Blogging For Beginners

Ken McGuirewww.kenmc.com

www.eventmedia.iewww.artlinks.ie

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Introduction

• Ken McGuire• Blogging since 2004• Serial blogger• Irish Blog Awards• Podcasting since 2006

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Agenda

• Blogging background– What, why, how?

• Blogging platforms• Setting up a blog• Blog writing hints and tips• Promoting your blog

– RSS, comments, emails etc.

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Goals For Today

• Learn about blogs, what they are, how they work.

• Discover how to set up a blog for free.• Find out how easy it is to make your first

blog post.• Discover free ways to promote your

blog.

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What Is A Blog?

• Short for ‘web log’• Collection of blog posts / news items /

stories published in a dated order.• Think of it as a diary.• Blogs have posts, and pages.• Versatile - can be about anything

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Blog, Blogger, Blogging

• Blog: A web log• Blogger: Someone who maintains a

blog• Blogging: The process of creating /

maintaining a blog

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Blogging Platforms

• Blogger (requires Google email)• Wordpress (personal favourite)

– Leading the way for blogging platforms• Typepad (fee-based)• Blogosphere - The global blog

community. Blog O’Sphere.

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Blog Ingredients

• Blog Posts• About Page• Contact Page• Other relevant details

– Sound clips, writing samples, gallery of works.

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Blogs vs Web Sites

• Are they the same?• Your blog is your website.• Just like older websites, you can have

– A photo gallery– A portfolio– Videos, music…

• A blog is a social website (interaction)

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Some Blog Statistics

• Technorati trackings 112.8 million blogs (Feb 2008).

• 72.82 million blogs in China– 17.5m authors 2006, 40m 2007

• Several thousand Irish bloggers• 93,041 new blogs in day (May 19th 2008)

– Source: blogpulse.com• 1.6 million posts a day (July 2006)

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More Creative Types Blogging

• Not just technology bloggers.• Food bloggers (icecreamireland.com)

• Photo bloggers (kenmcguirephotography.com)

• Patchwork (quiltingandpatchwork.com) • Fashion (iamfashion.blogspot.com/)

• Beauty (beaut.ie)

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What Can A Blog Do For You?

• Connect you with fellow artists.• Showcase your recent works.• Build you an audience for your work.• Establish you as an authority figure.• Land you a book deal… (all in good

time!)– TwentyMajor.net / Fiona McPhillips / IceCream Ireland / Darren Rowse…

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What Can A BlogDo For You?

• “I now realise how beneficial this blog is. It is almost like a creative diary. It allows me to reflect back on my practice as an artist, it helps me understand my way of approaching new ideas and my way of working creatively.”– Liselott, May 19th 2008

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Why Blogs Are Liked

• They’re web based– Everything runs from the web, no installing

of software.• Access anywhere.• You don’t need to learn a language

– HTML, PHP etc.• Blog community constantly growing.

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Why Do You Need A Blog?

• Build *your* personal brand.• Showcase for your works.• Become visible on the web.• Keep others informed.

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Deciding What To Blog

• Follow your craft– Music (kilkennymusic.com)– Theatre (devioustheatre.com)– Blogging (profreelanceblogger.com)

• The more ‘niche’ the better…– Felt, batik, music therapy, sculpture, sound

design…

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Deciding What To Blog

• As an artist…– Residency at no.72– Recording an album (process)– Building a studio– Preparing for an exhibition– Touring with a band– Preparing to publish a book

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Artist Blogs

• No72 John Street– http://no72.wordpress.com

• Martha Marshall– http://artistsjournal.blogspot.com/

• Nancy Standlee– http://nancystandlee.blogspot.com/

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Writing Tips

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Writing Tips

• Be yourself.• It is ok to have an opinion.

– “You can’t be an authority on a topic if you don’t have faith in your own opinion”, SD.

• Proper titles.• Cheek you’re sspelling and grammar.

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Writing Tips

• Pick a topic and stick to it.– The more niche the better.

• Support your post with relevant links.• Write Less, Write Often.• Lists are good.• Pick a style and stick to it.

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Setting Up A Blog

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Creating A Wordpress Blog

• Go to www.wordpress.com• Click ‘Sign Up Now’• Enter a username, password, email.• Choose name for blog.• Confirm registration by email.• Get writing!

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Your First Blog Post

• Title– Be descriptive, be precise– Title will appear in search engine results

• Content• Relevant links• Tags• Publish

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Your First Blog Page

• Additional content to homepage.• Title, content, links as before.• Chance to sell yourself, do it well.• Pages have an order of their own.• Contact details, about you, links,

profiles, exhibition dates etc.

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Advertising Your Blog

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Why Advertise Your Blog?

• To be found.• To sell your work.• To increase your readership.• To network with other bloggers and

artists.

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Where To Advertise

• Blog Directories– Blog Flux, IrishBlogs.info, BlogCatalog.com

• Social Networks– MySpace / Facebook / Bebo

• Microblogging– Twitter / Jaiku

• RSS Feeds / Email Feeds

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Where To Advertise

• Flyers for your blog• Add blog URL to business cards• Email signatures• Press releases

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Promoting Individual Posts

• StumbleUpon– Great for information-based blogs,

tutorials, guides, “how-to” type posts.• Digg.com

– Suitable for news-type blogs• Del.icio.us

– Sharing bookmarks, public listing.

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Measuring Blog Traffic

• Wordpress.com stats• Google Analytics• Statcounter• Technorati

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RSS Feeds / Email

• RSS = Really Simple Syndication.• Web ‘feeds’ used to deliver content.• Allows content to be aggregated.• Works via mobile phone / email or and

‘feed reader’.• Built into most common blog platforms.• Visit once, subscribe for free.

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Google Reader

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Microblogging

• Twitter / Jaiku• Blog via SMS• Message is 140 characters or less• Social network• Immediate, Global.

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Earning Blog Revenue

• You can make money blogging.• Text ads, affiliate links.• Top 50 blogs earn $500m p/a.

– University of Texas study• Google AdSense easiest, most

effective.

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Blogging Is A Marathon

• Marthon, not a sprint• If you build it, they will take their sweet

time, but they will come.• Be consistent, or appear consistent

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Communication Is Key

• Communication builds communities• Reply to your emails• Reply to your comments• Engage your blog readers• Encourage subscriptions

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Thank You

• Ken McGuireken@kenmc.com

• www.kenmc.com• www.eventmedia.ie