“Tonight I am teaching Advanced Blogging for the Writer’s Center at Glen Echo tonight. To follow is the syllabus.” Via Applied Blogging Workshop
Advanced Blogging
Writer’s Center Workshop
Glen Echo, March 15th, 2007
Description
Okay, you have a blog and consider yourself a blogger. The next step is how to build your prestige, your readership, and your reputation. This class will demystify the process of taking your personal blog and developing it into a popular resource. Being brilliant, funny, insightful, and inspired is just the beginning; learn how to help your hungry audience find you.
Instructor
- Chris Abraham, Founding Partner, Abraham Harrison LLC
- Blogging since 1999 www.chrisabraham.com
Short Review of Blogs and Blogging
- Ease of publishing.
- Discoverability. (Pings weblogs.com or technorati or another ping server).
- Conversationality. (Trackbacks or as-they-happen referer logs, or now being part of Technorati and other blog search engines).
- Linkability. (All posts should have permalinks).
- Syndicatability. (All content should be available in RSS feeds).
- Commentability (All posts should welcome comments).
- Okay to be subjective and opinionated
- Blogs can influence culture and mainstream media
- CGM, citizen journalism, citizen marketing, new PR
Blogging Best Practices
- Short, pithy, entries
- Constantly updated
- Only one long work a week
- Shameless, assertive, opinionated, unapologetic
- Shows respect, dignity, reciprocity
- Give more than you take
- Join the conversation and community
- Assumes good intent
Reputation as a blogger
- Techniques for building prestige and influence
- Reciprocal links and linking
- Blogroll and blogrolling
- Citations
- Comments
- Pinging ping-servers
- Press releases
- Email requests
- IM and email relationships
- Drinks, dinner, lunch, or coffee
Introduction to Viral Marketing
- What is viral marketing?
- Word-of-mouth, buzz, viral, and grassroots
- Authentic, transparent, conversational, honest
- Ask for what you need, give what others need
- Tell people who you are and why you are there
- “Astroturfing??? is not worth the short term benefit
- The blogosphere is conversational
- Message, client message, messaging
- Network of weak blogs generally win over a powerful media
Introduction to Search Engine Optimization
- Google loves blogs (because Google loves text because it can “see??? text)
- Google favors sites that are constantly updated (one a week at minimum)
- Make sure your blog pings: www.pingomatic.com
- Make sure Google knows you: www.google.com/addurl
- Social bookmarking on Newsvine, Netscape, Digg, and Reddit
- Categories, tags, and tagging: del.icio.us, furl.net, spurl.net, reddit.com
- Be careful how you use pronouns (he, she, and it says nothing)
- Learn about Google Sitemap: www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps
- We aware of how you use keywords in your blog (density and diversity)
- Optimize your blog like a website (meta tags, alt tags, keywords)
Introduction to Blogger PR
- The last word counts most (especially on blog search engines like Technorati)
- Recent posts get indexed (the current conversation counts the most)
- Everything lasts forever on Google (make sure your side of the story is on record)
(from WOM Tactics: Blogs are Upside Down)
Important reading
- Naked Conversations by by Shel
- We the Media by Dan Gillmor
- Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents by Reporters without Borders
- Applied Blogging Workshop is a resource blog for all of us www.appliedblogging.org
