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Learn how to blog and be successful at it.
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Be a Blogging Rock Star
Jason Blantonhttp://www.blantonio.us
Introduction๏ You can download this presentation and
find links to all resources on my blog.
๏ http://www.blantonio.us
๏ Contact me at [email protected]
๏ Or Twitter @blantonious
Choosing your Topic๏ Write about your passion
๏ Write about something you want to learn
๏ Write about what’s hot
๏ Write about whatever you damn well please
๏ Just be sure you write about something
๏ There are no rules.
Host your own blog๏ Get to choose your blog platform
WordPress is what I’ll cover.
๏ More flexibility over a hosted blog.
๏ Your not tied to a specific service.
๏ The fun of building your own domain authority.
๏ Its cool to have your own domain.
Title and Domain๏ Picking your Title and Domain
๏ Title will be easier than the Domain
๏ http://www.nameboy.com uses keywords to make a domain name that is available
๏ Register name: I use Dotster because of service and ease of use. Not the cheapest. http://www.dotster.com
Hosting and Blog Software๏ WordPress – Easy, Supported and FREE
๏ Web host needs PHP and MySQL
๏ I use Hostgator which also has FantasticoHostgator will cost you $10 a month
๏ Alternative Install: Wordpress.org “Famous Five minute Install”
๏ Now your Domain, Hosting and WordPress install is complete.
Configure๏ Login to www.domain.com/wp-admin
๏ Go through and get acquainted with administration area.
๏ Chane permalinks from ?p=21 to post name or something more meaningful
๏ Also should hold comments in moderation until approved. Helps with Spam.
๏ Go through and make changes that suit your needs.
Blog Theme๏ Use a free theme in the beginning.
๏ Hire someone on Scriptlance.com to tweak free theme if need be.
๏ A custom theme will cost anywhere from $200 to about $1000.
๏ FTP theme to wp-content/themes and activate in administration console.
Plugins๏ WordPress Plug-ins are apps that allow
you to extend WordPress to do almost anything you can think of.
๏ Plug-in directory can be found here:http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/
๏ Most plug-ins are free but there are a few that will cost you. Usually $50 - $100
๏ FTP plugins to wp-content/plugins and activate them in Admin area.
Recommended Plug-ins๏ Askimet – Fights against comment spam
๏ Share This – Allow readers to easily share on social media and bookmark sites
๏ Feedburner Replacement – Replaces default RSS feed with FeedBurner RSS
๏ Popularity contest – Lists your most popular posts in sidebar.
๏ Subscribe to comments – Emails commenter any new comments.
Plug-ins cont.๏ Related Posts – Puts list of related posts
under each post.
๏ WP-Contact Form – Easily create a contact form for visitors to email you.
๏ WordPress DataBase BackUp – Easily backup your WordPress Database.
๏ All in one SEO Pack – Helps with Search Engine Optimization.
Writing๏ By far the most important part of Blogging.
๏ Write in a conversational tone.
๏ Write for People First and search engines second.
๏ Choose your writing frequency and stick with it. Your readers will demand it.
๏ Remember that your posts are the start or continuation of a conversation.
Writing cont.๏ Include links to other resources that you
write about in your posts.
๏ Proof read your posts and have someone else proof them if you can.
๏ Be real, use your own voice.
Blogging Bascis๏ Read and subscribe to other blogs.
๏ Comment on other blogs.
๏ Set up Google News Alerts to keep up with what’s going on in your Niche.
๏ Continue Learning as Blogging evolves.
Promotion๏ Once your blog is going its time to tell
people about it.
๏ Don’t spam, but tell your friends, family and social networks about your blog.
๏ Ping other blogs by linking to them.
๏ Make it easy for others to share your posts. (Share This Plug-in)
๏ Post to your Facebook, MySpace and other social media networks.
Promotion Cont.๏ Have contests – Give something away as
a reward to get people to do something.
๏ Reward participation – Give your readers a link back for commenting or giving you a link.
๏ Keep it compelling. Once you get a reader your goal is to keep them.
๏ Thank your readers for commenting, linking, subscribing . . .
Still more promotion๏ Guest write for other blogs. The owners
usually let you plug your own blog.
๏ Trade links with other blogs in your niche.
๏ Twitter about new posts.
๏ Put your blogs url in the signature of all emails.
๏ But most importantly write compelling content that people want to share.
A word on making money
๏ The easiest way to make money blogging, is to get a job and blog while your on the clock.
Resources๏ http://www.wordpress.org
๏ http://www.feedburner.com
๏ http://www.technorati.com
๏ http://www.successforyourblog.com
๏ http://www.problogger.net
๏ http://www.copyblogger.com
Have Fun!๏ You can forget about the first 19 slides of
this talk if you can’t have fun while your Blogging!
๏ Thank you and I look forward to reading you in the Blogosphere.
