Blogging 101

Well, my wireless card was not working and many people have been having problems with the wireless so I did my liveblogging in word, and will transfer it over now.

I found the Blogging 101 Session with Susan Mernit and Julie Leung interesting because even though I have been blogging for more than two years, there is stull a TON that I don't know. So, here we go...

This session will cover the basics of bloging, finding your voice and motivation.

Susan asked everyone to introduce themselves and state what they were hoping to take away from the session.

Here are some of the responses:
Getting more creative with my blog
Blog time managemenr
Pod Casting
Intellectual education
Self Promotion
Stories


One of the things that holds people back from blogging is the thought that you need to be a technical person to be able to do it. There are a number of services available now that do all the work for you. All you need is your voice and ideas.

The crucial thing is to have a passion and to know who you are. If you are blogging for a corporate blog, you will need to add some statistics or product information but the idea is the same. Write for the audience you are hoping to attract.

There are no rules on what blogging should be. A blog is NOT a press release but it can be more than just an online diary. You don't need to blog under your own name. You can do it annoymously. You should feel like you can experiment with different identities.

Q: How annoymous is annoymous?
A: If you are careful, you can be completely annoymous, but it takes work.

How do you protect your identity?
1. Register your domain through a serivce like godaddy.com.
2. Set up and email for use ONLY with the blog. Don't cross post for any reason.
3. Don't get careless.

Write to be recognized. Be yourself, experiment, and listen to other voices.

Q: How long did it take you to find your voice?
A: (Susan) It took me about three months. It's kind of like going back to the gym. It gets easier if you do it consistantly.
A: (Julie) I feel like blogging lets me be something different with every post.

You can even have an alter ego on your blog. It's not just a diary. With time you will become more comfortable with expressing yourself in a number of ways.

You can use things like keywords on Technorati for find others that are like minded.

Some best practices:
1. Make a committment to so a good job
2. Post every day if you can
3. Link out - Blogging is not only about what you have to say but also about linking to your community
4. Enable comments - you can control them or turn them off if they get out of hand
5. Syndication - RSS, ATOM

Using things like catchy headlines to make your blog more "spicy". Would you be more willing to read a blog post titled "My Dinner" or "The Lobster that got away"?

Photos
Using photos us a good way to express yourself, but keep in mind that what you post is out there in the ether.
It is generally accepted for bloggers to use images found on the internet. If possibe, you should give photo credit. Be careful about the use of trademarked images.

Q: Can you recommend any good books for the technical stuff?
A: really, the best resource you can have is the help section that comes with whatever service you are using.

Wikipedia has a good section on blogging.

Final thought from Susan:

The real job of blogging is in joining a community. You typically have a much bigger audience than you know.


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