blogcraft - tips, tricks and advice for bloggers
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Tips, tricks and advice for bloggersTRANSCRIPT
Blogcraftor tips and tricks for bloggers
Andy Priestner, Cambridge Judge Business School
A unique life form Blogging is a unique literary form with its own rules and techniques
Latitude for different writing styles, but generally more informal and personal
Immediate global publishing, no barriers to entry
Commentary from, and interaction with, readers is key
Find your voice Imbue your posts with personality and character
Don’t be tempted to be formal and dry (it can still be professional)
Think conversation rather than broadcast
Consider your audience at all times
Short or long? Most say aim for concise and scannable
But, sometimes it’s good (and right) to explore in more depth
Use subheadings to structure longer posts
As long as its interesting, post length is irrelevant
Entertain your audience Incorporate humour, everyone wants to be entertained
Will help to show your personality and build audience
Makes your posts memorable
Converse Ask questions
Employ ‘calls to action’
Allow and respond to comments
It’s not just about you, make it a conversation if you can
frequencyTime and frequency Once you have an audience, seek to retain them
You can blog too much: “Hasn’t he/she got anything better to do?”
At least once a month, but ideally more frequently
Hit the zeitgeist!
Use hooks Craft a blogpost title that will make people want to read it (it’s often the only thing that will make people click through)
The title should also convey the benefits of reading the post and/or be the post in a nutshell’
Provoke controversy or debate
Try a clever or compelling opening – a quote, an anecdote, a statistic, a question (think start of a great talk)
Make it beautiful A picture paints a thousand words
They forge emotional connections
They grab attention
Charts and diagrams add depth
Promote your posts Allow readers to follow your blog
Tweet your post
Comment on other blogs
Use internal links
Write a follow-up post
Communicate your passion ...for the subject matter
Explain your point of view
Care and others will care too
Make your postsfindable Categorise your posts
Use tags
Think about the keywords you use
So what? Readers should not be able to say ‘so what?’ in response to your posts
Consider your point carefully. Do you have a goal for your post?
How does the post benefit your readers?
What impact does the post make?
What ambitions do you have for your blog?
The more you blog the better you will blog (fact)
All images sourced from Flickr Creative Commons
Credits:http://www.flickr.com/photos/jakebryanthttp://www.flickr.com/photos/azrasta/http://www.flickr.com/photos/danialvarezfotos/http://www.flickr.com/photos/drakegoodman http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_lightwavehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/darwinbell http://www.flickr.com/photos/mutantmandiashttp://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms http://www.flickr.com/photos/dexxushttp://www.flickr.com/photos/nalbertini http://www.flickr.com/photos/practicalowlhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/minow http://www.flickr.com/photos/waltstoneburner http://www.flickr.com/photos/antoniochahttp://www.flickr.com/photos/ilouque
Happy blogpost crafting! Blog: libreaction.wordpress.comTwitter: @PriestLibEmail: [email protected]: uk.linkedin.com/in/andypriestner/