blogging basics workshop presentation

Blogging BasicsApril 15,

2014

Our History With BloggingSocial Media is never going away.

Businesses have realized this and are taking advantage—so are Libraries.

From mkhmarketing: http://www.flickr.com/photos/93212162@N08/8539048913Via Compfight: http://compfight.comCC: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Getting Started

Traditional methods of communication vs social media

Bellevue University Library and social media Facebook – March 2010

Problems Arise!

Library staff volunteers posted once a month…

…then we started having problems.

By Victor Hanacek Via: http://picjumbo.com/laptop-keyboard-close-up/Apple, the Apple logo and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Our Solutions Step 1: social media committee

Step 2: empower interested staff

Step 3: Pare down to those who *love* writing

What to Write

Types of Blog Posts

Short

Types of Blog Posts

Reviews

Feature

FEATURE STORIES BLOGSThe Best Shots From The North Face Photo Contest

March 24th, 2014 | By Ryan DunfeeTGR has been hosting The North Face Photo Contestevery winter for the past five years, with the goal of finding the best amateur ski & snowboard photographers across the US & Canada.This year's contest,...Read More

Types of Blog Posts

Lists

Do You Recognize the 7 Early Warning Signs of High Blood

Pressure?

76 Reasons Why It Would Have Paid You to Answer Our Ad a Few

Months Ago

7 Reasons Why List Posts Will Always

Workby  BRIAN CLARK

Types of Blog Posts

Infographic

Types of Blog Posts

Commentary

Types of Blog Posts

Poll/Quiz

Types of Blog Posts

Caption

Types of Blog Posts

http://theoatmeal.com/blog

This sign at an awesome bookshop.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/

Interview

Types of Blog Posts

How to

Types of Blog Posts

Read BooksSubscribe to blogs Stay passionateTake notes Share people’s ideas/resources

JoshEvans.com

Where to Find Ideas

Questions to Ask Before Posting

Is it new?

Is there something fascinating and different about it?

Talk about why it’s groundbreaking, what’s new about it, and what you think about its implications or the future.

Does anybody really care about this?

Is there something hilarious, quirky, or unbelievable about it?

Have you had personal experience with it?

(Bloggers Boot Camp by Charlie White & John Biggs)

Questions to Ask Before Posting

Is there a good graphic or photo available? Besides the headline, the quality of the graphic is one of the

main factors in drawing readers into your work.

Is it a hot topic of considerable controversy that will lure comments from readers?

Find the hot topics of the moment by using the Google Trends http://www.google.com/trends

Do you have a unique opinion or spin on the topic?

(Bloggers Boot Camp by Charlie White & John Biggs)

Blogging Etiquette

Copyright Laws- republish snippets along with a link

Images You Can Use- *Rights-managed- pay or get permission*Royalty-free- pay once and use again or

may not have a price, but have other restrictions (stock images)

*Creative Commons- organization that helps owners of original works share those works in a less-restrictive manner than copyright laws allow.

(creativecommons.org)

Blogging Etiquette

Creating Policies*Comment policy*Privacy policy*Terms and Conditions of Use

What Not to Talk About*Your Job*Slander/Negative talk

From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to WordPress by Susan Gunelius

Developing Your Voice

Personality Just like your mom always said; “Be yourself”

Unless your niche demands, no alter-egos

Be Passionate If you don’t like it, don’t write it.

Don’t be afraid to borrow language You are the culmination of life experiences

EXPERIENCE LIFE! Go out and meet your potential readers. Live a little; content, baby!

AudienceExercise 1: Create your ideal reader

A/S/L? Married? Kids? Pets? Background? Goals/desires?

Now, write them an email

POST!

AudienceExercise 2: The Doogie Howser, M.D. Post

Treat post like a personal diary.

Be willing to open up, write like no one will see it.

Take risks, but be aware of consequences (trolling, etc.).

Don’t practice medicine without a license.

POST!

Writing Step 1: Write every day

But DON’T post it everyday. Set goals – work up to 1,000

words.

Step 2: Read every day Find interesting blog : read

them. Newspaper, books,

magazines – OSMOSIS!

Step 3: Learn your grammar

When in doubt, look it up. Know when and how you

can break the rules.

FocusFind your niche and

stick with it Know what your

readers will accept.

Don’t dilute your message Leave unaffiliated

agendas for another blog.

Write what you know If you don’t know it,

research it. If you don’t research it,

don’t write it.

Adding Media

Why Add Media?

Photo credit: Brian Auer - http://www.flickr.com/photos/29814800@N00/3042421371/

Via Compfight - http://compfight.com) CC - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

Locating MediaFinding Images

Creative Commons https://creativecommons.org/

Compfight http://compfight.com/

Flickr https://www.flickr.com/search/advanced/

Originals – add your own, contribute to Flickr

Locating MediaAudio and Video Media

Jamendo http://www.jamendo.com/en/

Free Music Archive http://freemusicarchive.org/

YouTube http://www.youtube.com/yt/copyright/creative-

commons.html National Jukebox

http://www.loc.gov/jukebox

Selecting MediaHow does it relate?

Eye Candy Tap into Emotion Added Value Focused, relevant

Media Files Size Resolution Quality

Photo Credit: hoyasmeg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62126383@N00/888931891/)

via Compfight (http://compfight.com) cc (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

Editing MediaBasic editing

Cropping, rotating, flipping, scaling

Using free image editing tools Pixlr Picasa PicMonkey

Video creating, editing iMovie Windows Movie Maker Lightworks

Uploading and Placement of Media

Uploading and Linking Media Title, Caption, Alt Text, Description Linking Size Video and Audio Embedding

Placement of Media in the Post, Final Editing Top load featured images Set margins, borders Alignment: left, center, right Viewing on different devices

Increasing Readership

Measurement (tools)Google Analytics

(http://www.google.com/analytics/)

Sitemeter (http://www.sitemeter.com/)

CQ Counter (http://cqcounter.com/)

From Tango!: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Measure.svg

Measurement (things)View

Visit

Duration

Get found (part 1) Submit your blog to search engines (Google, Yahoo)

Submit your blog to blog directories (Technorati, EatonWeb blog portal, Blogorama, blog catalog…)

SEO’s

This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain.From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:OrteliusWorldMap1570.jpg

Using SEO’s to get more hitsSearch Engine Optimization

Trending, buzzwords, keywords, numbered lists

Get found (part 2)Submit your blog for review (weblog

review, blog of the day)

Submit your blog for an award (bloggies, weblog award, webby award, best of the blogs)

Network with other bloggers (engagement on their blogs, form a blog ring, create a blog roll)

Engaging your readersFeedback

Contests

Promote your postsFacebook

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest

From mkhmarketing: http://www.flickr.com/photos/93212162@N08/8468788107/ Via Compfight: http://compfight.comCC: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>

Content is the great consensus

Quality

Meritocracy

Where We Are Now We just launched the new layout of our

Blog—emphasizing a more modern, cleaner look.

Comments being left on our blog are way up, and have generated some interaction between writers and commenters.

Statistics are roughly the same, except for the average visit duration, which has rocketed up from being only about thirty seconds to near three minutes! People are reading our stuff!

Thank you for your attention

Please ask us any questions you have!

If you would like to follow up with us after today, email us at library@bellevue.edu

What Have We Learned?Diane: How to Create and Generate

Content

Jake: How to Develop a Blogging Personality and Gain Followers

Casey: How to Effectively Use Media In Your Blogs

Pauline: How to Promote Your Blog

ReferencesTypes of Posts- Bloggers Boot Camp: Learning how to build, write, and run a successful blog. by Charlie White and John Biggs Short Paragraphs Image- by twelveskip.com, “10 Practical Reasons To Use Short Paragraphs On Your Blog Posts” 10 Commandments of Blogging Infographic- from visual.ly How We Are Blogging Infographic – from webhostinggeeks.com Commentary Blogs- Child Mind Institute: http://www.childmind.org/en/press/brainstorm/ ; WatchBlog: http://www.watchblog.com/; Justia: onward.justia.com/ Where to Find Ideas- JoshEvans.com Questions to Ask Before Blogging - Bloggers Boot Camp by Charlie White and

John Biggs Blogging Etiquette-The Complete Idiot’s Guide to WordPress by Susan Gunelius

References• White, C. (2012). Bloggers boot camp: Learning how to build,

write, and run a successful blog. Waltham, MA: Focal Press.• Risdahl, A.S. (2006). The everything blogging book : Publish

your ideas, get feedback, and create your own worldwide network. Avon, MA: Adam Media.

• Yang, J. (2006). The rough guide to blogging. London, NY: Rough Guides.