JCI blogger Lisa Battles shares her tips for starting and maintaining a successful blog.

1. BLOGGING
BASICS

2. blog noun ˈblȯg, ˈbläg
a website that contains an online
personal journal with reflections,
comments, and often hyperlinks
provided by the writer; also: the
contents of such a site; short for
Weblog; First Known Use: 1999
- Merriam Webster

3. why adv ˈhwī, ˈwī
for what cause, reason or purpose
<why did you do it?>
- Merriam Webster

4. w eblog to:
e share knowledge and insights
show passion for what we produce
b connect with like-minded people
create our personal brands
l allow others get to know us better
o OKAY, but
...
g

5. why adv ˈhwī, ˈwī
for what cause, reason or purpose
<why did you do it?>
- Merriam Webster
?

6. w e (al$o) blog to:
e drive traffic to our primary websites
control and elevate our brands
b generateourselves as experts
position
sales leads
l potentially sell advertising on the blog
o
g
The key? If we get the first set of reasons right, we don't
have to try too hard at these last five. They just happen.

7. 80%
of social media users said they
read blogs once or more daily
71%
said
blogs affect their purchasing decisions
- Survey information collected from 1,400 respondents and presented in
"The Science of Blogging" webinar by HubSpot's Dan Zarrella, social
media scientist and author.

8. start verb ˈstärt
a: to cause to move, act, or operate
<start the motor>
b: to cause to enter a game or contest;
especially : to put in the starting lineup
c: to care for or train during the early
stages of growth and development
<started plants>
- Merriam Webster

9. Step #1: CHOOSE A TOPIC YOU LOVE
Not an expert? You don't
have to be.
You just need to love
your topic. Or at least
like it ... a lot.
Examples:
Learning how to cook
Being a tech newbie
Discovering music
The topic can be as general or specific as you want
(or as your depth of love allows).

10. So, what's love
got to do with it?
It helps prevent boredom.
If you get bored with your topic:
Your readers may not come back.
Bored writer = boring writing
YOU may not come back.
Boredom kills momentum.
Ask yourself: Could I write at least 52 different things
about this topic?

11. Step #2: TARGET YOUR AUDIENCE
audience noun ˈȯ-dē-ən(t)s, ˈä-
a : a group of listeners or spectators
b : a reading, viewing, or listening public
c : a group of ardent admirers or
devotees; following (More on THIS later!)
- Merriam Webster

12. Step #3: PICK YOUR PLATFORM
There are several blogging
platforms out there. For
beginners, FREE and WEB-
BASED are great to get your
feet wet. Currently, the most
popular are:
WordPress.com
Blogger.com
Tumblr.com
Posterous.com

13. Step #4: DIVE IN
When all else fails ...
read the instructions!
Each of the platforms is different, from the design
options available to the process for entering posts.
The best way to learn about the capabilities of your
platform is simply to thoroughly explore the help
section.

14. The Good News?
It's still comparing apples to apples when it comes to:
Themes: All platforms offer several choices among free,
pre-designed themes to create the look of your blog.
Subscription options: You can - and should - offer RSS
and e-mail subscriptions for your readers on all platforms.
Share tools: All platforms have a way for you to include
social media sharing tools for at least Facebook and
Twitter.

15. Step #5: BUDGET YOUR TIME
Decide how much time you want to devote to the blog,
short term and long term.
Set your initial goals conservatively. Try one or two
posts per week, and plan to do that for six months.
That's about 50 posts, maximum.
TIMING TIP: Most people read blogs in the morning, so posting by
10 a.m. is recommended.

16. Step #6: HOARD IDEAS ONLINE
Hoarding is okay when it comes to blog ideas. Go ahead,
stockpile them. It's much better than, say, cats. Just be
prepared to let them loose. Some tips:
Read other blogs, relevant to your topic and otherwise
Use Twitter. Use Twitter Lists.
Check out Listorious. You don't even have to have a
Twitter account to peep in on lists they've already
created.

17. Step #7: KEEP A NOTEBOOK
Not "plugged in" at all times? AWESOME
IDEAS
That's okay: Despite popular belief,
not all ideas will come to you online.
Go low-tech and keep a
small notebook and pen
handy. Jot down your ideas
when they come to you.
In the interest of promoting technology, consider that
most smart phones have "notes" apps. Those work, too!

18. Step #8: CREATE A POST CALENDAR
Paper calendars are fine, but Google Calendar works
great, too. You can create a calendar just for your blog.
Devote a block of time for each post - an hour or so.
Create the event and use the description field to record
any notes about the post idea.
Keep holidays and seasonal themes in mind when plotting
posts on your calendar. Not only will a calendar remind
you about ideas later, but thinking seasonally can help
you with ideas - and search rankings.

19. Step #9: CREATE GOOD CONTENT
KISS: Keep It Short and
Simple
Use spell-check.
Proofread for grammar.
Embed hyperlinks.
Use videos and images.
Use bold text and
subheads in copy.
And just as important ...
- Albert Einstein

20. When you blog,
YOU ARE THE
STAR
...well, your voice is.
A major difference
between blog content
and content
on traditional websites
is the style of writing.
Readers expect:
Casual tone
Your personality

21. So, you are the star, BUT if you want others to
share your message, try not to be a
DIVA ...
Notice the big "I" there?
Tweets that have self-references are shared less.
People who do that often have fewer followers.
- Study by social media scientist and author Dan Zarrella
You're Not Ralphie.
Go ahead and shoot your "I"s out!
Think of your posts as thesis statements.
Simply assert your arguments. People DO
want to hear opinions FROM you, if they care
about your topic in the first place.

22. Step #10: OPTIMIZE YOUR CONTENT
SEO, in a nutshell:
Considering how search engines (Google,
Bing) work, and doing things to your site
structure and content to push your content
up the list of organic search results.
Google uses approximately 200 factors to determine
search ranking. Two of the most important are:
Effective identification and use of keywords in your
copy. Here's a great article for doing just that.
Quality links to your site (PageRank). Go after links
from sites relevant to your content, especially ones
recognized as "authorities."

23. REMEMBER THIS? LET'S LOOK AT DEFINITION "C"
audience noun ˈȯ-dē-ən(t)s, ˈä-
a : a group of listeners or spectators
b : a reading, viewing, or listening public
c : a group of ardent admirers or
devotees; following
- Merriam Webster

24. Step #11: RUN AND TELL IT
Share it on Facebook
List the url in your Info
Share links to your posts
Share it on Foursquare
Share it on Twitter Share your post in a
List the url in your profile "tip" about a place, if you've
Tweet links to your post actually shared tips about
the place in your post.
Share it on LinkedIn
Share your post in an
update
Add the BlogLink
application
Hmm ... That's a whole lotta
sharin' going on ...

25. Helpful resources to streamline your promotion:
hootsuite.com
www.tweetdeck.com
www.socialoomph.com

26. Step #12: TRACK YOUR TRAFFIC
Some of the blogging platforms, url shorteners and
Hootsuite have built-in tracking mechanisms, but the
simplest way to get a clear picture of your blog's
popularity is:
MAKE FRIENDS WITH
Link to: Google Analytics

27. JCI's BLOGS
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