This document discusses blogging and podcasting. It begins by providing statistics on blogging and podcasting usage. It then covers topics like why people should blog and listen to podcasts, how to find quality blogs and podcasts, and how to start blogging and producing podcasts. It provides recommendations for specific blogs and podcasts to follow. It also discusses technologies like RSS and considerations for starting a blog like monetization strategies, legal issues, and tips for writing and optimization.

1. Blogging and Podcasting:
Personal syndication for fun and profit
Alek Davis
Copyright © 2008

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Introduction
• Stats
– According to the PEW's 2008 spring survey:
• 58% of internet users have never read an online journal or blog
• 88% of internet users have never created an online journal or blog

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Topics
• Why
– Read blogs and listen to podcasts
– Write blogs (and produce podcasts)
• How to
– Find quality blogs and podcasts
– Read blogs and listen to podcasts
– Start blogging (and podcasting)

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Technology
• RSS (Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary)
– XML-based format for delivering regularly changing web content (blogs,
audio/video podcasts)
– Version 2.0
• Atom
– Alternative to RSS
– More recent specification
– Version 1.0
• Differences
– RSS and Atom
• RSS 2.0: specification is closed; Atom 1.0: specification can be updated
• RSS 2.0: no way to distinguish plain text from escaped HTML (escaped
HTML looks ugly, e.g. AT&T looks like AT&T); Atom 1.0: format
of content is explicitly labeled (as plain text, XHTML, …)
• More…

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Reading blogs
• Why
– Knowledge, fun, convenience
• How
– RSS aggregators/readers
• Web based
– Google Reader (supports offline browsing with Gears enabled)
– Bloglines (really nice interface)
• Desktop based
– FeedDemon
– RSS Bandit
– Built into browser
• More
– Wikipedia: List of feed aggregators (RSS readers)

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Recommended technical blogs
• Software development
– Coding Horror by Jeff Atwood
– Joel on Software by Joel Spolsky
– Stevey's Blog Rants by Steve Yegge
• Software, productivity, and GTD (Get Things Done)
– Lifehacker
– MakeUseOf
– Online Tech Tips
• Information+technology
– I, Cringely by Robert X. Cringely
– IS Survivor by Bob Lewis
– SuperSite Blog by Paul Thurrott
• More recommendations
– Top 100 Blogs for Development Managers
– See sidebar of Alek Davis: Technoblog

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Information overload
• Behavioral approach
– Mark all as read
• Use capabilities of RSS Tools
– Google Reader (show collapsed unread items)
• Use special RSS tools
– Twitter search
• What people are talking about
– Dapper (DAta maPPER)
• Customize feeds and subscriptions
• Review by FreewareGenius
– Yahoo! Pipes
• Similar to Dapper, but more powerful
• RSS tools for smart shoppers
• More fun with Yahoo! Pipes
• Demo

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Starting your own blog
• Why
– Direct benefits
• Financial
• Name recognition
• Gain and share knowledge
• Personal growth
• Creative expression
• Productivity tool (custom search, references, …)
– Indirect benefits
• Carrier
• Opportunities
• Why not
– Time
– Effort
– Commitment

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Money
• How much can a pro blogger make
– Joel Spolsky: Joel on Software (programming; blog)
• Contributes success of his company Fog Creek Software to his blog
– Jeff Atwood: Coding Horror (programming; blog; 100K readers/day; 60K subscribers)
• Quit regular job
– Amit Agarwal: Digital Inspiration (tech blog; 1.25 million hits/month; 4.5K subscribers)
• Earnings: >$250K/year
– Steve Pavlina: Steve Pavlina (personal development; blog; audio podcast)
• Earnings: ~$40K/month (~$1K/day)
• Steve Pavlina's wife makes ~$5K/month from her blog

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Money (continued)
• Sources of money
– AdSense (and similar programs)
• Q: How much money 100 visitors per day should bring?
• A: About $1/month.
– Affiliation programs
• Amazon affiliate
– Sponsorship
– Text ads
– Contracts
• Other alternatives
– Blogs by multiple authors
• Lifehacker (computers and productivity; blog)
• MakeUseOf (computers and productivity; blog; audio podcast)

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Insight
• Steve Pavlina
– From the Skill post:
• "During my first six months as a blogger, I earned a whopping $167.
That’s about 17 cents per hour… not exactly what you’d call an
unqualified success. But about a year and a half later, my blog’s income
was passing $10K/month and kept going up from there. What if I’d given
up during the first few months? Why didn’t I give up? Partly it was
because I wasn’t doing it for the money to begin with, so I didn’t
define success in financial terms. Probably the main reason though is
that I felt this line of work was such an excellent fit for my passion and
skills that I couldn’t fathom doing anything else. It’s a virtual certainty
that I’d be writing about personal development today in some fashion
even if I was still making only 17 cents an hour. What really drove me
was the desire to creatively express myself in a way that might help
people."

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Blogging essentials
• Platforms
– Self-hosted
• WordPress (PHP, MySQL)
• dasBlog (ASP.NET 2.0, file-based)
• BlogEngine.NET (ASP.NET, many databases supported)
• Moveable Type (Perl 5)
• See comparison chart
– Externally hosted (free)
• MySpace, Bloglines, …
• LiveJournal (social blogging)
• Intel Software Blogs
• WordPress
• Blogger/Blogspot

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WordPress vs. Blogger/Blogspot
• Reviews
– Blogger vs WordPress: Review for the Newbie Blogger
– Which Blog Service is the best? WordPress vs Blogger vs LiveJournal
• WordPress (free hosted version)
– Nice editor (supports full screen)
– Navigations takes getting used to
– Fewer templates, limited customization, no CSS support
– JavaScript is not allowed
– Categories = tags
– Example: Alek Davis: Personal Blog
• Blogger/Blogspot (hosted by Google)
– Easy to customize/hack templates, CSS support
– JavaScript is allowed
– Easy navigation
– Example: Alek Davis: Technoblog

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Resources for new bloggers
• General recommendations
– How to Build a High-Traffic Web Site (or Blog) by Steve Pavlina
– 10 Ways to Eliminate the Echo Chamber by Chris Pirillo
– Thirteen Blog Clichés by Jeff Atwood
• Technical tips and tricks
– 8 steps to a more professional Blogspot blog by Download Squad
– 12 no crap tools to make your blog better by MakeUseOf
– 5 ways to increase Internet traffic to your blog or web site by Online Tech Tips
– How to get more traffic to your blog from Google, Yahoo and MSN by Online Tech Tips
– Blogger FAQ and Help
– Tips for new bloggers (Blogger/Blogspot hacks)
• Statistics
– Performancing Metrics
– Google Analytics

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Writing
• Language tools
– The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr.
– Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications, Third Edition (PDF)
– Daily Writing Tips (blog)
– Cliché Finder (online tool)
– Writing Tips for Non-Writers Who Don't Want to Work at Writing (article)

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Legal
• Legal and ethical aspects
– Employer, coworkers, friends, family, …
• Copyright tools
– Copyscape
• Search for your content on copycat sites
– Infringement Notification for Google Blogger
• Notify Google about plagiarism
– Google Report a Spam Result
• Report sites which plagiarize your content
• Copyright issues
– Be careful linking to or using external media

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Media files
• Pictures (photos)
– Blogger/Blogspot and WordPress allow certain amount of image files
– If you exceed the limit, use external image hosting sites
• Manage Blogger Image Storage Space
• Music
– Avoid
• Add Music to Blogspot blog
– Use external playlists/streaming
• Video
– Use widgets from video sharing sites
• Vodpod, …
– Use embedded Flash player
• YouTube, Google Videos, …

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Widgets
• Polls
– Built into Blogger/Blogspot
– Vizu, …
• Books and more
– Shelfari, Amazon, …

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Blogging recommendations
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
– Blog post URLs (tied to titles)
– Meaningful titles
– Keywords
– Tags
• Site layout and navigation
– Keep it simple
– Keep it clean
– Make it fast

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Listening to podcasts
• Why
– Information, entertainment, makes your daily driving time fly
• Recommended technical podcasts
– Software development
• Hanselminutes by Scott Hanselman
• .NET Rocks by Carl Franklin and Richard Campbell
• StackOverflow by Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky
– More:
• Dmitry Lyalin's recommendations: Q&A: Excellent Podcasts

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Podcasting tools
• Hardware
– MP3 player (Zune, iPod, any other)
• Wait wait... fix this podcast!
• Zune (iPod?)
– Keeps track of paused, listened, saved podcasts
– Aux input line, cassette adapter, FM transmitter, and more
• FM transmitters or cassette adapters?
• Software
– Zune (iTunes, …)
– Tools/utilities (RSS aggregators/readers, …)
• Juice
– Downloads podcasts to your hard drive
– Handy for podcasts which limited public availability (lifespan)
• Freecorder Toolbar
– Saves streaming (non-downloadable) podcasts (or other audio)

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Producing your own podcast
• Steps
– Record
– Normalize audio (remove silence, add music, etc)
– Publish
• Equipment
– Microphone
• Noise-cancelling is recommended
– Headset
• USB-based is recommended
– Recording software
• Audacity
• Tutorials
– Create your own podcast
– What is Podcasting
– How to Podcast

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Podcast hosting
• Free podcast hosting sites
– OurMedia
– Odeo Studio (ad-based, max file size: 50 MB)
– PodcastSpot (free for up to 25 MB of uploaded files per month)
• Podcast from your blog
– Use existing space
– Use external host
• Internet Archive (use under Creative Commons license)
– Use Feedburner to generate RSS feed for podcast from existing blog

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Podcasting services
• GCast (free, ad-based service)
– Create podcast over the phone or on computer
– Upload podcast file to GCast
– Podcast is automatically published

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Podcasting via Skype
• When
– For conference calls (2 or more participants)
• Why
– Great quality for free (or cheap)
• How
– How to Record a Podcast Using Skype (video/audio)
– eHow: How to Podcast with Skype
– Think Vitamin: How to Podcast with Skype

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Podcasting recommendations
• Audio quality
– Keep bit rate at ~64 kbps (for voice only)
– Use VRB (Variable Bit Rate) if it helps
– Use ~44.1 KHz sample rate
– Does it have to be stereo? If so, make it Joint Stereo
• Audio (MP3) files
– Define appropriate ID3 tags (genre, title, year, …)
– Add album art
– Use meaningful file names
• Tips
– 8 Professional Podcast Production Tips from SitePoint TechTimes Newsletter #214
– 6 Steps to Professional Podcast Publishing from SitePoint TechTimes Newsletter #216

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References
• Articles
– How To Achieve Ultimate Blog Success In One Easy Step by Jeff Atwood
– How To Advertise on Your Blog Without (Completely) Selling Out by Jeff Atwood
– A New Model For Getting Rich Online by Yuki Noguchi (Washington Post)
– How Much Money Do I Make From Adsense & Blogging? by Amit Agarwal
– Skill by Steve Pavlina
– How to Make Money From Your Blog by Steve Pavlina
– Podtastic! Professional Podcasting for the Rest of Us by Jon Watson
• Videos (short and informational)
– Blogs in Plain English by Common Craft
– RSS in Plain English by Common Craft
– Podcasting in Plain English by Common Craft