Bloggers. What would make you smile more than a London Bloggers Meetup?
How about a London Bloggers Meetup where you have the opportunity to win a fantastic Dell XPS 15z laptop?
Well let me tell you, both of these are coming your way next week on Tuesday 12th July.
Check out the laptop you could win here, which retails at nearly 900 notes:
So how can you win one of these new Dell laptops? Simples.
Answer the following question in the comments here on the blog, before 5pm on Tuesday 12th July, and you’re in with a chance.
Tell us in a witty, creative, or imaginative way how a new Dell XPS 15z laptop will help you be successful in your quest for blogging greatness.
To double your chances, you could also enter online on facebook too. Simply click here and you’re laughing.
Terms and conditions
- All entries must be submitted in the blog comments on this post
- The prize winner will be announced at the London Bloggers Meetup held on the 12th July
- The competition prize is one Dell XPS 15z laptop
- Dell reserves the right to use any competition entries in future marketing communications
- The promoter’s decision is final and binding in all matters
- Prize is non transferable and there is no cash alternative
- Closing date is Tuesday 12th July at 5pm
If you’ve read this blog before, or attended a London Bloggers Meetup, or if you are a member of the meetup group, you’ll know that I strongly believe we have some of the most interesting bloggers in the world as members of our community. That’s right, I do mean the world.
Each and every month I run a London Bloggers Meetup, someone turns up doing something out of the ordinary simply because they want to blog about their passion. Whether it’s writing about where to get a great full english, or how to take incredible photographs (or showing off their own photos), or how to create a paperless office.
The only problem with this is trying to talk to everyone. It’s simply not possible. So from now on and on every Monday for at least the rest of this year, I’m going to post up here an interview with one of our bloggers. A good way I hope for everyong to get to know their fellow bloggers, what they write about, what we can learn from them and why we should be grabbing their attention for a chat at a future London Bloggers Meetup.
To get us kicked off, I’m going to start with that blogger extraordinaire Annie Mole. If you haven’t read Annie’s blog, it’s high time you did, no better place on the internet for news about the worlds oldest (and arguably best) underground railway system. So here goes…
1. What’s your blog called and what’s the URL?
London Underground Tube Diary – http://london-underground.blogspot.com
2. What’s your blog all about ( in 20 words or less)?
A lighthearted but hopefully informative look at travelling on the Tube – warts and all.
3. When and why did you start blogging?
January 2003. Prior that I’d been running a static site about the Tube since 1999 and I thought that blogging would be a much easier way to update the news section. I also wanted something to act as a commuter’s diary and blogging seemed to be the best way forward for this.
4. Which blog platform do you use?
Blogger
5. Can you give an example of how blogging has enriched your life?
It’s meant that I’ve got to meet lots of people who are now very good friends of mine. However, I’m also lucky enough to have gained a good relationship with London Underground themselves and with the London Transport Museum. They both treat me as a news outlet – which is quite flattering and send me press releases and invites to events.
I’ve also been invited to some fantastic events by companies related to transport – the best I have to say was a trip on the Orient Express, thanks to Dell. It’s clearly the best way to travel by train and although we only went to Eastleigh, I’ve always wanted to travel on it.
6. Are there any blogs you recommend reading and why?
Brian Pigeon’s Blog - as it’s very funny and how I would imagine a pigeon to speak if it had vocal chords. There’s a strong laddish cockiness about him being the under-dog of the bird world.
IanVisits – Ian spends tons of time visiting unusual parts of London and also has an events calendar of happenings that are off the beaten track
OmNomLondon – I read a lot of food blogs but am impressed by how Melanie has been able to build this up in two years, purely based on the food she eats out. I’m amazed she’s not the size of a horse!
7. What three tips would you give to someone just starting out in blogging?
a) Write about something that you feel passionate about, but don’t feel compelled to write something every day. People will forgive you more for a great post once a week, than so-so posts every day.
b) Don’t be too apologetic or sell yourself down. I see a number of blogs with a subtitle or about this section like “My little piece on the web, which no one probably wants to read, where I meander about nonsense that’s possibly only interesting to me”. That might be true, but it’s not exactly encouraging to hear that up front and doesn’t put the reader in a positive state of mind.
c) Spend at least as much time commenting on other people’s blogs as you do writing your own blog. I don’t mean spam them with links to your blog, but leave a comment on blogs that you admire. Everyone likes to receive feedback on their posts and even if it’s one line – the chances are the blogger will return to look at your blog – specially if you comment regularly.
8. If you could change one thing about your blog what would it be?
I wish Blogspot had a commenting tool when I started. I introduced an external commenting platform onto the blog many moons ago – Haloscan – which was all very well until it was taken over by Echo earlier this year. I had the choice of losing six years worth of comments or migrating to their new system. I chose the latter, because I’m un-techy, but I really don’t like it and will look for a new option early next year.
9. What is the key to getting readers to your blog?
Write regularly – I know I said above don’t feel you need to blog every day, but if people know that you update your blog a few times a week, they’re more likely to bookmark it or put it in their RSS feed. Most people arrive at my blog through a general “london underground” search and as they see the top post was only at most two or three days old, they know it might be worth returning for new content. If your last post was written a month ago, people may think you’ve given up and will be less likely to return.
Add your blog to blog directories like Technorati, Google Blog Search, BritishBlogs and others like it.
Reach out to other bloggers. I mention above that it’s good to comment on other blogs. After a while ask if they might add you to their blog roll or offer to write a guest post, if you feel you can add an interesting perspective to their blog. The more links you have to your blog, this will really help your position in search engines
10. And finally, why do you come to the London Bloggers Meetups?
It’s a great way to meet a whole range of bloggers. From people who’ve been blogging for years, to ones who are just starting out. Eveyone has similar issues and problems and can learn from each other. The bloggers who attend are very open & friendly and happy to share ideas.
Plus you normally find a great sponsor and it’s hard to say no to a free drink in good company!
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
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.
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