Family business stuff has popped up and taken me away from blogging for a little bit. But I’ll be back as soon as I can to help you create a successful blog!
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Neil Pasricha is the author of the 1000 Awesome Things blog (hosted by WordPress.com, by the way). In this TEDx Talk, he shares why he started his blog and the unexpected results. You will laugh, you will get choked up, and, hopefully, you will find inspiration for your own blogging endeavors. What to you get when you mix Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and WordPress together? You get Tumblr! Tumblr is a bite-size blog (technical term is “micro-blog”) geared for people who want to share mixed media such as photos, videos, music, etc. instead of text-based blog postings. Here is a 1-minute video explaining Tumblr: Similar to the recent phenomenon Pinterest (here are my Pinerest boards, in case you wondered), Tumblr allows users to share multimedia or text postings and then other users can easily “Reblog” the post. In fact, Tumbr has a bookmarklet that can be installed on your browser’s toolbar so that you can quickly share something that you like while surfing the Internet via your Tumblr account. But people don’t just pull stuff from the web to post on Tumblr. You can post your original content, too. For example, MyVintageVogue, featuring vintage fashion advertising images that have been restored, is a perfect example of a blog that is ideally suited for the Tumblr platform. Jessica, the author, has over 15,000 followers and all of her posts generate tons of “likes” and “reblogs.”  List of "Likes" and "Reblogs" from a newly published MyVintageVogue Tumblr Post People seem to like Tumblr for micro-blogging because it is more powerful than Twitter for sharing things–you actually get to see the image instead of just a link–and they are not limited to 140 characters. It is also more flexible than Pinterest which is primarily geared for visual images and not multimedia. Like Twitter and Facebook, you can quickly build a community of followers. In fact, many bloggers use Tumblr as a way to advertise their full-fledged blogs (we’ll get into that later). But there are some downsides, too. Currently, the main demographic for Tumblr is the 18-25 age group. But I imagine that will change as us “old-fogeys” start discovering the benefits of Tumblr, too. Like we did with Facebook. And Twitter. But for me, Tumblr’s greatest disadvantage for bloggers is the fact that followers can’t leave comments. My 20-year-old nephew started out using Tumblr for his personal blog where he shares his thoughts on his faith, being a college student, and how the Angels are doing. But he got annoyed with Tumblr’s focus on micro-blogging and the fact that he couldn’t carry on a conversation with his readers. He switched to Blogger and says he likes it a lot better. He still has his Tumblr account but he only uses it occasionally to share videos and images. If the primary purpose of your blog is to share images, quotes, videos, music, etc., and you’re not interested in comments, then Tumblr may be the best platform for you to use. Let’s start blogging!  Dr. Julie-Ann's WordPress Test Blog Created April 3, 2012 Okay, I’m going to admit it right up front. I have been a fan of the WordPress platform for many years so my bias in favor of it may show through. But Let’s Start Blogging isn’t a blog about me. It is a blog for you. So let’s take a look to see if the free WordPress version is right for you. As I’ve mentioned before, people often get confused regarding WordPress.com and WordPress.org. In a nutshell, the basic functions and the interface are the same between the free version and the self-hosted version. The primary differences are that WordPress.com is hosted by Automattic for their own benefit and the self-hosted version is for your own benefit (remember when I talked about platforms being similar to governments?). Now, Automattic is generally a benevolent dictator letting you blog for free but there are some things you should keep in mind before deciding to join the millions of blogs on WordPress.com. Benefits of WordPress.com
Concerns about using WordPress.com
How To Set Up a WordPress.com Blog Creating a WordPress.com blog is extremely easy. 1. Go to WordPress.com and then click on the “Get Started Here” link. You will be creating an account at the same time.
2. Type a web address into the box.
4. Decide on a user name and password. 5. Indicate your language preference (Pirate isn’t one of them, alas) 6. Decide if you want the free version or if you want to upgrade.
8. When you go to your dashboard for the first time, you will see a short video that shows you how to use the various navigation buttons, how to write and publish a blog posting, and how to choose a theme for your blog. By the way, you change the name of your blog under the “Settings–General” tab on the left so that it doesn’t look all scrunched together like your web address.
Final Thoughts As I said at the beginning of this post, I am a WordPress fan. But the cons of using WordPress.com really concern me–especially the fact that they can take down your blog at any time. That said, I think that WordPress.com is a great beginner’s blog and it will be easy to transfer to the more sophisticated self-hosted version when you are ready. Next time, we will examine the pros and cons of Tumbler.
 Screen Shot of Dr. Julie-Ann's Test Blog on Blogger Created on March 29, 2012 When I first started blogging, I turned to Google’s Blogger–also known as Blogspot–as my blogging platform. The options at that time were somewhat limited for those that weren’t immersed in blogging technology. Since then, the blogging options have exploded and there is a veritable blogging buffet available for those just starting out and learning their way around blogging technology. Today’s post is the first in a series helping you decide which blogging platform you want to use. New Term: Hosting A term you will need to know for this series is hosting. A hosted blog means that your blog resides with a free service such as Blogger, WordPress.com, or Tumblr. The web address will usually have the service’s name in it along with your blog’s name. A self-hosted blog means that your blog resides with a paid web hosting service and has its own website address. Almost all regular websites and WordPress.org powered blogs are self hosted. (I’ll get into it in another post, but a lot of people get tripped up with WordPress.com and WordPress.org. Those three letters matter! As a frame of reference, Let’s Start Blogging! is a self-hosted blog running on the WordPress.org platform.) Why You Might Choose Blogger (Pros) Blogger isn’t the largest blogging platform but it is often the first choice amongst beginning bloggers. And it’s easy to see why. Here are some reasons you might choose Blogger:
Why You Don’t Want to Choose Blogger (Cons)
Setting Up Blogger To It’s Basic Level Is Very Easy To create a blog using the Blogger platform you simply… Step 1: Sign into your Google Account or create one Step 2: Give your blog a name (This can be changed later), create a URL/web address, and check for availability. Then prove you’re not a robot before clicking on the Continue arrow.  Screen shot of Step 2 of the Blogger set up process Step 3: Choose a template and you’re done! You can start writing your blog posts in the editing box.  Blogger's post writing/editing box
Of Course, Everything Will Change in April… According to the Blogger website, they are introducing a new interface in April. When that happens, Steps 2 and 3 will be on the same page.  New Blogger signup form I believe that Blogger is so popular with new bloggers because you can get up and running with just a few clicks. It is great when you are just starting and don’t want to spend a lot of time figuring things out. However, if you want a more professional look, then Blogger may not be the best choice for you. Many do what I did and start with Blogger and then move on to more sophisticated blogging options down the line. That said, there are many very famous bloggers who started with Blogger and never left. Having “blogspot” in their web address hasn’t impacted their bottom line. To help you decide, go to the Blogger website and create a test blog that you can delete later. Play around with it, click on the try new interface link, and see if you’re comfortable with it. But don’t create your actual blog until we’ve explored your other options. You don’t want buyer’s remorse! Next time, we’ll look at WordPress.com–the largest blogging hosting service. Let’s Start Blogging!
 United Nations Headquarters Flags of member nations flying at United Nations Headquarters. 30/Dec/2005. UN Photo/Joao Araujo Pinto. www.unmultimedia.org/photo; Image courtesy of United Nations Photo on Flickr.com For the next few days, we are going to discuss various blogging platforms to help you decide which one is the best fit to help you achieve your blogging goals. But…What exactly IS a Platform? I Thought Platforms Were Shoes! According to Webopedia.com, a platform is The underlying hardware or software for a system. For example, the platform might be an Intel 80486 processor runningDOS Version 6.0. The platform could also be UNIX machines on an Ethernetnetwork. The platform defines a standard around which a system can be developed. Once the platform has been defined, software developers can produce appropriate software and managers can purchase appropriate hardware and applications. The term is often used as a synonym of operating system. Techterms.com tells us In the computer world, a “platform” typically refers to a computer’s operating system. For example, a Dell computer running Windows XP would be considered to be running on a Windows platform. An iMac, on the other hand, runs on the Macintosh platform. It is a more generic way of referring to a computer’s operating system than having to specify, for example, Windows XP Professional SP 2, or Mac OS X 10.3.5. The term platform is often used when referring to what kind of computer systems a certain software program will run on. Did you get that? Explain That In English, Please! In simplistic terms, although many of us think of shoes when we hear the word “platform,” when it comes to blogging technology, we can think of a platform as being similar to a government of a country. The government determines the rules that its citizens will follow. Some governments are open and, in theory, everyone contributes to the running of it. Other governments are run by a few chosen people for the benefit of its leader. But a country is more than its government alone. You can have two countries with similar governments yet the cultures will be very different. If you were moving to a new country, both the government and the culture are important in determining whether you will be comfortable there or not. Like the United Nations, the blogging world offers a wide variety of platforms and cultures from which to choose. You may already be familiar with the big-name platforms, but we will look at some of the smaller ones, too. We will also examine the pros and cons of each platform so that you can decide where you should set down your blogging roots. Let’s start blogging!
 Pan Am (ABC) Advertisement In my last post, I talked about how blog block was a primary factor in blog fade. Another key factor is lack of time. Today I want you to think about what you are willing to give up in order to be a successful blogger. The Pan Am Effect In order to develop a faithful readership, you need to publish blog posts on a consistent and reliable basis. If you don’t, your readers will start assuming that you’ve stopped blogging and will stop checking your blog for updates. Let’s call this the “Pan Am Effect.” Pan Am was a highly publicized television show that aired on ABC. But it kept being preempted for several weeks at a time. Then ABC would air one episode of the show before preempting again for several more weeks. Whenever I mentioned the show on Facebook, the usual reaction was that people thought it had been cancelled so they stopped looking for it. Not surprisingly, the viewership kept getting smaller and smaller with each episode. As of the writing of this blog post, ABC is still deciding the fate of the show. I will find out in May if it has been renewed or cancelled. Depending upon why you are blogging, you may end up publishing several posts each day, once a day, several times a week, only on weekdays, or only once per week. Whatever frequency you decide upon, though, you need to be reliable and consistent in your publishing schedule. Otherwise you will have to work harder to build and maintain your faithful readership. Trust me on this. I had to learn this the hard way. Learn from my mistakes. How Much Time Do You Have? The fact of the matter is that if you don’t plan your blogging hours into your schedule, time for blogging will slip away. So, how much time should you build in? “It depends” is the best answer I can give to you. Jonathan Morrow from Copyblogger tells us in his post 20 Warning Signs That Your Content Sucks that we should plan on spending an average of 2 hours minimum per blog post. The more in depth the post is, the longer it will take to write it (and that includes research, brainstorming, writing, finding/creating images, etc.). Some people publish several short posts throughout the day so their posts will be shorter and take less time to write. On the other hand, it is not unheard of for a tutorial to take 10 hours or more to write. Build Blogging Time Into Your Schedule Contrary to popular multitasking lore, you really can’t squeeze more and more into your day. I think parents are more susceptible to this myth because they’re used to having to do 15 million things at once. But research tells us that multitasking actually slows us down and we’re more prone to error because our brains are trying to switch from one gear to the next. Thinking that you’ll be able to write a quality blog post during the commercials of your favorite television show is probably not going to get you your desired results. Just like you would with any part or full time job, block out the desired number of hours each week that you will dedicate to your blog. You may find that you will need to give up one or two things in order to make time. On the other hand, you may find pockets of time that you can use to your advantage. For example, when I was still a full-time university administrator, I would use the morning one-hour train ride to work to block out rough drafts of blog posts and to brainstorm. Blogging is highly rewarding. But it is also very time consuming if you want to be successful at it. Plan it into your schedule. You’ll be glad you did. Let’s start blogging!  Let's Start Blogging Topic Brainstorming “Blog block” is a huge problem for new and veteran bloggers. Blog block is the blogging world’s equivalent of “writer’s block.” I would wager that it is one of the primary reasons for “blog fade.” Blog fade is when new posts are further and further apart until finally the blog is abandoned. For new bloggers, blog block usually comes after a couple of weeks of blogging. I don’t want this to happen to you which is why we’ve been doing all of this blog planning before you even start delving into the blogging technology. I Used To Call Them “Story Monsters” But Grownups Call Them Mind Maps When I was a special education teacher a long time ago, I would help my students develop their stories using a “story monster.” I gave them a ditto (so that tells you how long ago it was) that contained a “monster” with a big round body and lots of legs with circles at the end with even more legs and circles. They wrote their topic idea in the body of the monster and then filled in the circles attached to the body with ideas of what they wanted to say about the main idea. Details were added to the circles attached to the circles that were attached to the main idea. By using this technique, my students were able to write some fairly complex stories and essays. Believe it or not, I used this same technique when I wrote my dissertation on what type of student was embracing internet technology (risk-takers scored highest). Only I didn’t call it a “story monster” then. I called it a mind map. But no matter what you call it, the process is the same and your mind loves making these kinds of connections. Using Mind Maps to Overcome Blog Block Your mind loves to brainstorm ideas. It starts lighting up and gets all happy and ideas just start flowing one after another. Take advantage of it and create a month’s worth of blog post ideas. Once you get started, you will probably be able to create your mind map in just a few minutes. I created the Let’s Start Blogging! mind map, above, in less than five minutes. And, a major advantage of using a mind map is that you know the blog postings will be related to the primary focus of your blog. Where to Find Ideas For Your Mind Map Since you are brand new to blogging, you probably already have some ideas about post topics. Use those ideas as your starting point for your mind map. But, as you become a veteran blogger, you may need a jump start to get your brainstorming going. Here are some places you can look to get your brainstorming juices flowing:
You may have noticed that I created my mind map on just a regular old legal pad. That is because I usually get some of my best ideas when I’m doing something mundane like fixing dinner or doing the dishes. I found that I would become sidetracked if I had to go to my computer, start clicking buttons and so forth (the urge to “just check” my email, Facebook, etc. is just a bit too strong for me). Going old-school and using good old paper and pen is most effective for me. I have a dear friend who made the switch to mind mapping software and swears she will never go back to paper and pen again. Basically, you have to find what will work best for you. Repeat the mind mapping process every week or so and you’ll always have something to write about. Not everything you jot down during your brainstorming mind mapping will (nor should) be turned into a blog post. However, knowing that you have topic ideas always on hand will bring you tremendous peace of mind and you won’t suffer from blog block. Let’s Start Blogging!
 Shaharah bridge - Yemen; Image courtesy of Eric Lafforgue on Flickr.com Some very famous blogging experts tell you to start your blogging endeavor by determining your “niche topic.” A niche blog is one with a very narrow focus (for example, blogging for beginners). They have you explore other blogs on broad topics similar to yours to help you discover the specific focus of your blog. They tell you to use Google’s Adwords keyword function to determine if your niche topic can be monetized and blah, blah, blah. I think they’ve got it all wrong. As a result, people choose their blog’s topic and then run out of things to say. Yesterday, I had you describe your target audience and ideal readers. Today, I want you to determine what problems your target audience faces and how your blog can “bridge the gap” by helping solve those problems. Brainstorming questions:
You may be saying that you can skip this step because you are writing a journal-type or a hobby-type blog. Guess what. You’re readers are still showing up at your blog to get a need met–even if it is so that they can feel connected to you. Here are two examples of blogs that are meeting the not-so-obvious needs of their readers: Diary of a Sewing Fanatic: This blog has been around since the early days of blogging and has a huge following. In fact, Carolyn was part of the inspiration of me starting my own sewing blog! When I attend sewing events, this blog will inevitably be mentioned by someone. I’ve been asked more than once if I’ve ever heard of her. Much to my delight, I can respond by saying that not only have I heard of her but that she was one of my friends who would drag me away from my books when I was in graduate school to go “fondle fabric” (code for shopping for fabric) in the fabric districts of New York City and Philadelphia. At first glance, this is simply about Carolyn’s adventures in sewing. She talks about fabric, patterns, and garments. But, if you look carefully at the topics and the comments, you will see that in the process of describing her adventures, she inspires her readers–many of them new or returning to sewing after a long absence–to try new-to-them sewing techniques so that their own garments will have a more polished look to them. Questions that readers ask in the comments often become topics for blog posts in and of themselves. Sewists are devoted to Carolyn’s blog because she helps them bridge the gap between their current skill level and the skill level they hope to acquire. Homestead Happenings: This blog is geared toward a small audience of family and friends (and a few of us interlopers–I started following it after Kathy, the author, became a faithful commenter on my sewing blog). Kathy writes about family history, projects she or her husband, Mike, are working on, visits from their grown children and grandchildren, and other goings on in her small town and on the family homestead. She writes,
Even though I don’t know the area or who half of the people she mentions in the blog are, reading Kathy’s blog is like visiting with a favorite friend. Kathy’s blog bridges the gap created by family and friends moving away from the area and not being able to visit with her in person very often. They are able to stay connected to her and their hometown/family homestead. When you figure out what problems your target audience faces and how your blog can “bridge the gap,” you will be able to determine your blog’s niche topic and it will reduce the likelihood that you will run out of things to say. Let’s start blogging!
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