These are my slides for an Aug. 18 webinar for the Online Media Campus. Will flip between slides and online examples of blogs. Information on the webinar here: http://bit.ly/ciI5Q6 Tips from bloggers here: http://bit.ly/13EVkG

1. The blogger’s voice Steve Buttry Online Media Campus Aug. 18, 2010

2. What’s your point? Finish in 6 words or less: “My blog is about …”

3. Some ways journalists use blogs Breaking news Briefs Reporter’s notebook Commentary Conversation Explanation Liveblogging Personal touch, insight

4. Provide meaningful content Insight Analysis Humor Liveblogging as event unfolds Reporting notebook, lab Story behind the story Context, depth that don’t fit in print Verification & accuracy essential

5. Writing your blog Think posts, not stories & columns. A sentence with a link or a question can be a post Links provide background, context Sometimes a process, not a finished product First person is often appropriate

6. Your blogging voice “Write like you’re talking to friends, not in the institutional voice of the newspaper.” John Robinson http://www.news-record.com/blog/jrblog “Blogging is not a graduation speech, it’s a conversation with someone at the grad party.” Roxanne Hack http://themomblog.ocregister.com/

7. Beyond writing Videos Photos Slides Graphics Audio Tweets Source documents Maps

8. Growing your community Link to related blogs Comment & link on related blogs SEO (full names in heads, keywords up high, links using keywords in anchor text, metadata) Promote in newspaper Mention in community Business cards Promote/link using social media

9. Social media & blogging Twitter, Facebook helpful for crowdsourcing Tweet links to new posts Embed content using social tools (YouTube, Flickr, SlideShare, Scribd, QuoteURL) Use like, tweet buttons for users to share Feed social media into blogroll Tumblr, Posterous can be blogging platforms

10. The blogging conversation Crowdsource (specific questions: “Do you know anyone who …?” “Did you see …?” “Has this ever happened to you?”) Stimulate/continue conversation in social media Engage with comments “Don’t allow trolls or mean people to spoil the conversation.” Howard Owens

11. Opinion Discuss with your editor the appropriate role of opinion for your blog Opinions based on fact carry more weight Do you want to be persuasive or argumentative? Invite debate Engage commenters (& respect, except for trolls)

12. Links provide: Attribution Context Authority Pingbacks (& reciprocal links & inbound traffic) SEO Consider whether context implies endorsement of linked views/content

13. Ethics Are your blogs edited? (If not, seek sounding board) Should you separate personal & professional? Is author(s) clearly identified? Should he/she/they be? Fairness may come in subsequent posts (link back & consider prominence) Accuracy essential; verify; say what you don’t know

14. How often should I blog? Frequent posts build habit & audience Weak posts diminish audience Advice from Jim Rome: “Have a take, don’t suck”

15. Bloggers v. journos It’s so 2005 …

16. TBD Community Network 146 blogs & sites (community, sports, dining, shopping, entertainment, transportation, etc.) We aggregate & link to their content Blogs provide lots of news, often with personal perspective Blogs break lots of news