Blogging Basics Workshop Presentation

Our History With Blogging
Social Media is never going away.
Businesses have realized this and are taking
advantage—so are Libraries.
From mkhmarketing:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93212162@N08/8539048913
Via Compfight: http://compfight.com
CC: 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

Feature
FEATURE STORIES BLOGS
The Best Shots From The North Face
Photo Contest
March 24th, 2014 | By Ryan Dunfee
TGR 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 Work
by BRIAN CLARK
Types of Blog Posts

Infographic
Types of Blog Posts

Commentary
Types of Blog Posts

Caption
Types of Blog Posts
http://theoatmeal.com/blog
This sign at an awesome bookshop.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/

Read Books
Subscribe to blogs
Stay passionate
Take 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

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!

Audience
Exercise 1: Create your ideal
reader
 A/S/L?
 Married? Kids? Pets?
 Background?
 Goals/desires?
Now, write them an email
POST!

Audience
Exercise 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.

Focus
Find 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.

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 Media
Finding 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 Media
Audio 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 Media
How 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 Media
Basic 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

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 hits
Search 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 readers
Feedback
Contests

Promote your posts
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest
From mkhmarketing:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93212162@N08/8468788107/ Via
Compfight: http://compfight.com
CC: 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

References
Types 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.

Blogging Basics Workshop Presentation

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