blog hunt workshop 2014
Post on 14-Sep-2014
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Blog Hunt Workshop - held at Highland Park Public Library of Highland Park, New Jersey in February 2014. Presentation about how to find blogs, how to create a blog, how to track blogs in Feedly. Examples of blogs such as Websites for Small Biz.TRANSCRIPT
with Leora Wenger
Highland Park Public LibraryFebruary 11, 2014
What is a Blog?
Blog vs. Website• Blog consists of articles (called posts) and
maybe a few informational pages. Blogs can be organized by categories and by tags. One might be able to view all posts in a set category on one page.
• Websites are often pages, possibly stores, event calendars, and more – they can include a blog (or blogs).
What interests you?
• Marketing• Gardening• Highland Park, New Jersey• Photography• Thailand (I picked a country at random)
• Any health topic
Sample Topics to Explore
Googling for blogs
http://www.google.com/blogsearch
http://www.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en
“homeowners insurance”
Ask friends or colleagues
related: blogname.com
Paper.li
How do I keep track of these blogs?
Subscribe by emailor
Subscribe with Feedly
Feedly
Sign up for Feedly
• Get a Google Account• Click the Login button on the Feedly page, and
it will prompt you to sign into your Google account.
Feedly can help you find blogs – Click the +Add Content link on the left hand column of your screen:
Subscribe to Blogs
• Subscribe to blogs as you find them.• Firefox method: Go to page of blog. Pull down to Bookmarks -
> Subscribe to this page -> Subscribe to (name of blog) – RSS. Some blogs have an RSS button, and you can select Feedly as your reader.
• In Internet Explorer, open the Command bar. Click that orange RSS button to subscribe. Or paste feed url into Feedly.
• Chrome: you need to add a special extension for one-click subscriptions.
• If you get the url for the feed but it’s not clear how to get it into Feedly, you can paste url for the feed into Feedly to subscribe.
Categorize in Feedly
Learn Mark as Read
Platforms for Blogging
• Blogger• WordPress.com• Self-hosted WordPress <-my favorite• Tumblr• Google+• YouTube – video as a form of blogging? As a
complement to one’s blog.
Why Blog?• You love sharing writing• You love sharing photos• You have a business to promote• You get to meet people around the world• If you loved writing as a child, now is the time to go back to an old
passion. • You get to meet fantastic people.• It challenges your writing style and skills. • You can share the things that make you tick: food, books, films,
art, movies, maybe even religion or politics.• Blogging makes you see things differently as you start seeing them
through the eyes of your readers.
Importance of Commenting
• Meet other bloggers• Get links back to your own blog• Establish authority in your niche• Respond to comments on your own blog so
that you can meaningfully engage with your readers.
Sample Comment Area
Topic: Highland Park
• Promote a new service• Meet potential clients• Improve SEO for your site• Get feedback on your service or product or
your marketing efforts
http://biz.leoraw.com/benefits-of-a-business-blog-for-small-biz/
http://www.leoraw.com/blog/2013/11/hawthorn-berries/
Set a Strong Password
• Use as many different characters as possible when forming your password. Use numbers, punctuation characters and, when possible, mixed upper and lower-case letters. Choosing characters from the largest possible alphabet will make your password more secure.
http://wolfram.org/writing/howto/password.html
Promote Your Blog
• Leave comments on related blogs – make sure to include a link back to your blog
• Use social media – Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn groups (such as Bloggers Helping Bloggers), Facebook. Even better than tweeting your own posts is when people like your content so much they tweet/share it.
• Be friendly to other bloggers.
What Next?
• Discuss your favorite topics• Ask – how do I … ???• Have fun exploring blogs – enjoy the
experience.