BLOGGING: THE GOOD, BAD, AND FABULOUS!Karen Freberg, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Strategic Communications University of Louisville karenfreberg & @kfrebergkaren.freberg@louisville.edu

karenfreberg

HOW I GOT STARTED W/ BLOGGING

‣1996: Started my own personal website – originally a Val Kilmer fan site.

‣1997-2001: Website for track and field activities in HS (threw the shot put)

‣2001-2006: Website for college track and field activities, newsletters, pictures, updates, and commentary on other track and field sites

‣2006: Started blog on PR, Sports PR, and New Media ‣2016: 10 years of blogging on social media, PR, and

crisis communications. Blog used as a reading list for several PR classes and programs.

karenfreberg

IMPORTANCE OF BLOGGING

‣ Blogging is considered to be traditional social media practices in 2016.

‣ The go-to place for employers for writing samples.

‣Many brands have a blog to communicate with their publics.

‣ Employers today expect young professionals to know ‣ 1) how to blog ‣ 2) how to write on a blog ‣ 3) how to curate, promote, and engage with your blog ‣ 4) how to professionally conduct themselves on a blog as well as integrate innovative

ways for storytelling on the behalf of the brand / organization

karenfreberg

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR BLOG

‣Basic ‣Title ‣Contact information ‣Widgets (Instagram, Twitter, etc) ‣Share buttons ‣Comments ‣Categories of Interest ‣Bio

‣Online portfolio ‣Assignments ‣Infographics ‣Hootsuite Certification ‣Slideshare presentations ‣Internship Materials ‣Resume (PDF / Infographic)

karenfreberg

WHY DO I NEED TO EMBRACE BLOGGING?

‣Usually written by either one person or a team of writers on various yet related topics ‣Updated regularly (sustainability) ‣Has a consistent theme & voice ‣You are able to write your OWN story and share your POV (point of view). ‣Embracing thought leadership ‣Incorporates multimedia components to emphasize points and commentary in posts ‣Written in a different format than other forms of media in Advertising and PR. ‣ENDLESS professional opportunities!!!

Guest blog posts for Hootsuite, brand opportunities and partnerships in class, attending a Social Media Dayevent for the Washington Redskins, and getting a mention from The Rock himself!

*Internships for students, professional connections, and features in popular press are other opportunities

WRITING ABOUT A TRENDING EVENT‣ Wrote about training

days and how they were presented by teams on Snapchat.

‣ Shared on Twitter and LinkedIn

‣ Featured on LI Marketing + Social Media channels

‣ Wrote about how brands are using Snapchat lenses for campaigns.

‣ Shared examples + POV

‣ Shared on Twitter and LinkedIn

‣ Featured on LI Social Media channels.

‣ Biggest post to date.

WRITING ABOUT A TRENDING

STRATEGY AND PLATFORM

karenfreberg

BEST TIPS AND PRACTICES‣WRITE, write, and write some more. View it like exercise. Do a little bit each day and it gets easier. ‣ Look at what is resonating with communities you are a part of. Your class is a community - ask your

fellow classmates and friends what THEY would want to read about. ‣Use data as your guide and inspiration for brainstorming ideas / angles for posts. Look at what is trending

and getting a lot of traffic - do some research, share your POV, cite articles and resources, and share! ‣Blogging takes practice, so try to invest a little bit of time each day to research, read, and look at other

blogs. ‣ Learn from others and seek advice. We are all in this together. ‣Write about what interests you. If you are interested in a subject, write about it. Once you are able to write

about your passions and interests, writing about other subjects becomes easier. ‣ If you don’t know what to write about, look at Google Trends and what people are interested in reading

about. ‣ Share your content on social media in multiple ways. ‣ Twitter (use Bitly or Owly for statistics on who is clicking content, etc) ‣ LinkedIn (utilize publishing post AND tag keywords).

BLOGGING SUCCESS DOESN'T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT. WE ARE ALL LEARNING

TOGETHER ON THE EVOLVING CHANGES HERE. YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT ONE POST AT A TIME.

Karen Freberg

karenfreberg

BLOGGING RESOURCES‣ PR Blogs to follow ‣Brian Solis: http://www.briansolis.com ‣Jeremiah Owyang: http://web-strategist.com ‣Katie Paine: http://kdpaine.blogs.com/ ‣Stephen Waddington: http://wadds.co.uk/ ‣Gary Vaynerchuck: https://

www.garyvaynerchuk.com/ ‣Jason Falls: http://www.jasonfalls.com/ ‣ Stephen Waddington: http://wadds.co.uk/ ‣Jessica Smith: http://socialnsport.com/ ‣Ann Handley: http://www.marketingprofs.com

‣ Social Media Blogs ‣Digiday: http://www.digiday.com ‣Mashable: http://www.mashable.com ‣Social Media Today: http://socialmediatoday.com/ ‣Hootsuite Blog: http://www.blog.hootsuite.com ‣Problogger: http://www.problogger.net/

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? THANK YOU VERY MUCH!Karen Freberg, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Strategic CommunicationsUniversity of Louisville karenfreberg & @kfrebergkaren.freberg@louisville.edu