after the idea
DESCRIPTION
Presentation by Bradley Robb at WordCamp RVA 2009TRANSCRIPT
After the IdeaHow to consistently come up
with quality blog content
P. Bradley Robb / @knownhuman
Blogging since April 2004Wordpress since Oct 2005
Writing Credits
Journalist – Print and ElectronicCopywriter ScreenwriterNovelist and Shortstory WriterBlogger – Personal and Professional
The Aha Moment
Hey! I've got a great idea!
For a blog!
The “oh crap” moment
The key to being a successful blogger is a combination of knowledge and organization that results in genuine understanding
Knowledge – rudimentary parts
Organization – discovering the way those parts interact
Understanding – the logic behind the way those pieces do actually interact
Know where your blog fits
Personal
Lifestyle
Company
Industry
Niche / Genre
News / Current Events
Types of blog posts
Case Study
C&C
Debate
Instructional
Link Post
News
Problem/Question
Research/Statistical
Satirical
Collation
Critique
Emotional Argument
Interview
List
Prediction
Profile
Review
Status/Update
The Timeliness Factor
Evergreen – a post which is not time sensitive These posts read as well the day they are published as they do a decade later.
Breaking – a news post. These are time sensitive, and the first to publish breaks the story, everyone else just reacts.
Long Lead vs Short Lead
Lead – the amount of time available between when a story is received, and when it goes to print.
Lead times can range from a few minutes to years.
Organize For Time
How frequently do you plan to post?
What time of day are you going to post?
Organize for Content
What is your post type pecking order?
What do you need to research?
Develop A Master List
The Master List – list of article ideas, which can be as simple as a single word, or as detailed as a headline and lede sentence.
Identify Your Sources
RSS Feeds
Social News Sites (Digg, Mixx, etc)
Google Alerts
Develop Your Sources
Find major players and get contact information
Get onto press mailing lists
Trust goes both ways, and comes faster to professionals
Understanding
Blogging is a lot of basic principles, applied over and over again.
Knowing what you want to blog about, and how you want to get there, keeps you from having those “oh crap” moments.
Questions?