blogging fall 2010
TRANSCRIPT
Be a Thought Leader
1. Blogging
2. Culture
3. Blogosphere
Class Questions
• 4 Broadcast
• 3 Digital
• 6 PR
• 6 Print
What is a blog?
Perceptions of Bloggers?
State of the Blogosphere 09• 75% U.S. bloggers are college graduates
• 40% have attended graduate school
• One in three have a household income over $75,000
• Most are male, married, and are parents
Motivated to Connect,but not Create
• Nielsen 09– Social networking/Blogging 4th most
popular online activity
• Pew 08– 33% of internet users read blogs
• 10% of adults maintain a blog
"The future is the individual communicator, not big media.” Greg Hadfield,
Telegraph Media Group's head of digital development
Fact vs. Opinion
Motivated Bloggers• Hobbyist – creativity, therapy, passion
• Self-employed – attracting new clients and sharing expertise
• Part-timers – sharing expertise and opinion
• Corporate - published and used by the organization to reach organizational goals
• Community – to fill an informational void
Video or Photo Blog
• http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/
Other Successful Blogs• Stuff White People Like
• Mint blog
• Got2BeGreen
• Synthesis
• The Pioneer Woman
• Fatcyclist
• 1001 Rules for My Unborn Son
• Passionate, desire to entertainment or educate, and learn how to engage by knowing your community
Why?• Build community• Drive loyal traffic • Become an influential by helping others
learn• Access thought leaders• Monitor and connect
to sources and ideas
• Make money– Google
• Display ads
• Paid to share expertise
• Paid to show up to events
• Link to reputable companies
How journalists blog
• Not credible, but perceive they will have an impact
• Rarely link to outside content• Blog corral• Serve your reader more than your
employer
Cison survey
• 89% of reporters and editors use blogs for story research,
• 65% to social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn,
• and 52% to microblogging services such as Twitter.
PR Hire Must Do Social Media
• 80% social networking
• 77% blogging
• 72% microblogging
• 52% CMS– (iPressroom 09)
Blogging Policies
• Multiple social media policies based on position within company– Can, rather than can’t
• Provide context to your argument by including research or support that helps people understand your argument
• Identify any conflict of interest if you mention a company or product.
– http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php
What is the Blogosphere?
Blogosphere• Social network or public sphere
representing a community that exists in space
• Links = Quality Blog– Attribution– Link to one another to build social
capital– Outbound vs. within links
• Increase traffic
– Increase transparency– Increase diversity of viewpoints on
topics
Identify Online Influentials
• Find, Follow, and Listen
• Culture
• Helping, fun and/or engaging
What is a Blogroll?
Comments
• Build relationships
• Extend conversation
• Share links, ideas and resources
• Traffic driving
Comments
• Wordy
• How? Why?
• One paragraph
• Link to articles
• Names
• Too short
Content• Provide
recommendations• Include sharable visuals• Short posts
– 250 words– Break into block
paragraphs• Post once a day (M-F)
– Most often 2 – 3
• At least one link– Must be meaningful– Detail via links
• Never delete anything• Provide credentials• Purpose• React quickly• Check grammar• Biography including
email• Encourage comments
Writing Titles/Headlines
• Straightforward• Communicate a benefit• Keep it short• Use keywords
– Power words (easy, discover)
• Don’t use periods.• Full names
Elements of a Blog
• Post– Video, picture, url
• Blogroll– Collection of links
• Comments (allow)• Categories (Labels) vs. Tags• Archives
Copyright
• Use stock photos– U.S. Copyright Office bluntly says:
“Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.”
• Embed videos from news orgs. and YouTube• Link to content, not take content from other sites
• Creative Commons– http://mashable.com/2009/08/04/free-blog-media/
Blogs• Content Management System (CMS)• Blogger - owned by Google
– Easy to use and get started– Easy to embed multimedia– Blogger mobile (send photos and text to your blog)
• WordPress– Robust
• Resembles a Web site with pages
– Good comments spam filter– Customize CSS themes only if you pay
• Both free
What is RSS?
Get Known Now
• What is your area of expertise or passion?– Credibility of site is attached to the individual.
• Will you be able to build a relationship with your niche community?
• Will your information be useful?
Identify Fellow Bloggers• http://alltop.com/• http://listorious.com/• http://www.postrank.com/all_topics• http://technorati.com/• http://blogsearch.google.com/
• http://www.foodblogs.com/• http://edublogs.org/
Pick a theme
• http://beyondrandom.com/design/wordpress-design/29-free-wordpress-themes-that-kick-ass/
• http://www.tripwiremagazine.com/2010/01/great-websites-dedicated-to-help-you-find-wordpress-themes.html
Next Class
• Facebook Fan Page – Online Media
• Learn how to set up a blog using free WordPress– Topic – Title and Tagline– Blogroll– Pick Theme
Class Questions
• 12 Broadcast
• 2 Digital
• 5 PR
• 2 Print