This is a question I am often asked by new bloggers and the answer, for me at least, is that I blog when I have something of value to write about and the time to do it justice. This actually means there are periods of inactivity on my blogs, but when I post, generally it is something I’ve put some time and thought into.
For others, the answer might be everyday, or twice daily, or twice a week. In reality each and every blogger is likely to adpat a different style of blogging depending on what they want to get out of their blog. If you are more commercially minded, it’s likely your volume and frequency of posting will need to be a great deal higher than someone merely writing to keep folks back home in touch with their life abroad.
I agree with Jim Connolly in that there is some merit in the idea that the more often you post, the easier it gets to write your posts. Jim writes that he also finds it useful to identify a set time each day to write his posts, something which might help those struggling with writers block and which I would certainly agree with – even if each time you don’t complete a full post, just spending 15-30 mins each day writing, or thinking up new post ideas is a useful exercise.
In reality there are no rules with blogging. In the age of citizen journalism,where you are free from the boundaries of editorial control or the need to satisfy advertisers, editors, management etc, you can write your own rules. Blog about what you like, when you like and how you like, It’s that simple.
Image courtesy of Antigone 78′s photostream
LBM’ers, if you are interested in attending Marketing Week Live? If yes, you might also be interested in the open invitation below from immediate future to attend their tea party on Tues 29th for a session specifically on social media.
If you’d like to attend, drop a note to Stephanie, referencing LBM, to stephanie.kelly ‘at’ immediatefuture.co.uk.
I’ll see you there.
Cheers,
Andy
From: Stephanie Kelly
Sent: 09 June 2010 14:21
To: andybargery
Subject: Marketing Week Live – invitation to tea party
Hi Andy,
Hope you don’t mind me emailing you out of the blue. My name is Stephanie and I am contacting you from the social media and online PR agency immediate future.
We’d like to invite you to a special event taking place at Marketing Week Live at Olympia on Tues 29th June. We’re hosting an exclusive tea party for people interested in social media and technology, offering the chance to network with peers and hear the thoughts of our panel of big brand experts.
As well as linking in with likeminded peers over tea and cupcakes, there will be a panel discussion on the subject of ‘innovation through social media channels.’ The big brand experts are being finalised as we speak, but will come from major multinational corporations.
Also, as a thank you for attending our event, you’ll receive free entry to the show. If you’re attending already, you’ll get access to the VIP Lounge. We’ll also be running a prize draw to win an immediate future hamper so you can re-enact your own tea party at home!
This invitation extends to all members of London Bloggers Meetup and I wondered whether you would be kind enough to let them know about this event through your meet-up group page or website?
Please RSVP to this email to book your place, full details will be sent nearer the time. In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions.
Kind Regards,
Stephanie Kelly
immediate future.
London Blogger’s Meetup SEO expert Jo Turnbull of seojoblogs fame writes the basics of how to setup your blog. A nice intro and I would certainly agree on some of the points like getting your domain name right, the All in One SEO pack and of course loving y our blog..!
Anyway, over to Jo.
Setting up a Blog
Once you have decided to set up a blog you might ask yourself “where do I start?” Here are a few tips to help you on your way:
1. Decide on a domain name
I recommend going to godaddy.com and seeing if your domain name is free. If it is free, I would register the domain name for at least two years. Choose the domain name with keywords you want to rank for. For example if you want to be known for seo and blogs, make sure that is in the domain name.
2. Choose your content management system (CMS)
There are a lot of CMS’ out there such as Drupal, WordPress, Magento and it is important you choose the right one. I strongly suggest WordPress as it is really easy to use. There are a number of themes you can choose from.
3. Host your site
Once you have a domain name and CMS, you should host your site with a company you trust. Normally, people host their sites at the same company where they purchased the domain name from. Godaddy.com offer some great rates, from as little as five pounds a month and there is 24/7 support charged at a local rate.
4. Plugins
Once you have chosen the CMS, you can then download plugins to help your site rank better in the search engines. I have used the All in One SEO Pack for WordPress which allows you to add different page titles, meta descriptions and keywords to each post. This means you can optimise individual posts.
Ultimate Google Analytics allows you to track the visits to your site. This is the first plugin I would download as you can track the number of visits to your site from when it is live.
The akismet plugin identifies and blocks comment and trackback spam on blogs. It has saved my blog from hundreds of spammy comments. I can’t believe people have so much time to send such rubbish.
You can also make a mobile version of your site through the WordPress Mobile Pack. Everything is going mobile and you certainly want your blog to be too.
5. Finally – love your blog
Update your blog regularly. There is no point setting up a blog if you leave it and only write posts once a month. It needs to be updated regularly with interesting content about your site. If you have a site about cakes, you could write about simple recipies for domestically challenged people. I would certainly find that post interesting as I am not the best in the kitchen.
So there you have it, a few steps to help you set up your first blog. If you have any other tips, let me know.
mflow has given us two pairs of tickets to their “Calm before the storm” party, featuring acoustic sets from two hotly-tipped musicians, Lauren Pritchard and Pete Lawrie at Ronnie Scott’s on 15 April (from 5.30pm).
To win a pair of these tickets, download mflow from www.mflow.com, using the invite code LBM2277 and answer the following question:
What is the name of Lauren Pritchard’s debut EP on mflow?
The first two people to email the correct answer to chris.reed@brewdigital.com will win tickets and + ones.
What’s mflow?
You might already be aware of mflow, it’s a new legal music discovery and sharing app which is a cross between Twitter and iTunes, currently in private Beta.
The way it works is that you are recommended music by people that you follow and in turn you can recommend music to your followers. And then, if you buy the music which is recommended to you, the person who recommends it gets 20% of what you paid credited to their account to say “thank you”. (The NextWeb described it as “the social iTunes which pays its users”)
Well the nice people at mflow have given members of the London Bloggers Meetup early access to mflow to try it out before it goes public later this month.
So, if you’d like to rub shoulders with the likes of Zane Lowe, PopJustice, and NME on this social network with music at its heart then go to www.mflow.com, download the app and use the code LBM2277
Things like integration with Twitter and Facebook and blog-ready widgets are all in the pipeline before the public launch, but even without them it’s frighteningly addictive…
If you’d like to know a bit more about mflow before-hand, or to write it up, then do check out their blog, SMNR, or follow @mflow.
And if you’d like to know what others are saying about it first of all, try the Guardian (who describe mflow’s as “Twitter’s hipper little brother”), Stuff, or LBM’s very own Laurence Borel’s blog.
This is a question I am often asked by new bloggers and the answer, for me at least, is that I blog when I have something of value to write about and the time to do it justice. This actually means there are periods of inactivity on my blogs, but when I post, generally it is something I’ve put some time and thought into.
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