ArtLinks Blogging for the Arts

Blogging For Beginners

Ken McGuirewww.profreelanceblogger.com

www.kenmc.com

www.artlinks.ie

April 7, 2023 Blogging For Beginners with Ken McGuire 2

Introduction

• Ken McGuire

• Blogging since 2004

• Serial blogger

• Irish Blog Awards

• Podcasting since 2006


Agenda

• Blogging background– What, why, how?

• Blogging platforms

• Setting up a blog

• Blog writing hints and tips

• Promoting your blog– RSS, comments, emails etc.


Goals For Today

• Learn about blogs, what they are, how they work.

• Discover how to set up a blog for free.

• Find out how easy it is to make your first blog post.

• Discover free ways to promote your blog.


What Is A Blog?

• Short for ‘web log’

• Collection of blog posts / news items / stories published in a dated order.

• Think of it as a diary.

• Blogs have posts, and pages.

• Versatile - can be about anything


Blog, Blogger, Blogging

• Blog: A web log

• Blogger: Someone who maintains a blog

• Blogging: The process of creating / maintaining a blog


Blogging Platforms

• Blogger (requires Google email)

• Wordpress (personal favourite)– Leading the way for blogging platforms

• Typepad (fee-based)

• Blogosphere - The global blog community. Blog O’Sphere.


Blog Ingredients

• Blog Posts

• About Page

• Contact Page

• Other relevant details– Sound clips, writing samples, gallery of

works.


Blogs vs Web Sites

• Are they the same?

• Your blog is your website.

• Just like older websites, you can have– A photo gallery– A portfolio– Videos, music…

• A blog is a social website (interaction)


Some Blog Statistics

• Technorati trackings 112.8 million blogs (Feb 2008).

• 72.82 million blogs in China– 17.5m authors 2006, 40m 2007

• Several thousand Irish bloggers• 93,041 new blogs in day (May 19th 2008)

– Source: blogpulse.com

• 1.6 million posts a day (July 2006)


More Creative Types Blogging

• Not just technology bloggers.• Food bloggers (icecreamireland.com)

• Photo bloggers (kenmcguirephotography.com)

• Patchwork (quiltingandpatchwork.com) • Fashion (iamfashion.blogspot.com/)

• Beauty (beaut.ie)


What Can A Blog Do For You?

• Connect you with fellow artists.

• Showcase your recent works.

• Build you an audience for your work.

• Establish you as an authority figure.

• Land you a book deal… (all in good time!)

– TwentyMajor.net / Fiona McPhillips / IceCream Ireland / Darren Rowse…


What Can A BlogDo For You?

• “I now realise how beneficial this blog is. It is almost like a creative diary. It allows me to reflect back on my practice as an artist, it helps me understand my way of approaching new ideas and my way of working creatively.”– Liselott, May 19th 2008


Why Blogs Are Liked

• They’re web based– Everything runs from the web, no installing

of software.

• Access anywhere.

• You don’t need to learn a language– HTML, PHP etc.

• Blog community constantly growing.


Why Do You Need A Blog?

• Build *your* personal brand.

• Showcase for your works.

• Become visible on the web.

• Keep others informed.


Deciding What To Blog

• Follow your craft– Music (kilkennymusic.com)– Theatre (devioustheatre.com)– Blogging (profreelanceblogger.com)

• The more ‘niche’ the better…– Felt, batik, music therapy, sculpture, sound

design…


Deciding What To Blog

• As an artist…– Residency at no.72– Recording an album (process)– Building a studio– Preparing for an exhibition– Touring with a band– Preparing to publish a book


Artist Blogs

• No72 John Street– http://no72.wordpress.com

• Martha Marshall– http://artistsjournal.blogspot.com/

• Nancy Standlee– http://nancystandlee.blogspot.com/


Writing Tips


Writing Tips

• Be yourself.

• It is ok to have an opinion. – “You can’t be an authority on a topic if you

don’t have faith in your own opinion”, SD.

• Proper titles.

• Cheek you’re sspelling and grammar.


Writing Tips

• Pick a topic and stick to it.– The more niche the better.

• Support your post with relevant links.

• Write Less, Write Often.

• Lists are good.

• Pick a style and stick to it.


Setting Up A Blog


Creating A Wordpress Blog

• Go to www.wordpress.com

• Click ‘Sign Up Now’

• Enter a username, password, email.

• Choose name for blog.

• Confirm registration by email.

• Get writing!


Your First Blog Post

• Title– Be descriptive, be precise– Title will appear in search engine results

• Content

• Relevant links

• Tags

• Publish


Your First Blog Page

• Additional content to homepage.

• Title, content, links as before.

• Chance to sell yourself, do it well.

• Pages have an order of their own.

• Contact details, about you, links, profiles, exhibition dates etc.


Advertising Your Blog


Why Advertise Your Blog?

• To be found.

• To sell your work.

• To increase your readership.

• To network with other bloggers and artists.


Where To Advertise

• Blog Directories– Blog Flux, IrishBlogs.info, BlogCatalog.com

• Social Networks– MySpace / Facebook / Bebo

• Microblogging– Twitter / Jaiku

• RSS Feeds / Email Feeds


Where To Advertise

• Flyers for your blog

• Add blog URL to business cards

• Email signatures

• Press releases


Promoting Individual Posts

• StumbleUpon– Great for information-based blogs,

tutorials, guides, “how-to” type posts.

• Digg.com– Suitable for news-type blogs

• Del.icio.us– Sharing bookmarks, public listing.


Measuring Blog Traffic

• Wordpress.com stats

• Google Analytics

• Statcounter

• Technorati


RSS Feeds / Email

• RSS = Really Simple Syndication.

• Web ‘feeds’ used to deliver content.

• Allows content to be aggregated.

• Works via mobile phone / email or and ‘feed reader’.

• Built into most common blog platforms.

• Visit once, subscribe for free.


Google Reader


Microblogging

• Twitter / Jaiku

• Blog via SMS

• Message is 140 characters or less

• Social network

• Immediate, Global.


Earning Blog Revenue

• You can make money blogging.

• Text ads, affiliate links.

• Top 50 blogs earn $500m p/a.– University of Texas study

• Google AdSense easiest, most effective.


Blogging Is A Marathon

• Marthon, not a sprint

• If you build it, they will take their sweet time, but they will come.

• Be consistent, or appear consistent


Communication Is Key

• Communication builds communities

• Reply to your emails

• Replay to your comments

• Engage your blog readers

• Encourage subscriptions


Thank You

• Ken [email protected]

• www.kenmc.com

• www.profreelanceblogger.com

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