For my first Blog post ever, I have been asked to summarize the readings that were assigned by Professor Kenneth Ferree in my Web 2.0 Tools course at Empire State College. I am a student and have been assigned to maintain a Blog for this semester.
Summary for "How to Blog Almost Every Day"
The first reading is "How to Blog Almost Every Day" by Chris Brogan. Chris offers 14 points of advice and tips to assist in blogging consistently. The first few pieces of advice are ways to develop new topics and ideas. Chris recommends reading something new everyday that would challenge you and create new thoughts. Also engage in conversations that could lead to more topics.
Chris recommends to create a framework to follow, write down your topic ideas, and take about 20 to 40 minutes a day to just write. He further suggests that we "mix things up" by writing on paper first or changing the length of posts.
The main theme is to challenge yourself, be consistent, and create an almost habit like scenario where you feel the need to Blog each and everyday.
Summary for "How to Blog"
The next reading that I am assigned is "How to Blog" by Farhad Manjoo who is Slate's Technology columnist. Farhad has put together his own guide to Blogging based on the ideas and suggestions from his favorite Bloggers combined with the advice from what he calls "HuffPo" or The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging.
Farhad's guide has several suggestions that include:
- Set a schedule and Blog often
- Don't worry if your posts suck a little
- Write casually but clearly
- Add something new
- Join the bloggy conversation and Link!
- Don't expect instant fame
- Wait at least 15 minutes before publishing
Summary for "How to Blog Your Way to Small-Business Success"
The third reading that I am assigned is "How to Blog Your Way to Small-Business Success" by Mathew Bandyk for US News and World Report. In this reading Mathew discusses the importance of Blogs to small-business. He suggests that a Blog will drive customers to a business's website and help to promote products through Google. He recommends 5 ways a business owner can be sure that they are effective with blogging:
- Be a reader of Blogs
- Don't stress about it too much
- Don't do adspeak
- Tell a story without ranting
- Keep it simple with search engine optimization
The fourth assigned reading is "What a Business Blog Can Do for Your Small Business" by Darrell Zahorsky, former About.com Guide. Darrell explains briefly what a Blog is and how Blogging became so big. He then goes on to talk about the two types of Blogs, Personal and Business, and then explains"Blogs are an excellent method to share a company's expertise, build additional web traffic, and connect with potential customers.."
Summary for "Use it or lose it! 5 Tips on How to Keep Your Blogging Regular"
The fifth and final reading for this assignment is "Use it or lose it! 5 Tips on How to Keep Your Blogging Regular" by Darren Rowse at ProBlogger. Darren starts by telling the story about how he had let his email newsletter go by the way side for about six months and the repercussions of this. He explains that there are 5 lessons to help us keep "using it" so we don't "lose it" in regards to Blogging:
- Don't bite off more than you can chew
- Regularity is more important than high frequency
- Under promise and over deliver
- Build a schedule
- Have someone or (something) manage you
In all, the tips and suggestions from each of the five Bloggers that I was to read from and summarize leads to a common theme - Develop a system, Explore many avenues to develop topics, Post on a regular basis, and Have a BLAST!!!
I hope you have enjoyed reading through my summaries and have learned some techniques to assist you in Blogging like I have.
Really nice post. My favorite is the "Use or Lose it". I was surprised that it would have such repercussion from taking some time off. I wonder if a guest writer would solve that problem.
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