How to start a blog

How to start a blog The idiot-proof guide for every clueless marketer"

Proudly brought to you by:"

A shameless self-promoter of an extremely shrewd marketer who leads a double-life as a narcissistic blogger who probably swears a little too much on Twitter for her own good

Why should I start a blog?

Would you buy a car from someone who can’t drive?

1 You become one of them

2 You increase your ability to influence influencers

3 You acquire market intelligence AC Nielsen can’t provide

4 You become an Influencer

Before we begin…

My Blog’s Brand Vision

Why does this blog exist? State one reason why your blog exist

What is my blog about? Describe your blog in a single sentence

Who do I want to attract? Identify a maximum of two groups of target audience you wish to attract

My blog will be better than… List the one blog you wish to beat in terms of quality and quantity (web performance)

My blog reminds people of… List the one brand that best represent what you wish for your blog to be (i.e. NIKE/ LOUIS VUITTON/ etc)

My Blog’s Editorial Content

Frequency List the number of times you will commit to blogging weekly

The Carrot What is the unique piece of content your blog will have that others don’t?

Themes Define the topics you will blog about on a weekly and monthly basis

Personality What tone will you undertake?

Categories Develop a sitemap for your blog

blankanvas sitemap

Home

Poll Mummy

The Advertising

Slut The Artist The Bitch The Dark

One The Design

Diva The Digital Strategist The Dirt The

Fashionista The Geek The Kollector

The Lesbian

The Lonely Tavellor

The Narcissist

The Oddball

The Photograp

her The Rest The Social

Whore

Lead Story Features (x 3)

Kontribute The Author The Blog Press Free

blankanvas sticker

For the purpose of this presentation, I will illustrate the benefits of using WordPress’ publishing platform which you can download from

WordPress.org and host on your own server."

No, using a free service provided by WordPress.com is not an option.

Step 1: Load up with the right tools

1.  A text editor   To edit your CSS and PHP files   Recommended: Adobe Dreamweaver

2.  A photo editor   To prettify your graphics and photographs for your blog   Recommended: Adobe Photoshop   Tip: I use Skitch (available for Mac only) for quick & dirty screengrabs"

3.  An FTP client   To install WordPress, themes and plugins on your server   Recommended: FileZilla (for PC users), Cyberduck (for Mac users)   Tip: To avoid clogging up too much space on your server with graphics and photographs, use

a 3rd party provider like Flickr"

4.  Tracking tools   Google Analytics: To track your blog statistics   Bit.ly or Su.pr: To track the effectiveness of your clickthrough rate   Feedburner: To build your database   Facebook Page: To build your database and track on your quantitative readership profile   CrowdScience: To track on your qualitative readership profile

Step 2: Find yourself a web host

1.  You need a web host that provides:   PHP version 4.3 or greater   MySQL version 4.0 or greater   The mod_rewrite Apache module"

2.  Select a web host that is based in the country you think you’d get the most traffic from and has been around for a while"

3.  Choose a sexy domain name"

4.  Tip: Sign up for a web host alongside with your domain name registration. Typically, a web host will offer to waive off the domain name registration fee if you commit to a web hosting plan of 12 months and beyond

Step 3: Install

1.  WordPress.org has a detailed guide at http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress#Detailed_Instructions"

2.  Follow carefully step by step and you will be fine

Step 4: Soup it up, baby

1.  Grab yourself a theme   A theme determines how your blog looks and functions   Avoid changing your themes too often as it reduces brand recall (yes

honey, you’re creating your own brand now)   Be practical – don’t use a theme that requires a certain level of expertise

in coding which you don’t have   Make sure you have a logo, and make sure it looks good   Recommended websites:

o  WordPress.org: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/ o  PremiumWP: http://www.premiumwp.com/ o  WooThemes: http://www.woothemes.com/ o  Best WordPress Themes: http://www.bestwpthemes.com/ "

Step 4: Soup it up, baby

2.  Load up the plugins   Plugins enhance your blog’s user experience, extends its capabilities, and make

you wish you started your blog earlier   Download from: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/   Recommended plugins:

  Akismet: filter those nasty spam out   All-in-one SEO Pack: because people don’t go beyond the first page of

Google

  Cforms: deploy sexy looking forms on your blog   Find Me On: the best looking widget that displays all of one’s social network

profiles I’ve seen so far   Get Recent Comments: display the most recent comments/ trackbacks on

your blog   Google XML Sitemaps: make your blog as search engine friendly as possible   IntenseDebate: enhance and encourage conversation on your blog or website   LinkWithin: encourages stickiness on your blog with recommended stories

and associated thumbnails along with each blog post

Step 4: Soup it up, baby

2.  Load up the plugins   Recent Posts: for those with a magazine layout like mine, this function allows

“last in, first out’ readers to read your latest posts easily   Search Suggest: because some of us can’t spell   Subscribe to Comments: allows readers to receive notifications of new

comments that are posted to an entry

  TweetMeme Retweet Button: adds a button which easily lets you retweet your blog posts

  Ultimate Google Analytics: enable Google Analytics on your blog   WP-o-Matic: create posts automated from RSS/ Atom feeds   WP-UserOnline: enable you to display how many users are online on your

Wordpress blog with detailed statistics of where they are and who there are(Members/Guests/Search Bots)

  WP Super Cache: Cache your blog so that it doesn’t take too long to load

Thank you Holler over at [email protected] if you have any questions

Photo credits:!

WordPress logo: http://sophia.smith.edu/blog/news/ !Corvette: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42793153@N05/3952796817/

Drawing board: http://nzesylva.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/the-drawing-board-is-now-full/