I recently went to a workshop called “How to Build a Bodacious Blog” with Laura Benjamin as our “Social Media Coach”. I highly recommend you check her out at www.LauraBenjamin.com. Laura takes social media and makes it user friendly, fun and effective!
I have had this blog since 2008, and each year I have set a goal to write once a month…I have not yet made that goal, although this year is looking really good! One of my challenges is that this thing called blogging has been a bit intimidating to me. I can write, I love to write, I also enjoy what I write….so what is the challenge? Well, for me, it is simply signing onto the “Dashboard” of my blog and as Nike would say “DO IT!”
Here are 10 tips I learned at this workshop:
- Know who your market is (who will read your blog)
- “Prime Real Estate” is located at the top of your blog (they call it “above the fold”, which means the fold is the bottom of the computer screen)
- Benefits of a blog:
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Promotion
- Interviews from Media/Press
- Attract Speaking Engagements
- Sell Products (EBook)
- Train people to look at your blog for featured products
- Position yourself as an expert
4. How to start a blog:
- www.wordpress.com (free)
- www.typepad.com (for a fee)
- www.blogger.com (free)
5. Keep a copy of the blogs you write on your computer
6. The difference between Tags and Categories
- Tags: Tips on, How to, Skills for, etc.
- Categories: Leadership, Coaching, Productivity, Professional Speaking, Training
7. Types of Blog Posts
- List style (10 steps to, 6 Skills for)
- Series Style (Part 1, 2, 3, all separate blogs)
- Video Links (You Tube)
- Pictures (use a picture for a theme)
- Favorite Movies, Books, Articles (write about your favorite)
- Analogies
- Interviews
- Joke, Poem (comment on the joke or poem)
- Current Events (write your view)
- Recipes
8. Develop a list of 100 titles for Blogs
- create 20 topics
- categorize them
9. Keep your blogs to approximately 250 words, uh oh this one is already over 300!
10. Analogy to understand terms
- Hosting: is “the land“, (www.GoDaddy.com)
- Application: Provides the structure for your blog (www.wordpress.com)
- Domain: Physical address for your blog ((www.GoDaddy.com)
After this workshop, I made the leap, as Laura would say and went to GoDaddy.com for a website/blog that in one day I had up and running…check it out: www.MargueriteHam.com I built that all by myself (and I am not a ”techy” type of person)! Thank You Laura Benjamin, this was a worthwhile investment! Can’t wait for your next workshop!
