommended: Adobe Dreamweaver
2. A photo editor
To prettify your graphics and photographs for your blog
Recommended: Adobe Photoshop
Tip: I use Skitch (available for Mac only) for quick & dirty screengrabs"
3. An FTP client
To install WordPress, themes and plugins on your server
Recommended: FileZilla (for PC users), Cyberduck (for Mac users)
Tip: To avoid clogging up too much space on your server with graphics and photographs, use
a 3rd party provider like Flickr"
4. Tracking tools
Google Analytics: To track your blog statistics
Bit.ly or Su.pr: To track the effectiveness of your clickthrough rate
Feedburner: To build your database
Facebook Page: To build your database and track on your quantitative readership profile
CrowdScience: To track on your qualitative readership profile
11. Step 2: Find yourself a web host
1. You need a web host that provides:
PHP version 4.3 or greater
MySQL version 4.0 or greater
The mod_rewrite Apache module"
2. Select a web host that is based in the country you think you’d get the most
traffic from and has been around for a while"
3. Choose a sexy domain name"
4. Tip: Sign up for a web host alongside with your domain name registration.
Typically, a web host will offer to waive off the domain name registration fee if
you commit to a web hosting plan of 12 months and beyond
12. Step 3: Install
1. WordPress.org has a detailed guide at http://codex.wordpress.org/
Installing_WordPress#Detailed_Instructions"
2. Follow carefully step by step and you will be fine
13. Step 4: Soup it up, baby
1. Grab yourself a theme
A theme determines how your blog looks and functions
Avoid changing your themes too often as it reduces brand recall (yes
honey, you’re creating your own brand now)
Be practical – don’t use a theme that requires a certain level of expertise
in coding which you don’t have
Make sure you have a logo, and make sure it looks good
Recommended websites:
o WordPress.org: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/
o PremiumWP: http://www.premiumwp.com/
o WooThemes: http://www.woothemes.com/
o Best WordPress Themes: http://www.bestwpthemes.com/ "
14. Step 4: Soup it up, baby
2. Load up the plugins
Plugins enhance your blog’s user experience, extends its capabilities, and make
you wish you started your blog earlier
Download from: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/
Recommended plugins:
Akismet: filter those nasty spam out
All-in-one SEO Pack: because people don’t go beyond the first page of
Google
Cforms: deploy sexy looking forms on your blog
Find Me On: the best looking widget that displays all of one’s social network
profiles I’ve seen so far
Get Recent Comments: display the most recent comments/ trackbacks on
your blog
Google XML Sitemaps: make your blog as search engine friendly as possible
IntenseDebate: enhance and encourage conversation on your blog or website
LinkWithin: encourages stickiness on your blog with recommended stories
and associated thumbnails along with each blog post
15. Step 4: Soup it up, baby
2. Load up the plugins
Recent Posts: for those with a magazine layout like mine, this function allows
“last in, first out’ readers to read your latest posts easily
Search Suggest: because some of us can’t spell
Subscribe to Comments: allows readers to receive notifications of new
comments that are posted to an entry
TweetMeme Retweet Button: adds a button which easily lets you retweet your
blog posts
Ultimate Google Analytics: enable Google Analytics on your blog
WP-o-Matic: create posts automated from RSS/ Atom feeds
WP-UserOnline: enable you to display how many users are online on your
Wordpress blog with detailed statistics of where they are and who there
are(Members/Guests/Search Bots)
WP Super Cache: Cache your blog so that it doesn’t take too long to load
16. Thank you
Holler over at pat@bypatlaw.com if you have any questions
Photo credits:!
WordPress logo: http://sophia.smith.edu/blog/news/ !
Corvette: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42793153@N05/3952796817/
Drawing board: http://nzesylva.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/the-drawing-board-is-now-full/