Part of Tech Thursday 2014 Curriculum on Blogging

1. BUSINESS BLOGGING:BUSINESS BLOGGING:
GETTING STARTEDGETTING STARTED
TECH THURSDAYS – JUNE 2, 2016

2. BROUGHT TO YOU BY ONE CAUSE CONSULTING…BROUGHT TO YOU BY ONE CAUSE CONSULTING…
Helping nonprofits, small businesses, and
social enterprise build online and offline
communities one cause at a time
Website: http://www.onecauseconsulting.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/onecauseconsulting
LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/OneCauseConsLI

3. OBJECTIVES FOR TONIGHT’S SESSIONOBJECTIVES FOR TONIGHT’S SESSION
• Discuss practical issues around blogging (with two bloggers)
• Discuss homework assignment
• Provide guidance and resources towards maintaining a
business blog
• Next Week: Focus will be on analytics, blog maintenance, and
a case study

4. THIS PAST WEEK….THIS PAST WEEK….

5. LAUNCHING THELAUNCHING THE
BLOGBLOG

6. THREE QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE BLOGGINGTHREE QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE BLOGGING
• What areas of interest will be the
focus of my blogging?
• Is this going to be a stand-alone blog,
or am I integrating it into my business
website?
• How frequently/how much time can I
dedicate to writing blog posts &
maintaining the blog?

7. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCEKNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
• Google Analytics – Track traffic & establish flow
• Research other blogs – Google Blogs, Icerocket
• Research site traffic – Alexa, Compete, Quantcast

8. SAMPLE EDITORIAL/BLOGGING CALENDARSAMPLE EDITORIAL/BLOGGING CALENDAR

9. RSS FEEDS & SYNDICATIONRSS FEEDS & SYNDICATION
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a piece of code that allows
for distribution/aggregation of regularly updated content

10. ORGANIZING & MONITORING BLOGSORGANIZING & MONITORING BLOGS
Feedly – Digital Curation Google Alerts

11. ADD BLOG TO SEARCH ENGINESADD BLOG TO SEARCH ENGINES
GOOGLE - https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/submit-url
BING - http://www.bing.com/toolbox/submit-site-url
YAHOO – Submit to Bing; Yahoo will follow suit
(Adding blog yourself will improve search presence)

12. GENERATINGGENERATING
CONTENTCONTENT

13. NOTES ON BLOG WRITINGNOTES ON BLOG WRITING
• Think about reader/audience – what are they looking for?
• Not about frequency, but consistency
• Overall goals
• Tell a story
• Drive conversation
• Grammar, spelling, and punctuation

14. TOOLS FOR DRIVING SEOTOOLS FOR DRIVING SEO
• Tags/Categories
• Google AdWords – Keyword
Tool
• Google Trends
• Yoast (Wordpress Plug-In)
• Google Plus

15. CAPTURING IDEAS ON THE FLYCAPTURING IDEAS ON THE FLY
There’s no single great
method of capturing ideas
on the go – use method
that works best for you

16. GUIDELINES FOR WRITING BLOG POSTSGUIDELINES FOR WRITING BLOG POSTS
• Good blog writing takes time and effort
• Key question: what will engage our audience?
• Note kinds of posts that work more effectively
• Be authentic and be direct, but take the high road
• Strong content drives stronger social media engagement

17. INTEGRATING BLOGGING INTO DAILY WORKFLOWINTEGRATING BLOGGING INTO DAILY WORKFLOW

18. COPYRIGHTCOPYRIGHT
CONSIDERATIONSCONSIDERATIONS

19. COPYRIGHT GUIDELINESCOPYRIGHT GUIDELINES
Taken from Marketers' 10 Most Common Copyright Questions...
Answered! (Link – http://bit.ly/1U4VF7A)
• Seek permission before using someone else’s work (video,
music, etc) or confirm Creative Commons license
• You can use your own graphics, photos, music, etc. without
issues
• Once material has been placed in “tangible medium”, copyright
applies

20. ONE MINOR QUIBBLE…..ONE MINOR QUIBBLE…..
But what if I only use a little bit of someone else's content, like a
few seconds of video or a paragraph of their whitepaper?
There is no "safe amount" of someone else's copyrighted material
you can use without permission. Not 30 seconds, not 10, not 5. Zero.
But isn't that ridiculous?
In some cases, yes, but as much as I think copyright law needs to be
reformed to reflect modern attitudes and technological capabilities,
the current situation is what it is, and the risk of liability is substantial
for anyone using someone else's copyrighted work.

21. FAIR USE (LINK TO YOUTUBE VIDEO)FAIR USE (LINK TO YOUTUBE VIDEO)
• Citing Sources (Via Hubspot) -
http://bit.ly/1Pafmyt
• Video explaining Fair Use –
http://bit.ly/1siy8tx

22. RUNNING THERUNNING THE
BLOGBLOG

23. FTC DISCLOSURE GUIDELINESFTC DISCLOSURE GUIDELINES

24. WHAT DISCLOSURE LOOKS LIKEWHAT DISCLOSURE LOOKS LIKE

25. DEVELOPING A PR/DISCLOSURE POLICYDEVELOPING A PR/DISCLOSURE POLICY
• “PR Friendly” (if blog is professional but not attached to business)
• If blog attached to business, consider whether product reviews
are appropriate (or limits)
• Openly acknowledge compliance to disclosure
• “Honest” over “positive” opinions
• Review and update when appropriate

26. JOSI DENISE’S “DEAR MOMMY BLOGGER” POSTJOSI DENISE’S “DEAR MOMMY BLOGGER” POST
Link – http://www.josidenise.com/dear-mommy-blogger
• Discusses her own experiences as mommy blogger &
working PR – mostly the “dark side” of blogging
• NSFW (Not Safe for Work) due to language
• Several takeaways
• Importance of authenticity & integrity
• Starting small & building audience
• Blogging for expression vs. “free stuff”
• Aftermath - http://josidenise.com/apology/

27. GUEST BLOGGER ETIQUETTE (FOR OUR OWN POSTS)GUEST BLOGGER ETIQUETTE (FOR OUR OWN POSTS)
• Read host blog to determine tone/appropriateness
• Meet guidelines and deadlines (including post format, photos, etc)
• Write and edit for punctuation, spelling and SEO
• Include at least one link to host’s previously published post
• Include short bio at end of post/link to promote
business
• Promote post via social media
• Respond to comments

28. GUEST BLOGGER ETIQUETTE (FOR OTHER’S POSTS)GUEST BLOGGER ETIQUETTE (FOR OTHER’S POSTS)
• Build up catalog of posts before considering hosting guest posts
• Make sure expectations and deadlines are clear and concise
• Request post as separate file for our review
• Google Docs
• Libre Office
• Check links within post
• Edit for grammar/punctuation
• Share on social media with links to guest

29. TODAY’S RECOMMENDED MUST-READTODAY’S RECOMMENDED MUST-READ
• Simple language w/great
insight
• Review –
http://bit.ly/1TPaRts
• Order via Amazon –
http://amzn.to/25plMxN
• Chicago Public Library –
http://www.chipublib.org

30. QUESTIONS?QUESTIONS?

31. HOMEWORKHOMEWORK
• Read the two Jodi Denise and “Marketers' 10 Most Common
Copyright Questions... Answered!” Articles (Deck will be
posted to Tech Thursday LinkedIn Group by late Friday
morning)
• Research and find two to three blogs that reflect what you are
interested in writing about/share your business mission
Next Thursday, prepare to discuss your blog choices.
(And no, you may not use Erica or Gordon’s blogs as examples)
Questions: E-mail Gordon at gordon@onecauseconsulting.com