Presented at Northern Voice 2010 (Vancouver)

1. Finding Your Online Voice
- Monica Hamburg
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sabeth718/
CC BY-NC 2.0

2. How To Find Your Online Voice
Step 1: Write
Eventually: You’ll find your voice
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3. Sounds frighteningly like
The Underpants Gnomes' business plan
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4. Still...the ticket is to:
Write more
So you can write better
And:
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5. In order to sound more like you
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katerw/
"Finding Your Online Voice" 5
Monica Hamburg BY-NC-ND
CC 2.0

6. ____
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kitty27/
"Finding Your Online Voice"
Monica Hamburg CC BY 2.0

7. “One of the best ways to learn your
blogging voice is to read a lot of other
bloggers and ask yourself whether you're
comfortable with their writing style,
whether they seem to be a friend chatting
with you or some self-important twit
pontificating, and which you find most
appealing. Then be inspired by that and
try to create a writing persona that
matches what you believe are the best
practices.”
- Dave Taylor, The Business Blog at Intuitive.com
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8. What’s Your Focus
• Figure out your blog’s focus
• Put it on your blog (can be altered later)
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9. "Finding Your Online Voice" 9
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10. What is good blog writing?
• Compelling
• Correct grammar, spelling & sentence
structure
• Visually appealing
• As concise as possible
• And, very critically:
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11. “You know everything is not
an anecdote. You have to
discriminate. You choose
things that are funny or mildly
amusing or interesting. ...
[Y]ou know, when you're
telling these little stories?
Here's a good idea - have a
POINT. It makes it SO much
more interesting for the
listener!”
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12. Why would anyone care?
“Because I rock”
No.
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13. Because of:
• Content
• Voice
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14. Basically:
It’s a good read
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15. Benefits of Initial Obscurity
• Allows you time to find your voice
• Gives you the opportunity to experiment
• Freedom to write without censoring
yourself (lest you “lose your audience”)
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16. “There's nothing wrong with getting 20
million viewers, but I think there's
something wrong with aiming at getting
20 million viewers, because then you
have to take away all the things that will
offend, and you'll end up with something
so anodyne that it just washes over you
for half an hour.”
- Ricky Gervais
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17. Blogging shouldn’t suck
• Be Honest with yourself: Write about what
you like – and can commit to
• Keep a log of ideas: Note down things you
might like to write about as you come across
them. E.g. via:
– Evernote
– Google Docs
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18. Except when it does
• Too Many Ideas? Too many choices
paralyze
• Stuck? Get out of the house, talk a walk,
exercise, meditate = allow yourself to think.
• Focus sometimes means not focussing:
best ideas can come when you expand your
scope
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19. Relax? Really?
“..when people are anxious they tend to
narrow their thought processes,
concentrating upon aspects directly
related to the a problem [psychologist
Alice] Isen’s results show that when
people are relaxed and happy their
thought processes expand, becoming
more creative, more imaginative] ”
- Donald A. Norman, “Emotional Design”
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20. “Tips for new bloggers? Be real. Start
small. While you don't have to share as
much as I do, you should share
SOMETHING - a thought, an opinion, a
story. Stick to the blogging rules: no
one cares what you had for lunch.
Don't force anything; let it come
naturally. Did I mention being real?
Please be real. Give people a chance
to know YOU, not a false image.”
- Kimli Welsh, Delicious Juice Dot Com
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21. Go with your instincts
• What you reveal:
– If you are uncomfortable with revealing
aspects of your life or yourself: don’t.
– Your privacy and boundaries are important
– Understand that friends, parents, coworkers
future employers, may read your blog
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22. Remember: it’s a process
• Learn from your writing: Did a post feel
particularly “right”/like you?
• Analyze: Read other blogs. Figure out
what you enjoy about certain blogs – and
what you don’t.
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23. Remember: it’s a process
Write.
Write.
Write.
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25. Further Resources:
On
& I also wrote a few posts on my blog in preparation for this talk:
• http://delicious.com/mhamburg/onlinevoice
• http://monicahamburg.wordpress.com/category/online-voice/
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26. Presentation:
http://www.slideshare.net/mhamburg
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27. • First Slide =
Flickr.com/photos/sabeth718/4237737955/
Photo Credits: • Slide 3= “South Park”
• Slide 5 =
Flickr.com/photos/katerw/398512266/
• Slide 6 =
Flickr.com/photos/kitty27/107160220/
• Slide 8 = YourDoseofLunacy.com
• Slide 9 = YouSuckatCraigslist.com,
Regretsy.com, Evanschiller.blogspot.com
• Slide 11 = “Planes, Trains & Automobiles”
• Slide 24 = iStockphotography.com
• Powerpoint background = “Splatter”
presentationmagazine.com
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28. • Erica Lam
TheStyleSpy.com
Thank you • Kimli Welsh
blog.DeliciousJuice.com
• Kim Werker
KimWerker.com
• Miranda Lievers
BlueOlivePhotography.com/blog/
• Pete Mosley
OneDegree.ca
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29. • Monique Trottier
SoMisguided.com
Thank you • Isabella Mori
Moritherapy.org
• Eagranie Yuh
TheWellTemperedChocolatier.com
• Mark Dykeman
Thoughtwrestling.com/blog/
• Beth Snow
NotToBeTrustedWithKnives.com
• Glenn Hilton
glennhilton.com
• Jeremy Lim
jeremylim.ca
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30. • Lyal Avery
Thank you outcome3.com
• Degan Beley
Foodists.ca & Ethniceats.ca
• Stephanie Scott
stephaniescottvanc.wordpress.com/
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31. YourDoseofLunacy.com
&
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