Blog Right - Starting A Blog for Small Business/Writers/Bloggers

transcript

@JackieWolvenJacquelineWolven.com

BLOGGING BASICSBlogging 101

with Jacqueline Wolven

BENEFITS OF HAVING A BLOGWhy do you and your business need a blog?

THREE REASONSTell Your Own Story

Connect with Community

Increase Revenue

MY STORYEXERCISETurn to your neighbor and share with them why you want to blog or currently blog

FREE BLOGGING VS HOSTED BLOGGINGWhat should I be using to blog?

FREE BLOGS CAN COST YOUSomeone can steal your domain

Free platforms can shut down at any time

You don’t really have control

HOW DO I SET UP A SELF HOSTED BLOG• In 20 minutes you can have your blog up

and running. Visit http://www.theblogbuilders.com and his FREE step by step guidelines will allow you to be up and running

TWEET THISBreathe and know the internet has no eraser. – Liz Strauss via @jackiewolven

PERSONAL/BUSINESS BRANDINGSeriously, I have to be a “brand”

DEVELOPING A BRANDWho are you?

What values do you have?

How do you want to be perceived?

Are you your business?

WHO ARE YOU?EXERCISEList 10 things that are totally YOU

YOUR BRAND IS AN INVESTMENTYour personal brand has the potential to last longer than your own lifespan.

If you consider yourself to be in this particular game for the long-haul, whether it’s an online business, art, or selling cars, a good personal brand is an invaluable investment.

People will follow your brand from project to project if they feel connected to it. When launching new projects, your personal brand has the potential to guarantee you never have to start from scratch again

TWEET THISWe are hired for our principles, so stick to them. – Jacob Cass via @jackiewolven

SET GOALSBecause your personal brand is built from the thoughts and words and reactions of other people, it’s shaped by how you present yourself publicly.

Consider your goals for the brand

SET GOALSEXERCISE PART 1List one statement to how would you like potential customers/clients to think of you?

SET GOALSEXERCISE PART 2Write how can you publicly ‘be’ that brand?

What you’re ‘about’. Think about the key ideas you would want people to associate with you.

Expertise. Every good brand involves the notion of expertise.

Your style. This is not so much what you communicate about yourself, but rather, how you do it.

SET GOALSEXERCISE PART 3What’s important to you?

What’s your background?

What does your brand do?

What are the values of your brand?

Who are you marketing to?

SET GOALSEXERCISE PART 4Who are you competing with?

What makes you unique in the marketplace?

What’s important to you and your brand outside of the work that you do?

What causes do you believe in/what does your brand support?

What impression do you want your branding to give?

USE YOUR BLOG TO EXPAND/ENHANCE YOUR BRANDYour blog gives people a place to develop a stronger connection with you.

Here are some content guidelines: Include a mini-bio at the end of each post, put time and effort into your About page and use it to paint a picture of your ideal personal brand. People will only remember a few things about you, so focus on telling the story that contributes most to your brand. Use your personal story as the basis for your expertise.

TWEET THIS“blog” means more than an online journal… a blog is a conversation. People go to blogs to read AND write, not just consume. Michael Arrington via @jackiewolven

KEEP IT FRESHAdd new elements and ideas – continue to evolve and grow as a person and a business

DON’T JUST SHOW THE SHINYYou are a real person – be relatable without being scary

YOU CAN’T FAKE IT“The bottom line is that blogging is like sex. You can’t fake it. You can’t fake passion. You can’t fake wanting to engage with the public. If you do, it will ultimately be an unsatisfying experience for both the blogger and their readers.” Kevin Anderson via @jackiewolven

START CONNECTING WITH AS YOUR BRANDGet people talking.

Think about your personal brand each time you interact with someone - or don’t interact with someone.

What impression are you leaving them with?

GROWING YOUR BRANDA resource:

http://visual.ly/build-your-personal-brand-9-min-day

TWEET THISDon’t focus on having a great blog. Focus on producing a blog that’s great for your readers. Brian Clark via @jackiewolven

YOUR BRAND HAS A VOICE – DEVELOP ITWrite the in the way that your readers respond

YOU SAY WHAT?Understand why you are writing.

IT IS YOUR VOICE – USE IT!Make it yours! If you are all about the lingo, use it. If you are technical, make that yours. If you drip Southern charm, let it drip!

VISUAL ELEMENTS OF YOUR BRANDYour main logo

Your secondary logos

Your color palette

Color codes

Patterns

Illustrations Icons

VISUAL ELEMENTS OF YOUR BRANDYour main logo

Your secondary logos

Your color palette

Color codes

Patterns

Illustrations Icons

FIRST STEPS TO DESIGNING YOUR VISUAL BRAND• Pin all of the brands that you admire and

resonate with you on a Pinterest board• Hire a designer – if you really aren’t up to

speed with design/graphics – hire someone• Two recommendations: The Belford Group

& MoxyOx

I HAVE A BLOG, NOW WHAT?How to develop content, promote, connect and build real relationships on your blog

TYPES OF POSTSWhat should I be posting?

DIYHow to postsor before after posts

LISTSTop 10, 20, 30, 40…. Of anything relevant to your expertise

TUTORIALS & PROJECTSPeople love step by step instructions on how to do anything

SHARE INFORMATIONWhat you think is cool others will think is cool too!

From discovering a new product to a link on business help, the sharing of information is valuable. Whenever you stumble across an interesting article on running an independent business, share it. - IndieMade

SHARE THE SPOTLIGHTShare about others who are doing amazing things in your field

Talk about favorite vendors/products

IT’S JUST WRITINGAnd it occurred to me that there is no such thing as blogging. There is no such thing as a blogger. Blogging is just writing — writing using a particularly efficient type of publishing technology. Simon Dumenco

REVIEWSBooks

Movies

Products

Restaurants

Anything you love or don’t love

AROUND HEREBlog about what is happening in your world

WHAT WORKS IN CRAFTING A BLOG POSTWhat should I care about?

HOW TO CRAFT A BLOG POST• This is all totally boosted from Problogger

who is the expert in all things blogging

CHOOSE A TOPICTake a little extra time defining your topic and the post will flow better and you’ll develop something that matters to readers.

CRAFT YOUR POST’S TITLEPerhaps the most crucial part of actually getting readers to start reading your post when they see it in an RSS reader or search engine results page.

THE OPENING LINEFirst impressions matter. Once you’ve got someone past your post’s title your opening line draws them deeper into your post. Your ‘point/s’ (making your posts matter) - a post needs to have a point. If it’s just an intriguing title and opening you’ll get people to read – but if the post doesn’t ‘matter’ to them it’ll never get traction.

CALL TO ACTIONDriving readers to do something cements a post in their mind and helps them to apply it and helps you to make a deeper connection with them.

ADDING DEPTHBefore publishing your post – ask yourself how you could add depth to it and make it even more useful and memorable to readers?

QUALITY CONTROL AND

POLISHING OF POSTSSmall mistakes can be barriers to engagement for some readers. Spending time fixing errors and making a post ‘look’ good can take it to the next level.

TIMING OF PUBLISHING YOUR POSTTiming can be everything – strategic timing of posts can ensure the right people see it at the right time.

POST PROMOTIONHaving hit publish – don’t just leave it to chance that your post will be read by people. Giving it a few strategic ‘nudges’ can increase the exposure it gets exponentially.

CONVERSATIONConversation – often the real action happens once your post is published and being interacted with by readers and other bloggers. Taking time to dialogue can be very fruitful.

PROBLOGGER.NETRock star! Follow, read, learn!

A LITTLE BLOGGINGEXERCISECraft a post either actually on your blog or on paper. Now. Yes, I’m serious.

HOW OFTEN?How often should I be blogging?

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAYThree, yes 3, times a day.

WHAT JACKIE SAYSAt least 3 times a week.

WHAT NOT TO DODon’t we all want to know that?

I DON’T WANT TO COMMUNICATEPeople comment and you don’t respond back = bad blogging

WHINING THAT NO ONE READS YOUR BLOGBlogging and all social media is about forming community around your people – if they aren’t coming to you go find them and start connecting to them.

DEAR DIARYDon’t tell us what you had for dinner, unless you are sharing the recipe

Don’t complain about your neighbors unless it is funny

Don’t tell us all the errands you have to run, who cares

ROOM FOR EVERYTHINGBlogs, social networks, newspapers, any other form of publication – all have social aspects to them. It is a spectrum really, with social networks at one extreme and a 19th century novel at the other. But there’s room for all types of social publishing platforms. Richard MacManus

WHITE ON BLACKDon’t create a blog that is impossible to read

WANT TO PUBLISH? DON’T POSTDon’t put your unfinished work online – that is work that you want to actually have published someday. People don’t want to read a sucky first draft.

DON’T COMPLAINYou can, but I won’t read it.

The only time a rant is really acceptable is if there is humor in it – so you better be funny.

WHERE’D SHE GO?If you aren’t going to blog regularly don’t set up a blog. It is a commitment and you need to stick to it.

STEAL CONTENTGive credit, ask, share with credit – but don’t steal. Please don’t steal.

Problogger, again I am grateful for your blogging tips and all you have done to facilitate the work of bloggers everywhere.

FLAME, BABY, FLAMEDon’t start flame wars between other bloggers.

You know, like Lindsay Lohan. Seriously, she should not be your role model.

EDITORIAL CALENDARSYour blogging best friend

CATEGORIESWhat are you writing about?

CATEGORIESEXERCISE 1List 10 topics that you could write 5 blog posts about

CATEGORIESEXERCISE 2Write one blog post idea under each one – bonus points if you get more than one right now!

THE BEAUTY OF THE BLANK CALENDARWrite your upcoming posts on an actual calendar

As you write them you can cross them off – Bonus points for you!

CREATESERIES/THEMESHaving a calendar allows you to start specific themes & series

HOW TO BE FOUNDThis gets kind of techy, but hang in there. It is about the magic of SEO!

Robots work at Google

But people read your sites.

Make it work for them.

STRAIGHT FROM GOOGLESearch engine optimization is often about making small modifications to parts of your website. When viewed individually, these changes might seem like incremental improvements, but when combined with other optimizations, they could have a noticeable impact on your site's user experience and performance in organic search results.

Create Unique, Accurate Page Titles

• A title tag tells both users and search engines the topic of each page

• The <title> tag should be placed within the <head> tag of the HTML document

• Create a unique title for each page on your site• TIP: You can add OTHER information relevant to your

page in the title• Location of your business• The main focus of your site• Covered topics

Home Page Example

TWEET THISI’m learning that using unique and descriptive titles will make my site rise like a shining star! via @JackieWolven

Use the ”Description" Meta Tag A pages description meta tag might be used by Google for further search information

• They must match your content and can’t be filled with random keywords – don’t try to outsmart Google!

Use Real Words in Your URL’sURL’s should be simple and understandable

Wordpress Directions

TWEET THISReal words written in real sentences = SEO. Via @JackieWolven @wcfay

The Joy and Mystery of Keywords• Write your own list of words

that relate to your site• Write posts with keywords

NATURALLY in the text• TIP: Use a keyword in your

blog page title & in the first paragraph of your text

• Use the Google Keyword Tool• https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordTool

(if you already have an adwords account set up)• https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal (no

adwords account needed, public)

SEO Super Basics• Write original content/words• Make it easy to read

• Google LOVES Top 10 Lists

• Stay organized around a topic

• Create content for readers not robots

• Post frequently

About Links• Don’t use Click Here• Make the link in the text relevant – it tells users what they

are clicking on and it helps Google understand it is relevant

• Links can be internal – linking to pages within your own site

• Links can be external – linking to pages that have relevant content

• You also want links into your site• PRO TIP: Don’t leave this conference without securing at least 1

guest post on someone else’s blog! Do that for EVERY blog meetup you attend.

Images Matter Too• Create actual “alt text” for your photos• Avoid using image.jpg

IMAGES? DID YOU SAY IMAGES?Does a picture really matter?

IMAGES MATTEREvery single post I write has an image

WHERE CAN I GET IMAGES?Your camera

Your phone

BigStock.com

Dreamstime.com

StockFreeImages.com

Compfight.com

HOW CAN I EDIT IMAGES?Photoshop

PicMonkey.com

Pixlr.com

LET’S BEGIN BLOGGING!In truth, the real opportunities for building authority and buzz through social media have only just begun. You simply have to look and see where things are going instead of where they’ve been. Brian Clark

LET’S BRAINSTORM YOUR BLOGName your business/brand

What can you blog about

Who can you connect with

CREATING COMMUNITYIt’s a big, wide world out there! Let’s connect.

IT’S ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPSConnect online with:

Twitter

Facebook – Set up a Facebook page for your blog

MEET OTHER BLOGGERSBlogHer

Arkansas Women Bloggers

Northwest Arkansas Bloggers

COFFEE?It’s time to go meet one one one with bloggers you admire

Traveling? Suggest a meet up with another blogger.

TWEET THISConnect. It makes life better. Via @jackiewolven

JACQUELINEWOLVEN.COMTwitter: @jackiewolven

Facebook: Jacqueline Wolven

Email: jacquelinewolven.com

Ask Jacqueline!

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