5. • Blogs: an overview
• Why blog?
• Starting a blog
• Dos and don’ts of blogging
Tonight, I’ll discuss
6. • Web 2.0
• Social media
• Blogging
• Vlogging
• Corporate blogs
• Bloggers as influencers
• Bloggers as celebrities
Blogging: history
What’s next?!Less than
20 years
7. “People don’t buy what you do
…they buy why you do it.”
~ Simon Sinek, TED talk “How great leaders inspire action”
Why blog?
8. Communicate your personal story and purpose
• Who are you?
• Why do you make things?
• What is your process?
Why blog? The Benefits
9. Build a relationship with shoppers
• Show them your world!
• Let them get to know you
Why blog? The Benefits
10. Increase your brand footprint
• Own your domain
• Be seen
Why blog? The Benefits
11. Explore your brand personality
• Try new things
• What is your niche?
Why blog? The Benefits
12. Learn new skills and grow
• Photography
• Copywriting
• Managing a content calendar
• Time management/prioritisation
• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
• Web development/design
Why blog? The Benefits
13. Open up new opportunities…
Why blog? The Benefits
14. TASK:
Turn to a few people nearby and discuss how they could use
a blog to support their business.
What is their brand purpose,
their story, their vision?
Why blog? The Benefits
15. • Do you have the time?
• Are you passionate about it?
• Does it match your skill set?
• Will it work for your business?
Blogging is not for everyone – and that’s okay!
Do not blog simply ‘for the sake of it’.
Why shouldn’t you blog?
16. 1. Purchase your domain
2. Install Wordpress
3. Set up Google Analytics
4. Select your theme
5. Write your core pages
How to start a blog
17. 1. Choose your domain name
2. Check if it’s available (Google ‘domain hosting’)
3. If it is, register it in your name
4. Then set up your hosting package
1. Purchase your domain
19. 1. Go to your hosting account
2. Select the “Install Wordpress” option
3. Follow the steps to setup
4. Ta-dah! It will show you your login details
2. Install Wordpress
20. Google Analytics is essential for tracking your blog stats.
It tracks a huge number of metrics - and it’s FREE.
• Who is visiting your blog (and when)?
• Where are they coming from?
• What are they doing when on your blog?
2. Google Analytics
21. 1. Set up a Google Analytics account
2. Log in to your account
3. Find your tracking ID/tracking code snippet
4. Paste it into the <head> of your blog
5. (or insert the code via a plugin, or through your Wordpress
account)
6. After a few days, check that it’s working!
2. Google Analytics
22. A theme is the basic blueprint of your blog
4. Select your theme
• Sidebars
• Navigation menu
• Header image
• Footer content
• Homepage layout
• Carousel
30. • About
• My story
• Contact
• Social
• Shop
5. Write your pages
31. DO
• Experiment
• Stick to a theme
• Post regularly
• Use images
• Promote your work
DON’T
• Compare to others
• Copy others
• Expect instant success
• Stress
Blogging dos and don’ts
35. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): The science of getting to the top of search
engine rankings, based on a large number of variables.
Page: Content entries that are static/permanent.
Post: Content entries that are timely.
Theme: The basic blueprint (design/layout) of a webpage.
Domain: A distinct area of the internet, captured under one address – e.g.
www.thecraftygentleman.net.
Web hosting: Storage space and access to a website.
Traffic: Visitors to a website.
Backlink: A clickable hyperlink that directs a user from an external website to your
website.
Session (visit): An individual visit to a website by a single visitor.
Page views (hits): The total number of times any of the webpages across a
website has been visited in a given time period.
Feature: A regularly occurring series of content on a blog.
Blogging: Jargon buster