Thursday, May 14, 2009
Keep on Blogging
If there is one thing that I have taken from this class this semester it is that the use of blogs is essential in my professional career. I have been working on my blog all semester. I started out this semester not even knowing what a blog was, and now I have successfully maintained a blog. I even know how to change my HTML! If you listen to one piece of advice I have given to you throughout this whole blog, let it be to keep on blogging. Don't stop when this class is over. This is a great opportunity to impress potential employers. Practicing this form of social media will truly benefit you. I am so thankful that I took this class this semester. I have learned so much and I think you will too. If you have any questions, please leave me a comment. I will be more than happy to help you. Good luck and have a great semester!
Resume
Besides using a blog to speak your mind, to tell a story, or to simply practice the growing trend of social media, there is one more way to use a blog that I think is brilliant and will benefit you in the long run. Take for example, Dana Schultze's blog. She has used her blog as a way to post her resume online. I think it is a great idea because you can link to other works you have done and allow potential employers to see your technical skills. I think it would really benefit you to try this idea too.
Making a Profit
If you are as clueless about blogging as I was when I started this semester, you are probably thinking that making a profit is only for experienced bloggers. That is not true! You can make money from your blog in numerous ways.
The best way to do this is to sell advertisement space. Project Wonderful is a site that focuses specifically on how to use advertisements on your blog. Also, ShowMeTheMoney has some good advice on how to use ad space to make money. I have to admit, I did not experiment with this throughout the semester because I felt a little overwhelmed since it was my first blogging experience. There were some people that did experiment with it and did make a profit! Jack made close to $20 off advertisements through his blog. I suggest you try it out too.
Building Traffic using SEO
The term SEO is one that you will hear A LOT this semester. Make yourself familiar with it and learn how to use it. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. I had a lot of trouble with traffic the first couple of months. After I learned about SEO, I implimented all of the following tips and my traffic skyrocketed. I even got some hits in Europe and Asia! So, here are some tips I recommend you use to increase traffic.
1. Use Google hot trends: Google Hot Trends gives you a list of the top 100 words currently being searched for using Google search engine. For example, my blog was on graduation. I used Google Hot Trends and found that graduation gifts was commonly searched for. I made a post on graduation gifts and I got comments from people not in class. It definately increased my traffic.
2. Use Google Keywords Tool: Google Keyword Tool is helpful in telling you what your competition is doing. You can find out they are posting about and then make posts on the same subjects. You can even link to them! Back to my example about boats. If someone else has a blog and Google Keywords tells me they are blogging about sunburn, I should write a post about how to prevent sunburn and link back to their post for more tips and information, thus increasing traffic.
3. Use Google Webmaster Tool: According to Google, Google's free webmaster tools provide you with an easy way to make your site more Google-friendly. They can show you Google's view of your site, help you diagnose problems, and let you share info with us to help improve your site's visibility in our search results. When I used it for my blog this semester, it helped me because it told me that one of my URLs was unreachable. That allowed me to go back and fix my problem.
4. Use Negative Keywords: Negative keywords help to target a more specific audience. For example if your blog is on a writer named Tom Bobama, but you don’t want people searching for Barack Obama being directed to your site, then you can use Barack Obama as a negative keyword. You can do this with the help of websites or by adjusting the html of your specific blog by customizing the settings. If you are using Blogger, it is easy to edit your HTML. For more help on using negative keywords visit WebmasterWorld.
1. Use Google hot trends: Google Hot Trends gives you a list of the top 100 words currently being searched for using Google search engine. For example, my blog was on graduation. I used Google Hot Trends and found that graduation gifts was commonly searched for. I made a post on graduation gifts and I got comments from people not in class. It definately increased my traffic.
2. Use Google Keywords Tool: Google Keyword Tool is helpful in telling you what your competition is doing. You can find out they are posting about and then make posts on the same subjects. You can even link to them! Back to my example about boats. If someone else has a blog and Google Keywords tells me they are blogging about sunburn, I should write a post about how to prevent sunburn and link back to their post for more tips and information, thus increasing traffic.
3. Use Google Webmaster Tool: According to Google, Google's free webmaster tools provide you with an easy way to make your site more Google-friendly. They can show you Google's view of your site, help you diagnose problems, and let you share info with us to help improve your site's visibility in our search results. When I used it for my blog this semester, it helped me because it told me that one of my URLs was unreachable. That allowed me to go back and fix my problem.
4. Use Negative Keywords: Negative keywords help to target a more specific audience. For example if your blog is on a writer named Tom Bobama, but you don’t want people searching for Barack Obama being directed to your site, then you can use Barack Obama as a negative keyword. You can do this with the help of websites or by adjusting the html of your specific blog by customizing the settings. If you are using Blogger, it is easy to edit your HTML. For more help on using negative keywords visit WebmasterWorld.
Building Traffic
Finally! I have been doing all this talking about how the little tips and tricks I have offered you so far will build traffic and now its time to talk about all the ways to increase traffic and why its so important. The New York Times offers a great article on how to increase traffic to your site. Along with those tips, I have some of my own to offer you that I have found worked for me this semester.
We have already talked about how the use of Facebook and Twitter will build traffic. Also, we discussed how linking and commenting can help too. Keep practicing those, but there are other little things you can do too.
Inviting a guest blogger to your site could really benefit you. Lets go back to my example of the boating blog. Lets say I found a fellow blogger who has a blog about the best type of bait to use when fishing. Maybe I could ask him to do an interview with me in which we discuss the type of fish specific to the east coast and the type of bait we should use. Then, I can link to his blog and hopefully he links to me as well. That way, avid followers of his blog may also become followers of mine.
Making your page attractive is also a way to increase traffic. Just like I mentioned earlier, Huffington Post book recommend you don't use bright font on a dark background. If a website is hard to look at and the font is hard to read, it will discourage readers from returning. If you practice all of these tips, I assure you that you will see an increase in traffic.
We have already talked about how the use of Facebook and Twitter will build traffic. Also, we discussed how linking and commenting can help too. Keep practicing those, but there are other little things you can do too.
Inviting a guest blogger to your site could really benefit you. Lets go back to my example of the boating blog. Lets say I found a fellow blogger who has a blog about the best type of bait to use when fishing. Maybe I could ask him to do an interview with me in which we discuss the type of fish specific to the east coast and the type of bait we should use. Then, I can link to his blog and hopefully he links to me as well. That way, avid followers of his blog may also become followers of mine.
Making your page attractive is also a way to increase traffic. Just like I mentioned earlier, Huffington Post book recommend you don't use bright font on a dark background. If a website is hard to look at and the font is hard to read, it will discourage readers from returning. If you practice all of these tips, I assure you that you will see an increase in traffic.
Video and Photo Blogging
Using video and photos to tell a story in your blog is great! Its fun, its eye catching, and it show you know how to do more than just type. Rocketboom does a great job of incorporating video and pictures in every single post. Now, you don't have to use them in every post, but at least experiment with it.
As I mentioned before, I have never used Wordpress, but my experience with Blogger has shown me how easy video and photo blogging can be. You can post YouTube videos or your own videos using Blogger's tool. To insert a YouTube Video, you have to edit your HTML so make yourself familiar with this. I found BloggerTricks to be a helpful site. I have shown you some examples oh how you can post photos in your blog (see my Facebook/Twitter post). If you noticed, I put my pictures on the right and the text on the left. After discussing this in class this semester, we all decided that we prefer the text on the left and the photo on the right since your eye naturally reads left to right. And don't forget, taking someone else's picture can get you in big trouble! There are plenty of free sites out there that offer the use of images with no charge and no trouble.
Also, when posting a video, make sure you introduce the video. Just like this. Here is an example:
After the video, always finish up with a sentence or two. Don't ever just post a video with out saying anything about it. And always tell where you got the video from! (Thanks for this one YouTube) No plagiarizing.
As I mentioned before, I have never used Wordpress, but my experience with Blogger has shown me how easy video and photo blogging can be. You can post YouTube videos or your own videos using Blogger's tool. To insert a YouTube Video, you have to edit your HTML so make yourself familiar with this. I found BloggerTricks to be a helpful site. I have shown you some examples oh how you can post photos in your blog (see my Facebook/Twitter post). If you noticed, I put my pictures on the right and the text on the left. After discussing this in class this semester, we all decided that we prefer the text on the left and the photo on the right since your eye naturally reads left to right. And don't forget, taking someone else's picture can get you in big trouble! There are plenty of free sites out there that offer the use of images with no charge and no trouble.
Also, when posting a video, make sure you introduce the video. Just like this. Here is an example:
After the video, always finish up with a sentence or two. Don't ever just post a video with out saying anything about it. And always tell where you got the video from! (Thanks for this one YouTube) No plagiarizing.
Find Your Niche
Now that I have overloaded you with information, its time to start thinking about what your topic will me. Once you know your topic, we can find our niche audience. What is that, you ask? Well a nich audience is simply your target audience- the people that you are talking to. Lets go back to my boat example. I am making a blog about boats. Now, thats good and everything. But who am I talking to? I need to be more specific. Maybe I want to focus on people who live on the east coast and use their boats for fishing. That is much more specific. You will find it makes it a lot easier to figure out what to talk about too. For more tips, check out this great article by Joan Stewart.
The topic for my blog this semester was life after graduation. I founf myself talking a lot about jornalism and linking to other blogs written by people in the PR and journalism field. At the time, I had defined my niche audience as college students, college graduates, or just anyone interested in looking for a job. Dr. Spaulding recomended I fnarrow it down even more to Mass Comm. students. Thats an example of how being specific with your niche will benefit you.
The topic for my blog this semester was life after graduation. I founf myself talking a lot about jornalism and linking to other blogs written by people in the PR and journalism field. At the time, I had defined my niche audience as college students, college graduates, or just anyone interested in looking for a job. Dr. Spaulding recomended I fnarrow it down even more to Mass Comm. students. Thats an example of how being specific with your niche will benefit you.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Harness the Power of Social Media
Using social media can and will benefit you in the long run. Not only will it make you a better journalist, it will help you get a job. Many employers like to know that the intern or employee they are hiring is capable of using social media. Not only that, you want to be able to bring something to the job that other potential employees don't have. The use of social media is a competitive market.
There are some great websites out there that offer tips to help you use social media to the full extent. Social media blogs offer ways to use web tools as a way to communicate, such as targeting your audience, or niche, which we will talk about later.
There are also other blogs out there that discuss the growing trend of social media, specifically in the field of journalism. In fact, more then 3/4 of journalists admit to using social media networks such as blogs, Facebook, or YouTube to further their career. So if 3/4 of current journalists are doing it, imagine how many soon-to-be journalists, such as you and I, are doing it! Using social media is major player in the evolving field of journalism.
There are some great websites out there that offer tips to help you use social media to the full extent. Social media blogs offer ways to use web tools as a way to communicate, such as targeting your audience, or niche, which we will talk about later.
There are also other blogs out there that discuss the growing trend of social media, specifically in the field of journalism. In fact, more then 3/4 of journalists admit to using social media networks such as blogs, Facebook, or YouTube to further their career. So if 3/4 of current journalists are doing it, imagine how many soon-to-be journalists, such as you and I, are doing it! Using social media is major player in the evolving field of journalism.
basic practices
There are some basic practices that you should make yourself familiar with this semester and I am going to help you do that. Now, if you are as unfamiliar with blogging as I was when I started, most if not all of these terms will be new to you. But that's OK. They're not complicated and you will catch on quickly.
First, make yourself familiar with linking. Linking is what I have been doing throughout all of these posts. When you get information from someone, refer to someone's blog, quote someone, or even just mention the name of someone or somewhere, it is important to link to their website or blog. This will build credibility. It will also help increase traffic.
Second, it is good to practice commenting. Whether you are commenting on someone else's blog or just reading comments that people have left for you, commenting is an essential part of blogging. This allows readers to tell you what they think and feel and vice-versa and will also increase your traffic. You can comment on someone's blog to tell them what they are doing right or wrong. It's also a good idea to end your post with a question and ask readers to comment. This will make them feel like part of the conversation and will keep them coming back.
Third, its a good idea to make yourself familiar with labels or tags. Take a look at the bottom of this post. See my labels? Practicing this is essential for increasing traffic. Let us say someone wanted to find a blog post about linking. If they searched for "linking" in Google Blogsearch, this post would pop up. That will increase my traffic, build credibility, and attract more readers.
Lastly, its a good idea to practice short, concise writing when blogging. Some of these posts are lengthy due to the amount of information included in them. Like I mentioned before, posts should be no less than 100 words and no more than 500. That is so readers can still get the gist of what you are saying without feeling overwhelmed by information. If you find you have more to say, then just make a second post. This will also increase your number of posts which will benefit you for the sake of this class.
If you keep these tips in mind and practice them, I guarantee you will increase traffic, build credibility, and increase your number of readers. It worked for me!
First, make yourself familiar with linking. Linking is what I have been doing throughout all of these posts. When you get information from someone, refer to someone's blog, quote someone, or even just mention the name of someone or somewhere, it is important to link to their website or blog. This will build credibility. It will also help increase traffic.
Second, it is good to practice commenting. Whether you are commenting on someone else's blog or just reading comments that people have left for you, commenting is an essential part of blogging. This allows readers to tell you what they think and feel and vice-versa and will also increase your traffic. You can comment on someone's blog to tell them what they are doing right or wrong. It's also a good idea to end your post with a question and ask readers to comment. This will make them feel like part of the conversation and will keep them coming back.
Third, its a good idea to make yourself familiar with labels or tags. Take a look at the bottom of this post. See my labels? Practicing this is essential for increasing traffic. Let us say someone wanted to find a blog post about linking. If they searched for "linking" in Google Blogsearch, this post would pop up. That will increase my traffic, build credibility, and attract more readers.
Lastly, its a good idea to practice short, concise writing when blogging. Some of these posts are lengthy due to the amount of information included in them. Like I mentioned before, posts should be no less than 100 words and no more than 500. That is so readers can still get the gist of what you are saying without feeling overwhelmed by information. If you find you have more to say, then just make a second post. This will also increase your number of posts which will benefit you for the sake of this class.
If you keep these tips in mind and practice them, I guarantee you will increase traffic, build credibility, and increase your number of readers. It worked for me!
Writing Content That Grabs Readers
With the growing number of blogs out there, it is important that you allow your blog to grab reader's attention and keep their attention. Once again, the author of Problogger has some great tips on how to grab and maintain your reader's attention. Along with those tips, here are some that I have found over the past semester that benefited me.
1. Writing somewhere between 100 and 500 words is a great place to start. You want to write enough to interest your reader, but not drag on and bore them.
2. Using picture also helps grab your reader's attention. It will help them to visualize what you are saying. It also adds credibility to your posts.
3. Lead your reader. Just like writing an article for a newspaper, you want to tell your reader what you will be talking about within the first 2 sentences of your post. This will allow them to see if what are writing about is what they are looking for.
4. Read your comments and comment on your comments. If a reader comments on one of your posts that mean that he or she felt a connection to what you had to say, whether it be good or bad. Always, always, always comment on the reader's reaction or e-mail the reader and let them know how you feel. That shows the reader that you care and will keep them coming back for more.
5. Post regularly. Its OK to skip a day or two, but no more than that. It will make the reader think you are uninterested and don't care enough to make time to post. Even if you just write a short post around 100 words, it will benefit you to keep a schedule and keep posting.
6. Double check your facts and use attributions. Always practice good journalism skills. Just because this is a blog doesn't mean that you can't be credible. If you get a quote from someone, link to their website or blog. Not only will t make you seem more professional, it can also help you build traffic.
Take these tips into consideration. Remember, this blog is supposed to help you practice your journalism skills so write just like you would if you worked for the New York Times. I have found that these tips really help you seem more professional and will really help build a strong base of readers.
1. Writing somewhere between 100 and 500 words is a great place to start. You want to write enough to interest your reader, but not drag on and bore them.
2. Using picture also helps grab your reader's attention. It will help them to visualize what you are saying. It also adds credibility to your posts.
3. Lead your reader. Just like writing an article for a newspaper, you want to tell your reader what you will be talking about within the first 2 sentences of your post. This will allow them to see if what are writing about is what they are looking for.
4. Read your comments and comment on your comments. If a reader comments on one of your posts that mean that he or she felt a connection to what you had to say, whether it be good or bad. Always, always, always comment on the reader's reaction or e-mail the reader and let them know how you feel. That shows the reader that you care and will keep them coming back for more.
5. Post regularly. Its OK to skip a day or two, but no more than that. It will make the reader think you are uninterested and don't care enough to make time to post. Even if you just write a short post around 100 words, it will benefit you to keep a schedule and keep posting.
6. Double check your facts and use attributions. Always practice good journalism skills. Just because this is a blog doesn't mean that you can't be credible. If you get a quote from someone, link to their website or blog. Not only will t make you seem more professional, it can also help you build traffic.
Take these tips into consideration. Remember, this blog is supposed to help you practice your journalism skills so write just like you would if you worked for the New York Times. I have found that these tips really help you seem more professional and will really help build a strong base of readers.
Twitter and Facebook
I'm sure by now you have either gotten bit by the Twitter bug, or at least heard of it. Twitter is a great tool to help you promote your blog. By subscribing to Twitter, you can tweet about your blog and your recent posts. Someone is bound to read it, become interested, and begin reading your blog. Problogger, which I discussed before, also has some great tips on how you can use Twitter to promote your blog. I suggest you check this article out.Facebook is also a great way to promote your blog too. I'm sure all of you have a Facebook page. If you don't, I really suggest you get one. It's another way to practice the growing trend of social media. You can advertise your blog in your bio and also post status updates when you write a new post on your blog. There is a great list of tips on using Facebook to promote your blog that I found on a blog titles Now Sourcing. This is also a great blog to look at just because it focuses strictly on using new forms of social media.
Using Google Analytics and Google Reader
There are two great tools that Google offers to help you track the progress of your blog and also to track other blogs that you enjoy following. Google Analytics is pictured to the right. What it does is gives you a detailed report of your blog. It tells you how many people have visited your blog, how long they stayed on your site, what country the person is that has visited your site, and whether the traffic you are receiving is from a search engine or if it is direct (we will discuss more about traffic later).
Also, Google Reader helps you stay up to date by checking to see if your favorite blogs are being updated. It allows you to organize all of the blogs you are following and allows you to view them all on one page instead of opening multiple pages or tabs.
Another way to follow your favorite blogs and websites is with the help of RSS feeds. RSS is a web feed that allows you to track your favorite blogs and websites. RSS will tell you when your favorite sites are being updated. For example, my favorite store is Urban Outfitters. I subscribed to their RSS feed so when the website posts new sale items, I am notified immediately so I can be the first to get on and buy everything! I think you will find all three of these tools to really benefit you this semester.
Customize Your Blog
When creating a blog, it is important to make the blog your own. The first step in doing this is to decide what program you want to use. Blogger is a good program to use if you are like me and have never blogged before. Blogger is simple, but it also gives you room to make changes on your own. Wordpress is great if you have blogged before or are familiar with computers. I have never used wordpress, but other students in my class used it and they seemed to like it.
When customizing your blog, it is important to have a banner and slogan that reflect the content of your blog. So if your blog is about boats, it would benefit you to explain in a sentence what your blog is about and customize your blog with shades of blue and green. You can take a picture of a boat and use it as your banner. Using original pictures will help your readers to see your passion and commitment to your blog.
Another way to customize your blog is by the use of a blogroll. A blogroll is a list of blogs that are related to your topic. I put my blogroll on the right hand side of my blog, but you can put it anywhere you want. I am not sure about Wordpress, but I know blogger has a tool that will allow you to move your blogroll and bio around anywhere on your page that you would like.
Gadgets are also a great way to customize your blog. Using gadgets will allow you to add anything you like to your page. For example, if your blog is about the New York Mets, you can add a gadget that will count down how many days until the Mets begin spring training. Using a gadget will really make your page yours.
When customizing your blog, it is important to have a banner and slogan that reflect the content of your blog. So if your blog is about boats, it would benefit you to explain in a sentence what your blog is about and customize your blog with shades of blue and green. You can take a picture of a boat and use it as your banner. Using original pictures will help your readers to see your passion and commitment to your blog.
Another way to customize your blog is by the use of a blogroll. A blogroll is a list of blogs that are related to your topic. I put my blogroll on the right hand side of my blog, but you can put it anywhere you want. I am not sure about Wordpress, but I know blogger has a tool that will allow you to move your blogroll and bio around anywhere on your page that you would like.
Gadgets are also a great way to customize your blog. Using gadgets will allow you to add anything you like to your page. For example, if your blog is about the New York Mets, you can add a gadget that will count down how many days until the Mets begin spring training. Using a gadget will really make your page yours.
The Secret to Great Blogs
According to CNET news, there are two new blogs born every second! With so many blogs out there, how can we tell which ones are credible and professional and which ones are just nonsense? And how can you make it so that your blog is professional and credible too? There are lots of ways to make the most of your blog. Just like writing an article for a newspaper, practicing good journalism skills is essential when publishing any writing, even on a blog.
During the first few weeks of the semester, I was feeling overwhelmed by all this talk of blogging. I wasn't even sure what blogging was! Luckily Dr. Spaulding recommended a great book to the class called The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging, which I ordered off Amazon.com. This book does a wonderful job outlining the things that make a good blog a good blog. For example, when i first made my blog I made the same mistake as many other first time bloggers: black background with white font. After reading the Huffington Post, I discovered that a background like that distracts readers and can even hurt their eyes. I quickly changed my background to grey with a dark blue font. And thats just one of the many tips offered. I recommend this book to anyone who has not blogged before or just wants to learn how to be a better blogger.
Besides that, there are a lot of great websites out there that offer tips on how to be an effective blogger. Problogger is a blog that focuses on teaching people how to blog. The author offers 10 tips for writing an effective blog post. I think you will find these tips helpful. Another website that offers great tips is a blog titled Web2Center. Here, the author offers 24 tips for creating great blog content.
There are some criteria that I think are important to have in a blog. First of all, a blog has to be creative and playful. One great idea for a blog is creating a photo blog such as the Fine Art Photoblog. By doing something creative, it is more likely that people will want to look at your blog and categorize it as a "great blog".
Second, I think a blog should you reflect your personality. If you are funny, then let your blog reflect that. People may not always agree with what you have to say, but that doesn't matter. AN example of a great blog that does this is the Humor Gazette in which the author uses satire to make fun of public figures, and sometimes even himself. His personality shows through and that is what makes a truly great blog.
Third, I think a great blog should be on a topic you are passionate about. If you truly care about your topic, posting won't be a chore, rather it will be something you honestly want to do not because it is an assignment, but because you want people to read it. The Invisible Children blog does a great job of doing this. It is full of information about upcoming events, photos, videos, and mission statements to tell what the organization is about. Passion on your topic is essential to making a great blog.
During the first few weeks of the semester, I was feeling overwhelmed by all this talk of blogging. I wasn't even sure what blogging was! Luckily Dr. Spaulding recommended a great book to the class called The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging, which I ordered off Amazon.com. This book does a wonderful job outlining the things that make a good blog a good blog. For example, when i first made my blog I made the same mistake as many other first time bloggers: black background with white font. After reading the Huffington Post, I discovered that a background like that distracts readers and can even hurt their eyes. I quickly changed my background to grey with a dark blue font. And thats just one of the many tips offered. I recommend this book to anyone who has not blogged before or just wants to learn how to be a better blogger.
Besides that, there are a lot of great websites out there that offer tips on how to be an effective blogger. Problogger is a blog that focuses on teaching people how to blog. The author offers 10 tips for writing an effective blog post. I think you will find these tips helpful. Another website that offers great tips is a blog titled Web2Center. Here, the author offers 24 tips for creating great blog content.
There are some criteria that I think are important to have in a blog. First of all, a blog has to be creative and playful. One great idea for a blog is creating a photo blog such as the Fine Art Photoblog. By doing something creative, it is more likely that people will want to look at your blog and categorize it as a "great blog".
Second, I think a blog should you reflect your personality. If you are funny, then let your blog reflect that. People may not always agree with what you have to say, but that doesn't matter. AN example of a great blog that does this is the Humor Gazette in which the author uses satire to make fun of public figures, and sometimes even himself. His personality shows through and that is what makes a truly great blog.
Third, I think a great blog should be on a topic you are passionate about. If you truly care about your topic, posting won't be a chore, rather it will be something you honestly want to do not because it is an assignment, but because you want people to read it. The Invisible Children blog does a great job of doing this. It is full of information about upcoming events, photos, videos, and mission statements to tell what the organization is about. Passion on your topic is essential to making a great blog.
Who Blogs and Why
There are some really great blogs out there. Before you decide on a topic for you own blog, I suggest you browse the web for some ideas. One great way to do this is by using Google Blog Search. Just like performing a search on Google, you can type in what you are looking for and the search engine will find the most relevant blogs. So lets take a look at some creative blogs and the reasons why they were started.
One of the reasons people blog is because they have a story that needs to be told. There are many blogs out there like this, but one I found to be particularly well written is A Soldier's Perspective. The authors are 4 men who have been deployed and are blogging from Iraq. This blog is a great one to use as an example because the authors have used a combination of pictures, videos, and links to not only get their point across, but to make their blog credible, but we will talk more about that later.
Another reason people blog is to promote their company or organization. Blogging is used by many different companies, both big and small. Take for example my favorite news channel, CNN. I like to watch it when I'm at home cleaning or doing something else, but sometimes I like to just see what is going on when I'm not at home. Well, CNN has their own blog that constantly updates with top stories. This way, someone like myself can log on and browse through the blog titles to see what is happening. If its something I want to read about, I can click on it.
Nonprofit organizations are using blogs as an effective advertising strategy. It makes sense. Nonprofit organizations often function on a limited budget and blogging is free! In fact, you can even make a profit off advertising through your blog, but we will discuss that later. An example of a good nonprofit blog I have found is NYCON which stands for the New York Council Of Nonprofits. They do a great job of using their blog as a form of advertisement. Their posts are long enough to gather information from, but not so long as to make you feel like you're reading a press release.
One last reason that people blog is similar to the reason you and I blog and that is to just practice this growing trend of social media. A great example of this is the blog More Than Mary. It is simply a blog in which the author, Mary, talks about the things in life that make her happy. In her bio she even states that she is just blogging from experience and is by no means an expert. Blogs such as Mary's just go to show how blogging really is a growing trend that we all should learn.
One of the reasons people blog is because they have a story that needs to be told. There are many blogs out there like this, but one I found to be particularly well written is A Soldier's Perspective. The authors are 4 men who have been deployed and are blogging from Iraq. This blog is a great one to use as an example because the authors have used a combination of pictures, videos, and links to not only get their point across, but to make their blog credible, but we will talk more about that later.
Another reason people blog is to promote their company or organization. Blogging is used by many different companies, both big and small. Take for example my favorite news channel, CNN. I like to watch it when I'm at home cleaning or doing something else, but sometimes I like to just see what is going on when I'm not at home. Well, CNN has their own blog that constantly updates with top stories. This way, someone like myself can log on and browse through the blog titles to see what is happening. If its something I want to read about, I can click on it.
Nonprofit organizations are using blogs as an effective advertising strategy. It makes sense. Nonprofit organizations often function on a limited budget and blogging is free! In fact, you can even make a profit off advertising through your blog, but we will discuss that later. An example of a good nonprofit blog I have found is NYCON which stands for the New York Council Of Nonprofits. They do a great job of using their blog as a form of advertisement. Their posts are long enough to gather information from, but not so long as to make you feel like you're reading a press release.
One last reason that people blog is similar to the reason you and I blog and that is to just practice this growing trend of social media. A great example of this is the blog More Than Mary. It is simply a blog in which the author, Mary, talks about the things in life that make her happy. In her bio she even states that she is just blogging from experience and is by no means an expert. Blogs such as Mary's just go to show how blogging really is a growing trend that we all should learn.
What the heck is a blog?
So what is a blog? And why do we have to have one? Those are the first two questions I asked myself at the beginning of the semester. The word "blog" is a combination of the words web and log. A blog is simply a website that you enter comments, discuss events, or post really anything you want. You can have a video blog, a picture blog, or any other type of blog you want. The sky is the limit. That is why blogging is so great!
So why blog? Well, blogging is a growing trend practiced by mostly everyone. In the field of communication, blogs are used by journalists, PR representatives, marketing agencies, advertisement agencies, and so much more. That is why it is important for us to learn how to blog.
So why blog? Well, blogging is a growing trend practiced by mostly everyone. In the field of communication, blogs are used by journalists, PR representatives, marketing agencies, advertisement agencies, and so much more. That is why it is important for us to learn how to blog.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
An Introduction
Hello all! My name is Keri and I am a gradute of Towson University. I have made this blog as part of my "writing for new media" final, but I think you will find the advice I have to give will really benefit you. By taking this class, MCOM 407, you will learn how the use of blogs, Twitter, SEO (search engine optimization) and other forms of technology will not only benefit you in this class, but also in your professional career. Take a look at what I have to say. As always, comments are encouraged. Good Luck!
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