2. Class 2: BLOGS

3. TODAY’S AGENDA
1) Lecture – Blog
2) Blog how-to’s
3) Going live

4. Old journalism vs New journalism

5. Blogging today has become one
of the dominant forms of
communication

6. Fact:
Internet users in the US spend
3x more time on blogs than
they do on email.
Source: newmediaandmarketing.com

7. Fact:
Within the next year, blogging is
expected to gain a 50%
increase in users.
Source: newmediaandmarketing.com

8. Fact:
By 2013, it is projected that 128
million people in the US will be
blog readers.
Source: newmediaandmarketing.com

9. So what is thing you call a “blog?”
A contraction of the term "web log.”
A blog is a type of website, usually maintained
by an individual with regular entries of
commentary, descriptions of events, or other
material such as graphics or video.

10. What’s the big deal?
1) Dynamic content that levels and widens
the playing field
2) Engagement with constituents
3) Expand reach at minimal cost
4) Create a distinctive voice
5) Grow awareness of you, a topic, a cause
or organization

11. And what’s in it for you?
Acquiring the tools and the
experience to participate in the
broader digital and social
conversation that is part of
journalism today.

12. Not being part of the digital
conversation means not
communicating effectively.

13. The 90-9-1 Principal

14. CONTENT IS KING:
Create valuable content and
good writing, and the readers
will come

15. The Other Things That Matter, But Not
as Much as Content
1. Social media
2. Design
3. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

16. So what makes good
content?

17. PICK A USEFUL TOPIC
• Write about something that you think your
readers will want to know
• Is there a question you can answer for them? A
question they’ve always had but never dared to
ask?
• Is there something that is unique, that your
readers don’t know?
• Do you have breaking news or exclusive
information?
USEFUL + UNIQUE

18. The Theory of Twos
• The first TWO words must engage
• The first TWO lines must be compelling
• The first TWO paragraphs must captivate

19. KISS
• KISS: Keep It Short and Simple
• get to the point quickly
• readers are curious…and busy
• too much info and too little time
• one idea per paragraph
• straightforward language

20. Online vs. Offline Reading
• Offline: read every word
• Online: scan
• Offline: long paragraphs OK
• Online: short paragraphs
• Offline: linear (beginning/middle/end)
• Online: non-linear

21. Omit the Noise, Keep the Signal
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) SNR is a term
borrowed from electrical engineering,
used to describe the amount of real
information in a post compared to
irrelevant or useless information.
Readers come for the signal, but they
leave if the noise level is too high.

22. MAKE THE POST SCANNABLE
Your reader should be able to quickly glance
through the post and pick up the main points
without necessarily reading too deeply
• Headlines
• Subheds
• Block quotes
• Images and graphics
• Use bold or italics

23. WRITE GREAT HEADLINES
• If the headline is catchy, they’ll read more. If
not, you’ve just lost a reader.
• Start with the headline so you know where
you’re going.
• Go back and make the headline better
afterwards.

24. Style
• Write in clear language
• Simple ≠ style-less
• The tone should be conversational (does it
sound like you talking?)
• Write your post then go back and:
– edit out sentences and words that are
unnecessary
– revise sentences that aren’t clear

25. LINKS, LINKS AND MORE LINKS
• Links add:
– depth
– information
– credibility
• The best way to grow traffic to your site is
getting people to link to your site
• How do you get people to link to your site? By
linking to their theirs

26. Multimedia
A blog without multimedia is like a cupcake
without icing: functional but lacking.
Credit: Zachary Sniderman,
Mashable.

27. MULTIMEDIA
• Integrating visual and interactive elements
to your blog post is essential to engaging
visitors
• Find free-of-use images online (do not
cheat, credit images)
• infographics, still photos, YouTube videos,
your own video/audio, podcasts

28. Resources for images
• Picasa
• Flickr (but check for any use restrictions)
• Bigfoto.com
• Fotogenika.net
• Slide.com
And there are many others, just search.

29. Resources for video
Three popular video sites:
• YouTube
• Vimeo
• Blip.tv
They all come with a simple « embed » button
promunently displayed by the video.

30. Social Media
• After you create good content, make sure
it’s easy for readers to share it through
their social networks
• Make sure your social sharing tools are
prominently displayed on each post

31. Social Media 2
• Share it yourself: Tweet your post, link it to
Facebook, post it to Pinterest, etc
• Link your social networks together so that you
post everywhere with one click
• Email: put the link to your latest blog post in
your email signature

32. Building a Blog: The Basics
1. Pick a useful topic
2. Do good reporting
3. Write a great headline
4. KISS: Keep It Short and Simple
5. Omit the Noise, Keep the Signal
6. Make the post scannable
7. Links, links, links and more links
8. Multimedia
9. Social Media

33. Take the time to:
• Experiment
• Trial and error
• Explore the web for tips and tools: there is a
TON of info out there
• Free training (ie Weebly webinars on basic
design)
• Read (or bookmark and scan!) lots of news
blogs!

34. Some great news blogs
• The Daily Beast blogs
• Slate blogs
• The New York Times blogs

35. Take-aways
1. Be yourself.
2. Blog often.
3. Be varied.
4. Allow your boundaries to set themselves naturally.
Feel free to push them.
5. Spell words correctly and use proper grammar.
6. If you have writer’s block, push through and blog
anyway. But don’t publish it right away!

36. What if you’re running low?
• Check out what’s trending on Twitter, Google
trends, Digg, Reddit, your RSS page, or other
social media
• Plan ahead if it’s relevant: keep an « editorial
calendar » of topics you want to cover in the
next 12 weeks and a news hook might come
up
• Write about something that matters to you: if
you care it will show

37. What is Meta Data?
Information about content
that enables it to be stored
in and retrieved from a
database.

38. Meta Data examples
• Your name
• Tags
• Keywords
• Date
• Transcript of interviews
• Image information: date created/camera/etc…

39. Meta Data examples
• Your name
• Tags
• Keywords
• Date
• Transcript of interviews
• Image information: date created/camera/etc…

40. What is SEO?
http://searchengineland.com/g
uide/what-is-seo

41. Be consistent:
Consistently blogging good
content can mark you as an
expert in your field. People are
always looking for expert
advice.
In anything.