12 Blogging tips from an experienced IBM blogger for the 2013 October Cloud Computing Social Media ITSO residency

1. Tony Pearson – IBM Master Inventor and Senior Consulting IT Specialist
October 2013
A dozen blogging
tips from an
experienced blogger
Tony Pearson
IBM Master Inventor, Senior
Consulting IT Specialist, Blogger,
Chief SME at Tucson EBC, Forward
Thinker, Worldwide Center of
Competency for Cloud across all 12
STG EBCs, Published Author and
Filmmaker
Source: http://www.webseoanalytics.com/blog/10-tips-for-developing-a-successful-blog/
© 2013 IBM Corporation

2. Tony Pearson – The “Kevin Bacon” of IBM System Storage
● Ranked Top 10 Blogger
● Two Liquid Brand awards for IBM
System Storage
● Have been invited to blog and/or
speak at various conferences and
events
● International readership: USA, India,
Canada, UK, Germany, Japan,
Australia, France, Russia, China
● Published over 860 blog posts, five
books and two films
● Received many compliments from
readers
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● Helped close over $4B in IBM
revenue
© 2013 IBM Corporation

3. My Social Profile
Blog:
http://ibm.co/Pearson
Books:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/99Ø_tony
Diigo:
https://www.diigo.com/user/az990tony
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/tony.pearso
n.16121
LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?
id=103718598
SlideShare - IBM Expert Network:
http://www.slideshare.net/az99Øtony
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/az99Øtony
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© 2013 IBM Corporation

4. I started blogging September 2006
Why?
To raise awareness of new
IBM System Storage®
What?
Start either a podcast
or blog
Initially a joint effort
with Jennifer Jones
eServer
TotalStorage
2000 - 2005
4
Launched on 50
Anniversary of Disk
Systems
http://www-07.ibm.com/systems/includes/pdf/SoftwareStrategiesIBMSystemsAgendaFullReport.pdf
th
How?
1. Convince management
and legal dept
2. Learn audio-editing tools
3. Read books on blogging
4. Find “hosting” website
that would be externally
visible -- IBM
developerWorks
© 2013 IBM Corporation

5. Tip #1 – Read the Book “Naked Conversations”
•
•
Each chapter highlights Do’s and Don’ts
illustrated with examples. Consistent with IBM
Social Media Guidelines
•
5
“Naked Conversations” by Robert Scoble
and Shel Israel, both experienced bloggers
from Microsoft
Key Lessons:
1. A blog is the unedited voice of a single
person
2. Blogs can provide a “human face” to an
otherwise faceless company
3. Blogs should foster conversations
between IBM, Business Partners, clients,
suppliers, prospects, and other bloggers
© 2013 IBM Corporation

6. IBM developerWorks – Top 10 Blogs
Rank Blog
Author(s)
1
Inside System Storage
Tony Pearson,
Jeff Antley
8,953,681
2
developerWorks Podcasts and Videos
Scott Laningham
3,865,347
3
Todd “Turbo” Watson
Todd Watson
3,162,925
4
Build your skill on IM Products, DB2
Susan Visser
3,131,857
5
Notes from Rational Support
Kelly Puffs
2,615,840
6
iMasters (Spanish Language)
Group Blog (36
authors)
2,589,283
7
AIX Down Under
Anthony English
2,584,119
8
Smarter Collaboration insights
Antony Satyadas
2,423,735
9
Software, Open Source, SOA, Innovation,
Open Standards, Trends (Portuguese)
Group Blog (19
authors)
2,120,189
10
Benchmarking and systems performance
Elisabeth Stahl
1,840,630
6
Visits past
36 months
© 2013 IBM Corporation

7. Tip #2 – Treat Blog Posts as Works of Art
Why?
1. Entertain, Poke
Fun
 Smile, Laugh
2. Inform, Educate
 Bookmark
3. Warn
 Prepare
4. Celebrate
 Congratulate
5. Bleg
 Contribute
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What?
How?
1. A single idea
2. A structure
3. Supporting
Details
•
•
•
•
•
Still Life
Portrait
Landscape
Incident
Vision
http://www-07.ibm.com/systems/includes/pdf/SoftwareStrategiesIBMSystemsAgendaFullReport.pdf
© 2013 IBM Corporation

8. Tip #3: Use Mind Mapping to prepare blog posts like a presentation –
single idea, appropriate structure, and F.L.O.W.
IBM has approved use
of “Freemind” open
source mind-mapping
tool.
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http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
© 2013 IBM Corporation

9. Tip #4 – Use Social Bookmarking to save ideas, facts, and links to
other resources for future blog posts
https://www.diigo.com/user/az990tony/to-blog
Inspiration for
blog ideas
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Facts, Links,
Opinions,
Words
© 2013 IBM Corporation

10. Tip #5 – Choose an appropriate structure for your Blog post
Follow the AIDA formula
A – Attention
Grab attention in title
and first paragraph
I – Interest
Identify who should be
interested in this
D – Desire
The benefits of buying
this product, attending
this conference, using
this approach, etc.
A – Action
Next steps – call your
sales rep, schedule
meeting with your boss,
etc.
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A story includes the following
elements:
Setting
When and where does
the story take place
Character
Who is involved in this
story
Conflict
What challenges do the
characters face
Resolution
What did we learn from
this?
A list should have an
opening to introduce the
items on the list, and how
they are all related
People to know
Products to buy
Timeline of events
Step-by-Step
instructions
 Sessions of a
conference
 Resources
 Question and Answers




Close your blog post with
final thoughts, your
perspective and opinions
© 2013 IBM Corporation

11. Tip #6 – Use Snowclones for Titles, Catch Phrases for Introductions
Snowclones are templates based on popular
culture
 If Eskimos have N words for snow, X
surely have Y words for Z.
 X is the new Y
 The X to End All Xs
 To X or not to X?
 We’re gonna need a bigger X
 X, X Everywhere
 I, for one, welcome our new X Overlords
 The X is Too Damn High!
 A few X short of a Y
 yes Virginia, there is an X
However, ensure your post slug is
appropriate
I have adopted some catch phrases of my
own, that I repeatedly use:
“It’s Tuesday again, and you know what that
means? IBM Announcements!”
 I use this to introduce blog posts that
summarize IBM announcements
“I am still wiping the coffee off my computer
screen after reading …”
 I use this to introduce blog posts when I
have read something so outrageous that
it requires a response
“We are still picking up confetti off the floor
from the time when …”
 Reminiscing about a fond event
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/InsideSystemStorage/entry/aperi_is_viagra_for_smi
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© 2013 IBM Corporation

12. Tip #7 -- Write what you know, in a conversational tone
"The murals in restaurants are on
par with the food in museums.“
--- Peter De Vries
Blogs are the unedited voice of a
single person
– Do not go through rounds of
reviews like a Press Release
– Are not written by a committee
– No deadlines
•
Imagine you are sitting next to one
of your target readers, explaining a
concept, showing how to do
something, or retelling a sequence
of events
•
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•
This is how your blog should read,
or podcast should sound
© 2013 IBM Corporation

13. Tip #8 – Blogging is like jogging, blog on a regular frequency
Do it often enough to make it count
If you quit for a while, it is hard to get back into it.
Stretch yourself, read other blogs before you write
Try new routes, explore adjacent spaces
• 70% Focus topic
• 20% Adjacent spaces
• 10% Personal
Pace yourself – Limit yourself to 2,000 words per week or less
• 20-40 tweets on Twitter
• 5-8 short posts (200-300 words each)
• 2-3 medium posts (600-800 words each)
• 1 long post (1200-1800 words)
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Make time for it – a 700-word post takes me about 4-6 hours to
write, edit, format and post
© 2013 IBM Corporation

14. Tip #9 – As with any conversation, if you cannot add value with
something new and different, contribute with your silence
Avoid the Echo
Chamber
Read the blogs of
others in your industry,
analysts, competitors,
and clients. Don’t
waste time with posts
that say “I completely
agree”.
Don’t Let the Wookie Win
Everyone is entitled to their
own opinions, so agree to
disagree. However, if facts
are wrong, set the record
straight.
Be Responsible
Be the first to admit
being wrong, apologize
and correct your own
mistakes
Show Restraint - While the most interesting blog posts are written under the
influence of drugs, alcohol, anger, frustration, sadness or depression, don’t post
until you are clean and sober during normal business hours.
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© 2013 IBM Corporation

15. Tip #10 -- Identify who you are and your relationship to the people,
products and companies mentioned in your blog post
Identify if people you mention in your post are related to you, in your
management chain, or have similar job title. Example “Fellow blogger Barry
Whyte (IBM) writes…”
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission requires bloggers in the United States
to disclose who they are and if they were paid or compensated in any
manner. Example FTC disclosure:
(FTC Disclosure: I am both an employee and shareholder of IBM, so the
U.S. Federal Trade Commission may consider this post a paid, celebrity
endorsement of the IBM SmartCloud Enterprise service offering. IBM has
working relationships with Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft mentioned
in this blog post. This blog post is based on my interpretation and opinions of
publicly-available information, observations and personal experience. My
friends at ENC Security Systems provided me an evaluation license for their
latest software release so that I could confirm the use cases posed in this
post. I do not have any financial interest in EMC, HDS, HP or Dell mentioned
on this blog post, do not endorse any of their products, nor has anyone paid
me to mention their company names, brands or offerings.)
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© 2013 IBM Corporation

16. Tip #11 – Live a life worth writing about! Incorporate Rich Media
• Photos
– Post pictures you take yourself, or
have someone take picture of you
– Get permission -- “May I take a
photo for my blog?”
– Do NOT link to other websites
– Store my photos on Flickr.com
– First photo left-justified, then
alternating right and left
– Use GIMP tool to crop, fix photos
• Slides – Use Slideshare.net
• Pie/Bar Charts – Use Google Chart
• Audio – Native HTML or link to MP3
• Video
– Native HTML
– Screenshot image plus hot-link
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© 2013 IBM Corporation

17. Tip #12 – Well-behaved bloggers seldom make history
EMC Electrocutes the Elephant
If you thought fear mongering like this was unique to the IT
industry, consider that 105 years ago, [Edison electrocuted
an elephant]. In an effort to show that A/C was too
dangerous to have in homes and businesses, Thomas
Edison held a press conference in front of 1500 witnesses,
electrocuting an elephant named Topsy with 6600 volts.
Pink it and Shrink it
The new SVC Entry Edition, available in Flamingo
Pink* or traditional Raven Black.
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IBM Watson - How to build your own
“Watson Jr.” in your basement
104,209 downloads!
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© 2013 IBM Corporation

18. 2012 IBM Global CEO Study
Employees who connect
more with each other and
with the outside world to
innovate continuously
reinvent themselves.
By learning from each
other, they stay ahead of
the skills curve, open to
change, and in effect
become "future-proof."
Source: 2012 IBM Global CEO Study
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© 2013 IBM Corporation

19. 19
© 2013 IBM Corporation

20. The “Four R’s”
•
Respect
–
•
Relevance
–
–
–
•
Responsibility
–
–
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Identify yourself by name, and
when relevant: your role and
employer
Ensure your profile and related
content is consistent with how you
wish to present yourself with
•
colleagues and clients
Add value. Provide worthwhile
information and perspective
Be personally responsible for your
content
Be the first to admit and correct
your own mistakes
–
Respect copyright, fair use and
financial disclosure laws.
Use disclaimers like…
 “My views are my own, and
do not necessarily represent
the views of my employer.”
Restraint
–
–
–
–
Don't use ethnic slurs, personal
insults, obscenity
Don't pick fights, but set the
record straight as needed
Don't provide confidential or
proprietary information
Don't cite or reference clients,
partners or suppliers without
their approval
Source: http://www.ibm.com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines.html
© 2013 IBM Corporation

21. Tony Pearson
About the Speaker
Mr. Tony Pearson
IBM System Storage
Master Inventor,
Senior Consulting IT
Specialist
IBM System Storage™
9000 S. Rita Road
Bldg 9032 Floor 1
Tucson, AZ 85744
+1 520-799-4309 (Office)
tpearson@us.ibm.com
Tony Pearson is a Master Inventor and Senior managing consultant for the IBM System Storage™ product line. Tony joined
IBM Corporation in 1986 in Tucson, Arizona, USA, and has lived there ever since. In his current role, Tony presents briefings on
storage topics covering the entire System Storage product line, Tivoli storage software products, and topics related to Cloud
Computing. He interacts with clients, speaks at conferences and events, and leads client workshops to help clients with
strategic planning for IBM’s integrated set of storage management software, hardware, and virtualization products.
Tony writes the “Inside System Storage” blog, which is read by hundreds of clients, IBM sales reps and IBM Business Partners
every week. This blog was rated one of the top 10 blogs for the IT storage industry by “Networking World” magazine, and #1
most read IBM blog on IBM’s developerWorks. The blog has been published in series of books, Inside System Storage: Volume
I through IV.
Over the past years, Tony has worked in development, marketing and customer care positions for various storage hardware and
software products. Tony has a Bachelor of Science degree in Software Engineering, and a Master of Science degree in
Electrical Engineering, both from the University of Arizona. Tony holds 19 IBM patents for inventions on storage hardware and
software products.
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© 2013 IBM Corporation

22. Trademarks and disclaimers
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Performance is based on measurements and projections using standard IBM benchmarks in a controlled environment. The actual throughput or performance that any user will experience
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ZSP03490-USEN-00
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© 2013 IBM Corporation