Blogging Out Loud
The Basics of Blog Writing Explained
Who Am I?
Danielle M. Villegas
Author of TechCommGeekMom
andSTC Notebook's "Villegas Views"
In this webinar, we will...
Hear personal experiences in creating a blog
Review how a blog can work for both personal and corporate gain
Give pointers on best practices.
Learning by Doing….A Blogger’s Story
• Started TechCommGeekMom as a graduate school project in March 2012
• Through promotion and good SEO/tagging, I was noticed by Adobe, who helped promote my blog
• As of December 2013, TechCommGeekMom has over 500 posts and 15,000 all-time hits—and counting!
• Used my blog to create a tech comm community as well as open doors to opportunities• Blogging for Adobe Day at STC
Summit 2013 & Lavacon• Offered a by-line in STC
Notebook blog (Villegas Views)• Asked to do webinars!
Why blog?
To get your message out
Types of Social Media
Broadcasting Self
Netizenry
Participatory Culture
Work Environment, Labor, and Markets
P. Andrew Klobucar, PhD at NJIT
What Are The Benefits?
Personal Blogging
• Create your own brand
• Provide evidence of your writing skills and competency of a given topic
• Provide your perspective on a given topic
Corporate Blogging
• Reinforces corporate brand
• Provides a casual yet informative means of providing product information
• Provides a means of direct contact with clients/consumers
For both:•Attract an audience and a following that will knowknow your brand
•Create COMMUNITY
Create content for your blog• Write down main ideas as they come to you
• Make a list
• Create a Mind Map – Good for creating a series
• Cull your list, and edit!
• Start drafts to get main points down so you don’t forget
• Plan ahead – Schedule your posts when you can
Curating Content
Great and easy way to provide content
Several tools out there can help bring content into your blog, as well as create an online “magazine” of your collected articles such as Paper.li and ScoopIt .
TechCommGeekMom's Rules
• It’s all about the mind set.
• Write from the heart, and don’t be afraid to speak your mind.
• Make sure that if you don’t have all the facts, admit to not having all the facts.
• Write professionally.
• Edit, edit, edit!
Be yourself, present yourself in the best light as you write your words, and have fun with it!
Blogging Don'ts:
1. Begin a blog for money
or fame.
2. Quit your day
job.
3. Start one if you do not
love to read and
write.
Blogging Don'ts (continued):
4. Pick a title that's stupid, silly, obscure, or without keywords.
5. Start your blog without purchasing a domain
6. Start your blog on a platform that is difficult to use or that you cannot change.
Blogging Don'ts (continued)
7. Write a purely creative blog.
8. Pick a topic without
thorough research and
about which you know
nothing. 9. Start before learning
something about SEO and Google's best practices
Blogging Don'ts (continued)
10. Forget your reader.
11. Be unwilling to learn a lot of information and techniques quickly
12. Find writing everyday frightening or unappealing.
Darin L. Hammondhttp://www.zipminis.com/17/post/2013/03/10-plus-best-blog-tips-bloggers-just-dont-
do-it.html
How Do You Promote Your Blog?(Lots of ways to do it!)
Social Media PromotionTwitterGoogle +PinterestFacebookLinkedInYouTube Instagram
Blogger CommunitiesTriberrSocial Buzz ClubBiz Blogging BuzzViral Content Buzz
Manual BookmarksDiggRedditStumbleUponScoop.ItDelicious
Automated bookmarksOnlywireSocialMarkerSocial ADR
Bookmark pluginAddThisSociableShareaholicsNextscripts
Guest postComment on other blogs!
http://www.steamfeed.com/25-smart-ways-promote-latest-blog-post/
Act quickly to cut traffic lossesIf you are losing customers and traffic, look at these areas for improvement:
Maintain a constant focus on your blog. This means publishing regularly and also staying on-topic with your brand message.
Alter your blog's design for maximum efficiency. Avoid being too cluttered, especially with ads. Keep your design easy to read and follow and make it clean.
Post as much as possible, as regularly as possible. Give people a reason to return to your site later in the day.
Keep your grammar clean. You don't need to be perfect, but allow only the occasional mistake or it annoys people.
Provide unlimited value on your site so that your readers have a reason to hang around, with easy to locate, excellent information.
The best way to retain visitors is by getting them to subscribe or join. Be sure to place boxes where it is easy for readers to rss subscribe and sign up for emails.
Put yourself in the mind of one of your readers and view the site from their eyes. What do you find? What attracts or detracts from the page?
Darin Hammond:http://www.zipminis.com/16/post/2013/11/act-quickly-to-cut-traffic-losses.html#.UpOK1cReaYR
Summary
• Have a primary focus for your blog – create your brand
• Take steps to write and curate thoughtful, interesting content to attract your audience
• Promote your blog posts
• Be sure to maintain your blog
• ENJOY THE PROCESS!
Contact Me:
Email: [email protected]
Website/Blog: TechCommGeekMom.com
E-Portfolio: http://techcommgeekmom.businesscatalyst.com
Twitter: @techcommgeekmom
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellemvillegas/
Questions/Discussion?
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