I like this summary on the Benefits of Blogging
There’s also the side-effect that when I write about a topic it helps me to reflect more on a topic and organize my thoughts.
Leah sent me snapshots of Nutella substitutes she saw at a supermarket in Israel.
I’ve added them to the Nutella alternatives group at Flickr.
I guess that covers Israel.
Want to join the fun? Join the Nutella alternatives group. Please note: you don’t need to buy or taste the stuff. A snapshot is enough.
I attended a BoF session on marketing for software companies this evening at the conf I’m currently attending. And my head is still whizzing around with ideas and links. I remembered a blog entry on the importance of being a thought leader if you’re small. The link was sent to me by Mlle. A. on Thu, 7 Oct 2004 01:47:17 -0700. And the entry is still up!
We have great archiving methods here at Chiperoni.ch…
Here are a couple of starting points:
Blog hosting
Three possibilities:
WordPress.org documentation:
Installing WordPress on your own server
The install documentation covers most setups. Installing a local copy using XAMPP or MAMP is useful especially during the design phase.
Other useful WordPress.org docs:
Importing content from other blogs.
Posting entries by email. As mentioned during the talk I set up a cronjob on my server, which checked at regular intervals if there was any email to post.
Templates galore:
As mentioned, setting up WordPress is fast, finding the right design theme will take a little bit longer… cos there are so many out there.
I like Scott’s collection of minimal designs.
My advice: get a theme which offers the structure you’re loooking for and then customize the CSS file.
Flickery goodness:
I cross-link to Flickr to add pictures to my blog, but you can also upload files and photos directamente into WordPress. Please note: you’ll need to resize for the web and your layout. I’m lazy: I use Flickr and Quickr Pickr.
You can also set up Flickr to post pics directly to your blog. Within Flickr, go to Your Account > Extending Flickr . Click edit in the section labelled Your Blogs and follow the instructions displayed.
Here’s an advanced user guide for Flickr, describing how you can post pics per email, etc.
On commenting:
All comments at this site land in the moderation queue and I check the queue once a day. I don’t always reply or write back immediately. As you’ll probably notice in the next few weeks, sometimes I don’t have the time. But if I do, I’ll usually reply online at the source – in my blog, if it’s a comment on my site, or if it’s a trackback, i’ll go see their post and add a comment in their blog.
I think the main point you need to get across is that you reserve the right to edit or delete comments. This is especially important if you’re moving into business blogging.
There’s the Lifehacker’s guide to commenting to refer to.
Commenting is a way to increase traffic and expand your network.
And remember to activate Akismet or other comment spam plugins.
RSS feeds:
Every WordPress blog offers a feed for entries and a feed for comments. At Chip this is:
http://www.chiperoni.ch/wordpress/feed/
http://www.chiperoni.ch/wordpress/comments/feed/
Again, there are numerous RSS feed readers. And your choice of reader will depend on your personal reading preferences. I use the newsfeeds reader included within Opera. Thunderbird also includes a feed reader per default. And there are numerous feed readers for FireFox. Please note: some media news feeds (e.g. BBC) send out entires every minute and will easily swamp you.
More high-level infos on the concept of RSS are available in this Wikipedia article.
Further background links:
The Corporate Weblog Manifesto by Scobleizer
How To Blog And Not Lose Your Job
😉
This link reminds me of the LIFT workshop I attended.
Here are the slides of my talk that I just held at the STC Transalpine Chapter Conf:
They’re very minimal and short… but over time I’ve collected a lot of examples at the back of my head so that I easily managed to fill the 1 hour slot. The online demo worked well with the mobile access card I had (big relief). A little slower than WLAN but ok.
I’ll post a list of online resources on blogging, RSS feeds, and WordPress sometime soon.
A couple of complimentary links:
Buon weekend,
nchenga
here it is
Wikipedia page on Malawi long distance runner Catherine Chikwakwa.
The conf location is impressive… Sarah O’Keefe is speaking on “Working in a third culture world”.
A couple of slides:
A weekend snapshot…
Online bookmark:
PingMag – The Tokyo-based magazine about “Design and Making Things”
A couple of articles I liked:
for future reference:
Loony Design
for future reference (when I get myself an Ubuntu laptop):
Beryl-project.org
All the windows wide open, listening to some random classical music show on Deutschlandfunk, birds singing…
My ordinary kind of life on a Saturday morning.
Buon weekend!
At an undisclosed location in the very near future, the editor of this beautiful blog will be holding a talk on a high-flying topic yet to be prepared.
Blogging for Content Developers
I’ve decided to give this whole project a jump-start by writing down the outline in my blog… because getting started is always the hard part. The audience will be technical writers and communicators, but I don’t know how many of them are into blogging. I think, I’ll start with some questions like:
2nd Section: Why blog?
Basically this section will include a little bit about my first blog at an ASP-like blog provider and the subsequent move to WordPress. My initial idea when I set out was to help cross the digital divide and point to content about my home country, Malawi.
Example of the power of blogging: During the last General Elections in Malawi, Alex at the Polytechnic helped to keep us informed by posting regular information and allowing Malawians to comment. In general, blogging has increased the amount of direct infos available on Malawi in the Internet.
Top reasons for content developers to start blogging:
3rd Section: Why WordPress?
This section will kind of list my reasons to go for WordPress, but could easily be taken as a list of criteria to watch out for if you’re evaluating other CMS tools:
Server requirements: MySQL and PHP or above
Knowledge requirement: some knowledge of CSS and HTML to tweak and customize a design template.
Section 4: Beyond the Current Blog Hype
Currently we’re going thru a hype phase. Everybody’s starting a blog.
Splogs, spam comments and cyber bullying/threatening are a huge problem.
Nevertheless, blogs are here to stay. Esp. mainstream media is feeling the heat. A kind of independent blog journalism is establishing itself and many companies are using blogs to reach out to their customers. See Krusenstern for an excellent entry on old, established media vs. blog journalism.
Millions of blogs are started and abandoned within 3 months. It’s not easy to write and communicate effectively. This is where I see lots of opportunities for tech. communicators (e.g. as Chief Blogging Officer).
Section 5: Your Benefit as a Tech. Communicator
If you’re a consultant/ext. contractor, use current CMS technology to enhance your work website. Blogging is a good way to make your business website less static. Example: I remember a conf where one of the participants was distributing tonnes of business cards. I had a look at the website afterwards and was utterly disappointed.
Use your blog to:
If you offer focussed content on a special topic the chances of attracting readers are somewhat higher than with a personal blog. Frequency is important. To set up a readership you need to post at regular intervals. On the upside, entries do not have to be very long and you can post entries to WordPress via email.
Don’t move into blogging if you don’t enjoy writing OR if you’re looking for fast money. It needs some time to establish your blog and people lurk around a long time before they start commenting (approx. 200 visits for every commenter). But if you write about a niche topic and provide good content, people will find you.
Avoid the typical marketing glib and press release speak in your blog.
Section 6: Demo of a WordPress Blog
Show tags, permalinks, trackbacks, and RSS feeds (if there’s interest).
My Very Personal Benefit:
Thru my hobby, I know more about today’s publishing opportunities and learnt lots about CSS, which I can use in my day job.
I’ve got a new hobby and all the flickery goodness that comes with it.
I’ve found new friends and keep in contact with old ones.
I’ve got my own online reference (e.g. re-setting my ADSL router) and online bookmark site.
Section 7: Resources and Discussion
One very good introductory resource on business blogging is:
The End
I’m tired and I’ll add more resource links later. In the meantime, feel free to offer suggestions or challenge my outline.
I went a-photowalking in Hannover and Hamburg. I’ve started uploading a couple of snapshots. Some of my personal favorites include:
errr… all of them really!
Today’s complimentary link is from my favo(u)rite reference site, WikiHow:
😉
More crosslinking to Cy’s Film. Or have a look at the video:
