FAI Blogging Bootcamp

FAI Summer 2010

Instructor: Morgan Day Cecil

Email: [email protected]: @morgandaycecilFacebook: facebook/morgandaycecil

Welcome to the Blogosphere

A blog is short hand for "web log." Like a log, entries are most commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. (The new gets stacked on top of the old).

There are as many types of blogs as there are interests in the world.• Provide commentary, or news• Personal online diary• Share art, photos, music and videos

Blogs combine text, images and inks to other blogs, web pages and other media (like YouTube).


My blogging background (brief):• began November 2007• personal diary• explore who I was• discovered community• grew as I grew• launched Modern Married Momma• took a blogging hiatus• launched the Bluegrass Romance Project Jan 2010• launced MorganDayCecil.com Spring 2010


What makes a blog different than a web page?

Blogs are updated more frequently than a static web page and blogs are interactive.

• The ability for readers to leave comments is one of the most important elements for many blogs.

Blogs are mostly words, but some focus on Art, photography (photoblog), videos, music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting).

Microblogging, such as Twitter, is another type of blogging featuring short posts.

State of the BlogosphereInteresting Stats from Technorati's 2009 State of the Blogosphere

• 133,000,000 blogs have been indexed by Technorati since 2002• Around 77% of Internet users read blogs

Demographics of bloggers:• Two-thirds are male• More than half are married• More than half are parents• 75 % have college degrees

Motivation of bloggers:• 70% of all respondents say that personal satisfaction is a way they measure the success of their blog• Bloggers are most likely to describe themselves as “sincere” (75%)• 71% say they blog at least in part in order to speak their minds.• 72% say they blog in order to share their expertise.• 61% say they blog in order to supplement their income.• 53% of professional bloggers are interested in attracting new clients from blogging.

The how of blogging:• 15% of bloggers spend 10 or more hours each week blogging.• The most common rate of updating is 2-3 times per week.

Why do YOU want to blog?

• interact with the world• connect with like-minded people• stay connected with family• develop skills relevant today• promote your business• have a creative outlet• share personal interests, passions, thoughts, ideas, projects

"Blogging is the new poetry.""The personal nature of the blog is what they find appealing."

"A blog is merely a tool that lets you do anything from change the world to share your shopping list."

"Blogging is brand building."

"Blogging is the creation of friendships and conversations."

Wordpress Blog

Wordpress is the blogging platform we will be using in our class. Some other popular platforms include Blogger, TypePad, LifeJournal and Tumblr.

Wordpress Features:• 3 gigabytes of file storage (that’s about 2,500 pictures!) • Privacy controls- your blog can be public to the world or private for just you, or just you and

your friends.• Easy import already existing blogs• Community through comments and tag surfing • Sidebar widgets to integrate flickr, Twitter and more• Not just a blog. You can also create "pages", such as an "about me" page.• The "behind the scenes", i.e. the Dashboard is very user friendly.• If you can use a Word Document program, such as Microsoft Word, you can use Wordpress.

Let's Get Going!Activity: Explore Wordpress.com blogs. Go to wordpress.com and do some exploring of already existing Wordpress blogs.

Let's Get Going!Activity: Explore Wordpress.com tags. Now lets explore popular tags to see what topics are being written about and find like-minded bloggers who share our interest.

Let's Get Going!Activity: Investigate 2-3 Wordpress Blogs. Look how things are arranged. Notice the navigation. Notice the sidebars. Are there any sidebars? What's in the sidebars? How are categories displayed? Pages? Are tags displayed?

Big Happy Nothing Blog

From Zero to Blog in Under 3 MinGo to Wordpress.com and click on

You'll be brought to a page that looks like this:

Fill it out!

Homework

• Read and leave a comment on at least one blog this week.

• If you are having trouble thinking of what kind of blog you want to write, do some exercises to explore your passions and interests. See what you are already naturally drawn to in the blogosphere. The exercise in this post, Merging Passion & Career, can also point you in the right direction for what you might want to blog about.

For Your Inspiration

Websites & Articles to check out:

• 70 Stats from The 2009 State of the Blogosphere• Time Magazine's 25 Best Blog of 2009• The 2009 Blogger Choice Awards• Daily Dose of Imagery (Photoblog)• Stereogum (Music Blog)• Huffington Post (News Blog)• The Pioneer Woman (Personal/Lifestyle Blog)• The Art of Manliness (Men's Lifestyle Blog)• Merging Passion & Career (Article to help you think about a

blog topic)

Education

FAI Blogging Bootcamp