Blog Right - Starting A Blog for Small Business/Writers/Bloggers

@JackieWolvenJacquelineWolven.com
BLOGGING BASICS
Blogging 101
with Jacqueline Wolven

BENEFITS OF
HAVING A BLOG
Why do you and your business need a blog?

THREE REASONS
Tell Your Own Story
Connect with Community
Increase Revenue

MY STORY
EXERCISE
Turn to your neighbor and share with them
why you want to blog or currently blog

FREE BLOGGING VS
HOSTED BLOGGING
What should I be using to blog?

FREE BLOGS CAN
COST YOU
Someone can steal your domain
Free platforms can shut down at any time
You don‘t really have control

HOW DO I SET UP A
SELF HOSTED BLOG
• In 20 minutes you can have your blog up
and running. Visit
http://www.theblogbuilders.com and his
FREE step by step guidelines will allow you
to be up and running

TWEET THIS
Breathe and know the internet has no eraser. – Liz
Strauss via @jackiewolven

PERSONAL/BUSINESS
BRANDING
Seriously, I have to be a ―brand‖

DEVELOPING A BRAND
Who are you?
What values do you have?
How do you want to be perceived?
Are you your business?

WHO
ARE YOU?
EXERCISE
List 10 things that are totally YOU

YOUR BRAND
IS AN INVESTMENT
Your personal brand has the potential to last longer than your own
lifespan.
If you consider yourself to be in this particular game for the long-haul,
whether it‘s an online business, art, or selling cars, a good personal
brand is an invaluable investment.
People will follow your brand from project to project if they feel
connected to it. When launching new projects, your personal brand has
the potential to guarantee you never have to start from scratch again

TWEET THIS
We are hired for our principles, so stick to them. –
Jacob Cass via @jackiewolven

SET GOALS
Because your personal brand is built from the thoughts
and words and reactions of other people, it‘s shaped by
how you present yourself publicly.
Consider your goals for the brand

SET GOALS
EXERCISE
PART 1
List one statement to how would you like potential
customers/clients to think of you?

SET GOALS
EXERCISE
PART 2
Write how can you publicly ‗be‘ that brand?
What you‘re ‗about‘. Think about the key ideas you would want
people to associate with you.
Expertise. Every good brand involves the notion of expertise.
Your style. This is not so much what you communicate about
yourself, but rather, how you do it.

SET GOALS
EXERCISE
PART 3
What‘s important to you?
What‘s your background?
What does your brand do?
What are the values of your brand?
Who are you marketing to?

SET GOALS
EXERCISE
PART 4
Who are you competing with?
What makes you unique in the marketplace?
What‘s important to you and your brand outside of the
work that you do?
What causes do you believe in/what does your brand
support?
What impression do you want your branding to give?

USE YOUR BLOG TO
EXPAND/ENHANCE
YOUR BRAND
Your blog gives people a place to develop a stronger
connection with you.
Here are some content guidelines: Include a mini-bio at the
end of each post, put time and effort into your About page and
use it to paint a picture of your ideal personal brand. People
will only remember a few things about you, so focus on telling
the story that contributes most to your brand. Use your
personal story as the basis for your expertise.

TWEET THIS
―blog‖ means more than an online journal… a blog is a
conversation. People go to blogs to read AND write, not
just consume. Michael Arrington via @jackiewolven

KEEP IT FRESH
Add new elements and ideas –
continue to evolve and grow
as a person and a business

DON‘T JUST SHOW
THE SHINY
You are a real person – be relatable without being scary

YOU CAN‘T FAKE IT
―The bottom line is that blogging is like sex. You can‘t fake it.
You can‘t fake passion. You can‘t fake wanting to engage
with the public. If you do, it will ultimately be an unsatisfying
experience for both the blogger and their readers.‖ Kevin
Anderson via @jackiewolven

START CONNECTING
WITH AS YOUR BRAND
Get people talking.
Think about your personal brand each time you interact
with someone - or don‘t interact with someone.
What impression are you leaving them with?

GROWING YOUR
BRAND
A resource:
http://visual.ly/build-your-personal-brand-9-min-day

TWEET THIS
Don‘t focus on having a great blog. Focus on producing
a blog that‘s great for your readers. Brian Clark via
@jackiewolven

YOUR BRAND HAS A
VOICE – DEVELOP IT
Write the in the way that your readers respond

YOU SAY WHAT?
Understand why you are writing.

IT IS YOUR VOICE –
USE IT!
Make it yours! If you are all about the lingo, use it. If you
are technical, make that yours. If you drip Southern
charm, let it drip!

VISUAL ELEMENTS OF
YOUR BRAND
Your main logo
Your secondary logos
Your color palette
Color codes
Patterns
Illustrations Icons

FIRST STEPS TO
DESIGNING YOUR
VISUAL BRAND
• Pin all of the brands that you admire and
resonate with you on a Pinterest board
• Hire a designer – if you really aren‘t up to
speed with design/graphics – hire someone
• Two recommendations: The Belford Group
& MoxyOx

I HAVE A BLOG,
NOW WHAT?
How to develop content, promote, connect and build
real relationships on your blog

TYPES OF POSTS
What should I be posting?

DIY
How to posts
or before
after posts

LISTS
Top 10, 20, 30, 40…. Of anything relevant to
your expertise

TUTORIALS &
PROJECTS
People love step by step instructions on how
to do anything

SHARE INFORMATION
What you think is cool others will think is cool
too!
From discovering a new product to a link on
business help, the sharing of information is
valuable. Whenever you stumble across an
interesting article on running an independent
business, share it. - IndieMade

SHARE THE SPOTLIGHT
Share about others who are doing amazing
things in your field
Talk about favorite vendors/products

IT‘S JUST WRITING
And it occurred to me that there is no such thing as
blogging. There is no such thing as a blogger. Blogging
is just writing — writing using a particularly efficient type
of publishing technology. Simon Dumenco

REVIEWS
Books
Movies
Products
Restaurants
Anything you
love or don‘t love

AROUND HERE
Blog about what is happening in your world

WHAT WORKS IN
CRAFTING A BLOG POST
What should I care about?

HOW TO CRAFT A
BLOG POST
• This is all totally boosted from Problogger
who is the expert in all things blogging

CHOOSE A TOPIC
Take a little extra time defining your topic and
the post will flow better and you‘ll develop
something that matters to readers.

CRAFT YOUR
POST‘S TITLE
Perhaps the most crucial part of actually
getting readers to start reading your post
when they see it in an RSS reader or search
engine results page.

THE OPENING LINE
First impressions matter. Once you‘ve got
someone past your post‘s title your opening
line draws them deeper into your post. Your
‗point/s‘ (making your posts matter) - a post
needs to have a point. If it‘s just an intriguing
title and opening you‘ll get people to read –
but if the post doesn‘t ‗matter‘ to them it‘ll
never get traction.

CALL TO ACTION
Driving readers to do something cements a
post in their mind and helps them to apply it
and helps you to make a deeper connection
with them.

ADDING DEPTH
Before publishing your post – ask yourself
how you could add depth to it and make it
even more useful and memorable to readers?

QUALITY CONTROLAND
POLISHING OF POSTS
Small mistakes can be barriers to
engagement for some readers. Spending time
fixing errors and making a post ‗look‘ good
can take it to the next level.

TIMING OF
PUBLISHING
YOUR POST
Timing can be everything – strategic timing of
posts can ensure the right people see it at the
right time.

POST PROMOTION
Having hit publish – don‘t just leave it to
chance that your post will be read by people.
Giving it a few strategic ‗nudges‘ can increase
the exposure it gets exponentially.

CONVERSATION
Conversation – often the real action happens
once your post is published and being
interacted with by readers and other bloggers.
Taking time to dialogue can be very fruitful.

PROBLOGGER.NET
Rock star! Follow, read, learn!

A LITTLE
BLOGGING
EXERCISE
Craft a post either actually on your blog or on
paper. Now. Yes, I‘m serious.

HOW OFTEN?
How often should I be blogging?

WHAT THE EXPERTS
SAY
Three, yes 3, times a day.

WHAT JACKIE SAYS
At least 3 times a week.

WHAT NOT TO DO
Don‘t we all want to know that?

I DON‘T WANT TO
COMMUNICATE
People comment and you don‘t respond back
= bad blogging

WHINING THAT NO ONE
READS YOUR BLOG
Blogging and all social media is about forming
community around your people – if they aren‘t
coming to you go find them and start
connecting to them.

DEAR DIARY
Don‘t tell us what you had for dinner, unless
you are sharing the recipe
Don‘t complain about your neighbors unless it
is funny
Don‘t tell us all the errands you have to run,
who cares

ROOM FOR EVERYTHING
Blogs, social networks, newspapers, any other form of
publication – all have social aspects to them. It is a spectrum
really, with social networks at one extreme and a 19th
century novel at the other. But there‘s room for all types of
social publishing platforms. Richard MacManus

WHITE ON BLACK
Don‘t create a blog that is impossible to read

WANT TO PUBLISH?
DON‘T POST
Don‘t put your unfinished work online – that is
work that you want to actually have published
someday. People don‘t want to read a sucky
first draft.

DON‘T COMPLAIN
You can, but I won‘t read it.
The only time a rant is really acceptable is if
there is humor in it – so you better be funny.

WHERE‘D SHE GO?
If you aren‘t going to blog
regularly don‘t set up a blog. It is
a commitment and you need to
stick to it.

STEAL CONTENT
Give credit, ask, share with credit – but don‘t
steal. Please don‘t steal.
Problogger, again I am grateful for your
blogging tips and all you have done to
facilitate the work of bloggers everywhere.

FLAME, BABY, FLAME
Don‘t start flame wars between other
bloggers.
You know, like Lindsay Lohan. Seriously, she
should not be your role model.

EDITORIAL CALENDARS
Your blogging best friend

CATEGORIES
What are you
writing about?

CATEGORIES
EXERCISE 1
List 10 topics that you could write 5 blog posts about

CATEGORIES
EXERCISE 2
Write one blog post idea under each one –
bonus points if you get more than one right
now!

THE BEAUTY OF THE
BLANK CALENDAR
Write your upcoming posts on an actual
calendar
As you write them you can cross them off –
Bonus points for you!

CREATE
SERIES/THEMES
Having a calendar allows
you to start specific
themes & series

HOW TO BE FOUND
This gets kind of techy, but hang in there. It is about the
magic of SEO!

Robots work at Google
But people read your sites.
Make it work for them.

STRAIGHT
FROM GOOGLE
Search engine optimization is often about making small modifications
to parts of your website. When viewed individually, these changes
might seem like incremental improvements, but when combined with
other optimizations, they could have a noticeable impact on your site's
user experience and performance in organic search results.

Create Unique, Accurate Page Titles
• A title tag tells both users and search engines the topic of
each page
• The <title> tag should be placed within the <head> tag of
the HTML document
• Create a unique title for each page on your site
• TIP: You can add OTHER information relevant to your
page in the title
• Location of your business
• The main focus of your site
• Covered topics

Home Page Example

TWEET THIS
I‘m learning that using unique and descriptive titles will
make my site rise like a shining star! via
@JackieWolven

Use the ‖Description" Meta Tag
A pages description meta tag might be used by Google for
further search information
• They must match your content and can‘t be filled with random
keywords – don‘t try to outsmart Google!

Use Real
Words in Your
URL‘s
URL‘s should be simple
and understandable
Wordpress Directions

TWEET THIS
Real words written in real sentences = SEO. Via
@JackieWolven @wcfay

The Joy and Mystery of Keywords
• Write your own list of words
that relate to your site
• Write posts with keywords
NATURALLY in the text
• TIP: Use a keyword in your
blog page title & in the first
paragraph of your text
• Use the Google Keyword Tool
• https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordTool
(if you already have an adwords account set up)
• https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal (no
adwords account needed, public)

SEO Super Basics
• Write original content/words
• Make it easy to read
• Google LOVES Top 10 Lists
• Stay organized around
a topic
• Create content for readers
not robots
• Post frequently

About Links
• Don‘t use Click Here
• Make the link in the text relevant – it tells users what they
are clicking on and it helps Google understand it is
relevant
• Links can be internal – linking to pages within your own
site
• Links can be external – linking to pages that have relevant
content
• You also want links into your site
• PRO TIP: Don‘t leave this conference without securing at least 1
guest post on someone else‘s blog! Do that for EVERY blog
meetup you attend.

Images Matter Too
• Create actual ―alt text‖ for your photos
• Avoid using image.jpg

IMAGES? DID YOU SAY
IMAGES?
Does a picture really matter?

IMAGES MATTER
Every single post I write
has an image

WHERE CAN I GET
IMAGES?
Your camera
Your phone
BigStock.com
Dreamstime.com
StockFreeImages.com
Compfight.com

HOW CAN I EDIT
IMAGES?
Photoshop
PicMonkey.com
Pixlr.com

LET‘S BEGIN BLOGGING!
In truth, the real opportunities for building authority and
buzz through social media have only just begun. You
simply have to look and see where things are going
instead of where they‘ve been. Brian Clark

LET‘S BRAINSTORM
YOUR BLOG
Name your business/brand
What can you blog about
Who can you connect with

CREATING COMMUNITY
It‘s a big, wide world out there! Let‘s connect.

IT‘S ALLABOUT
RELATIONSHIPS
Connect online with:
Twitter
Facebook – Set up a Facebook page for your blog
Pinterest
LinkedIn

MEET OTHER
BLOGGERS
BlogHer
Arkansas Women Bloggers
Northwest Arkansas Bloggers

COFFEE?
It‘s time to go meet one one one with bloggers you
admire
Traveling? Suggest a meet up with another blogger.

TWEET THIS
Connect. It makes life better. Via @jackiewolven

JACQUELINEWOLVEN.COM
Twitter: @jackiewolven
Facebook: Jacqueline Wolven
Email: jacquelinewolven.com
Ask
Jacqueline!

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